Euclide / Giovanni Tacuino - Euclidis Megarensis...

EUCLID – EUCLIDES MEGARENSIS PHILOSOPHI PLATONICI MATHEMATICARUM DISCIPLINARUM IANITORIS Venice, Giovanni Tacuino (Johannes Tacuinus), 26 March 1510. Latin translation and edition by Bartolomeo Zamberti. Folio. Extensively illustrated throughout with woodcut geometrical, mathematical and astronomical diagrams. An important and very early Venetian edition of the mathematical works of Euclid, printed by Giovanni Tacuino in 1510, during the first decades of mathematical printing in Renaissance Venice. The text was edited and translated into Latin by the Venetian humanist and mathematician Bartolomeo Zamberti, whose work was based directly upon the Greek textual tradition. Tacuino had previously published Zamberti's Euclid in 1505; this 1510 edition is closely related to that printing, with part of the earlier setting reused and the later portion reset. The volume contains the Elements, Books I–XV, together with the additional Euclidean works Phaenomena, Optica, Catoptrica and Data, as well as associated ancient commentaries and the Protheoria of Marinus. Of particular interest is the separately signed section containing Euclid's Data (AA–FF), extensively illustrated with geometrical woodcut diagrams and preserved through its concluding FINIS. Throughout the volume are numerous geometrical and mathematical diagrams printed directly alongside the propositions, together with astronomical figures and ornamental/historiated woodcut initials. These illustrations make the volume a particularly attractive example of early sixteenth-century scientific printing. The final colophon is preserved and reads in part: Impressum Venetiis ... in aedibus Ioannis Tacuini librarii ... Anno reconciliatae divinitatis M.D.X. VII. Klendas Aprilis. VII Kalendas Aprilis corresponds to 26 March 1510. The colophon is accompanied by the large woodcut printer's device of Giovanni Tacuino, with the initials I.T. and the motto “DEO IMMORTALI GLORIA.” Completeness and condition The printed text is complete, including the separately signed subsidiary works and the final colophon. The title-page and the binding are lacking. The surviving text block has been checked through its constituent sections and signatures. The various mathematical works are present through their respective conclusions, including the separately signed Data section ending with FINIS. The leaves are preserved in remarkably attractive condition for a scientific work printed more than five centuries ago. The paper remains strong, with generally generous margins and a clear, dark impression of both the type and the numerous woodcut diagrams. There is occasional staining, spotting, handling and other age-related wear, together with some marginal imperfections, as visible in the photographs. The volume is presently unbound. Lacking: title-page and binding. Printed text: complete. Final colophon: present. Tacuino printer's device: present. Numerous original woodcut mathematical and astronomical diagrams throughout. A remarkable survivor of early Renaissance mathematical printing and an important Venetian edition of one of the foundational works in the history of mathematics. Venice, Giovanni Tacuino, 26 March 1510. Reference: EDIT16 CNCE 18351.

Estimate:£3,808.65

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