Simon Stevin (-) was one of the leading scholars of his day. As a scientist Charles van den Heuvel and engineer, he carved a career for himself in the breakaway Dutch Republic of ‘De Huysbou’ the Northern Low Countries, developing theoretical innovations in mathematics and physics as well as practical innovations in civil engineering and military tech- A reconstruction of an unfi nished treatise on nology. Less well known is the project that Stevin worked on during the last twenty years of his life, a treatise on architecture and town planning. The earliest mention architecture, town planning and civil engineering of Huysbou occurs in the fi rst volume of Stevin’s work on mathematics and other by Simon Stevin natural sciences, Wisconstighe Ghedachtenissen (‘Mathematical Memoirs’), published in . This book deals with Stevin’s unfi nished, and until now only partly revealed architectural treatise. A fi rst attempt has made to recreate the envisaged Huysbou as accurately as possible. Huysbou will shed new light on the Dutch contribution to European architectural theory from the seventeenth century onwards, and in addition provide rich new source material for the history of science. ‘De Huysbou’ Charles van den Heuvel 77461-04_Huysbou_omslag.indd461-04_Huysbou_omslag.indd 1 114-11-20054-11-2005 008:28:198:28:19 ‘De Huysbou’ 7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk i 14-11-200514-11-2005 08:29:5408:29:54 History of Science and Scholarship in the Netherlands, volume The series History of Science and Scholarship in the Netherlands presents studies on a variety of subjects in the history of science, scholarship and academic institu- tions in the Netherlands. Titles in this series . Rienk Vermij, The Calvinist Copernicans. The reception of the new astronomy in the Dutch Republic, -. , --- . Gerhard Wiesenfeldt, Leerer Raum in Minervas Haus. Experimentelle Naturlehre an der Universität Leiden, -. , --- . Rina Knoeff, Herman Boerhaave (-). Calvinist chemist and physician. , --- . Johanna Levelt Sengers, How fl uids unmix. Discoveries by the School of Van der Waals and Kamerlingh Onnes. , --- . Jacques L.R. Touret and Robert P.W. Visser, editors, Dutch pioneers of the earth sciences, , --- . Renée E. Kistemaker, Natalya P. Kopaneva, Debora J. Meijers and Georgy Vilinbakhov, editors, The Paper Museum of the Academy of Sciences in St Peterburg (c. 1725-1760), Introduction and Interpretation, , ---, ---, Book and --- . Charles van den Heuvel, ‘De Huysbou’. A reconstruction of an unfi nished treatise on architecture, town planning and civil engineering by Simon Stevin, , -- - Editorial Board K. van Berkel, University of Groningen W.Th.M. Frijhoff, Free University of Amsterdam A. van Helden, Utrecht University W.E. Krul, University of Groningen A. de Swaan, Amsterdam School of Sociological Research R.P.W. Visser, Utrecht University 7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk iiii 14-11-200514-11-2005 08:29:5508:29:55 ‘De Huysbou’ A reconstruction of an unfi nished treatise on architecture, town planning and civil engineering by Simon Stevin Charles van den Heuvel Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Amsterdam 7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk iiiiii 14-11-200514-11-2005 08:29:5508:29:55 Copyright © Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo- copying, recording or othetwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Information and orders: Edita P.O. Box , Amsterdam, the Netherlands + + [email protected], www.knaw.nl/edita --- The paper in this publication meets the requirements of « -norm () for permanence. The English translation of this book was made possible by a subsidy of the (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek/ Netherlands Organisation for Scientifi c Research). Translated by D. Gardner, N. Gatehouse, S. Herman and J. Rudge. 7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk iviv 14-11-200514-11-2005 08:29:5508:29:55 For Janet and Louise 7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk v 14-11-200514-11-2005 08:29:5508:29:55 7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk7461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk vivi 14-11-200514-11-2005 08:29:5608:29:56 Contents Acknowledgements ix Foreword ’ . Stevin and the origins of his Huysbou . Stevin’s ideas about symmetry and order . Building methods and patents . Water: ally and adversary . Stevin and the representation of architecture . Stevin’s contribution to the theory of architecture . New writings on architecture ’ : . The history of Huysbou . The fi rst Huysbou reconstructions . The reconstruction of Huysbou . Contents of Stevin’s Huysbou ‘ ’ On the like-sidedness of buildings On underground structures