TARTAGLIA, NICCOLÒ FONTANA                                                           $ 30,500.00 

Prima (-Sesta) parte del general trattato dei numeri, et misure. 

Venice: Cuzio Troiano Navò,  1556 – 1560   First Edition Complete Set

 

Housed in Archival Presentation Conservatory Clamshell Boxes, which are titled on the box spines, and lined with fine Morocco, 23 kt. gold hand-tooled doublures.

 

First edition of Tartaglia's grand mathematical compendium comprising all aspects of arithmetic, including commercial transactions, surveying, gauging and theoretical questions. Tartaglia also took the opportunity to denigrate in print his fellow mathematicians Girolamo Cardano and Ludovico Ferrari whom Tartaglia claimed had plagiarized his work.  Galileo Studied these works, from 1582-83 with Tataglia’s pupil Ostilio Ricci, informing his own subsequent writings.

 

This large folio set is composed of the complete 6 parts, in 2 volumes.  Folio (294 x 213 mm and 293 x 212 mm).  Woodcut portrait of Tartaglia on first two title-pages and at end of preliminaries of parts 3-6, woodcut printer's device on all title-pages, woodcut arms of the dedicatees (Richard Wentworth in first part, Daniele d'Anna in third part, Camillo Martinengo in fourth part, Sforza Pallavicino in fifth part, Girolamo Martinengo in sixth part), woodcut initials, woodcut diagrams and illustrations (some marginal).

 

Vol 1: (containing parts 1 and 2) Calf backed paste-boards with vellum corners, spine label gilt, edges sprinkled red; 2T lacking, with second set of gathering T erroneously bound in its place (T corrected to "Tt" in manuscript), front hinge cracking, spine dry & worn, boards rubbed; damp-staining and scattered foxing, F2 w/ 2 1/2 in. tear to lower margin.

 

Vol 2: (containing parts 3 through 6) Full limp vellum with overlapping edges, remnants of ties, spine titled in manuscript, edges stained red; vellum soiled, burnhole to upper cover, a few marks of worming to both covers, bleeding of red staining extending a bit onto first few ff, scattered spots and some occasional soiling.

 

REFERENCES

Brunet V. col 660; Edit16 31550; Hoock & Jeannin T3.1; Smith p 275; Tomash & Williams T9; USTC 858112; Van Egmond pp.345-346

Archival Clamshell; Gallery BookArts, Washington, D.C.  20006 USA      2019