A professor at Manchester University, R. A. Cordingley pioneered the study of regional architecture, devising and perfecting its recording system.

A complete reference to the classical orders of architecture, this magnificently illustrated volume covers the Greek, Roman, and Renaissance periods. In addition to its fully representative selection of works by Italian and French Renaissance architects, the collection features a fine series of measured drawings derived from still-extant monuments of Greek and Roman antiquity. Since the "Orders" created by the Renaissance builders were based upon the earlier structures, this book provides a means of critical comparison as well as an excellent perspective on the growth and significance of the architectural orders.

Eighty black-and-white plates by Augustus Pugin and other distinguished artists depict details of works by such architects as Vitruvius, Palladio, Vignola, Serlio, and Lescot. Featured Greek buildings include the Parthenon, the temples of Apollo and Jupiter, the Portico of Augustus, the Aqueduct of Hadrian, and others. More than twenty Roman structures include the Pantheon, the Colosseum and buildings in the adjacent forum, and the temples of Paestum.

Dover (2015) republication of the first English edition of Parallel of the Orders of Architecture: Greek, Roman and Renaissance, 1829.