On façades On stairs On ceilings and vaults On roofs On the layout of the parts of a house, such as rooms, courtyards, galleries, gardens, blocks and fi nally of the parts of a room 77461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk viivii 114-11-20054-11-2005 08:29:5608:29:56 On the layout of towns — Various notes/ Various notes about masonry, carpentry, forging and smoke — Notes on Serlio and others/ Concerning some discourses Appendices: Texts, notes and lists of contents Fragments of text intended for Huysbou A Isaac Beeckman: De Huysbouw van Stevin gecompendieert in blaren B Hendrick Stevin: Eenighe stucken der Crychconst Beschreven deur Simon Stevin C Constantijn Huygens: manuscripts (adversaria) Fragments of text on architecture not written for Huysbou D Statements by Stevin about architecture not meant for Huysbou Notes relevant to the reconstruction of Huysbou E Notes on the unfi nished Huysbou Lists of contents F Beeckman’s list of manuscripts by Simon Stevin G Isaac Beeckman: Hoofdstucken ende deelen des Huysbouws H Hendrick Stevin: contents of manuscript ‘Vande oirdening der Steden’ I Hendrick Stevin: ‘I Onderscheyt vande oirdeningh der Steden’ and ‘Byvough Der Stedenoirdeningh, vande Oirdeningh der Deelen eens Huys met ’t gheene daer ancleeft’ J Hendrick Stevin: Tytels en cortbegrypen, vanden Huysbou K Ed Taverne: Architecturae domesticae stevini synopsis Glossary of architectural terms Bibliography Photographic credits Index 77461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk viiiviii 114-11-20054-11-2005 08:29:5608:29:56 Acknowledgements Professor Ed Taverne of Rijksuniversiteit Groningen fi rst explored the pos- sibility of reconstructing Simon Stevin’s Huysbou in . In his article, ‘Ar- chitecturae Domesticae Stevini Synopsis’, he expressed the hope that his ef- forts would encourage further research into the contents of familiar and as yet unknown fragments of Stevin’s treatise on town planning and architec- ture with the eventual purpose of producing an integral publication. In Netherlands Organisation for Scientifi c Research (NWO) made a three-year grant available for an annotated publication of Stevin’s Huysbou texts. I am grateful to Professor Taverne for having entrusted me with the completion of the reconstruction and hope that, despite our differences in approach and interpretation, my endeavours nevertheless correspond to some extent to his original vision. Professor Klaas van Berkel (University of Groningen) supplied invaluable comments on scientifi c-historical aspects of the discussion of Stevin’s treat- ment of architecture, for which I am especially grateful. Dr. H. Janse offered advice on the compilation of the glossary. I would also like to thank Professor Koen Ottenheym (University Utrecht) and Professor Krista De Jonge (Catho- lic University of Louvain) for the interest they have shown in my research. Always very enthusiastic were the comments of Professor Jozef T. Devreese (University of Antwerp, Technical University Eindhoven), born in Stevin’s place of birth, Bruges. Apart from their fi nancial backing for this research, I would also like to thank the NWO for providing the subsidy that made the translation of the published text possible. In addition, I would like to thank Drs. Piet van Slooten, former director of the Humanities section of this organisation for providing organisational support. I also extend my gratitude to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) for fi nancing the production of the publication and of additional translation and editing costs. Professor Dr W. Frijhoff campaigned to encourage this organisation to publish this work on Stevin, while Drs. Yola de Lusenet, head of the institution’s editorial staff, supervised the organisation of the production. D. Gardner, N. Gatehouse, 77461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk461-04_Huysbou_voorwerk ixix 114-11-20054-11-2005 08:29:5608:29:56 S. Herman and J. Rudge provided the translations. I am most grateful for Sam Herman’s efforts in turning the draft manuscript into a readable book. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Janet Armstrong, for her contribu- tion to the preparation and layout of the manuscript which was originally pre- sented to NWO in November . Since the completion of the manuscript many valuable publications came out. It was not always possible anymore to incoperate the results in this book, let alone my own new insights, since the text was already translated many years ago before a lenghty process of editing started. For these publications I have to refer to the bibliography which I have tried to update as much as possible. Concerning my hypothesis for the recon- struction of the Huysbou, I