Corrigez et Radvits Nouvellement en Francois, Avec des Notes & Des Figures,' c.1673, by Chez Jean Baptiste Coignard, Claude Perrault (1613-1688), first professor of physiology and pathology at the University of Paris, then member of the Academy of Sciences, was from 1666 commissioned by Colbert to establish a new French translation of 'On Architecture' by Vitruvius. Published in 1673, then in 1684, in a second enlarged edition, it is more than a simple translation by the numerous comments and notes by Perrault, printed at the bottom of the page. The author thus participates in the debates of the time around architecture. Even more, he takes an active part in it; he disputes the idea, coming from Vitruvius, that architectonic proportions are subject to natural laws. Also calling into question the measures of ancient architecture, Perrault encouraged Colbert to entrust Antoine Desgodetz with the mission of establishing new surveys of the ruins of Rome, which he would do in 1674, a/f