421. BÉLIDOR (Bernard Forest de). Architecture hydraulique, ou l'art de conduire, d'élever et de ménager les Eaux. Paris. Jombert, Barrois et Didot. 1782 - 1790. 2 parts in 4 volumes in-4, half havane calf with small corners, spine ribbed and decorated (period binding). Second edition illustrated with 2 frontispieces by Rigaud and 219 folding plates. This famous treatise by Bélidor, published between 1737 and 1753, brings together in 4 volumes the essentials of 18th-century knowledge of hydraulic engineering and construction in aquatic environments. Ex-libris Mancel. Staining on the first 20 pages of the first volume. In an identical binding: SILBERSCHLAG. (Jean-Isaye). Théorie des fleuves, avec l'art de bâtir dans leurs eaux, et de prévenir leurs ravages. Paris. Jombert. 1769. French first edition, first published in Leipzig in 1756. Silberschlag's treatise complements Belidor's. Wormholes in margins.