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All auctions / Books, Maps & Manuscripts / Nova Stereometria Doliorum Vinariorum
KEPLER, Johannes (1571-1630). Nova stereometria doliorum vinariorum. Linz: Johannes Planck, 1615. First edition, with the rare errata leaf, of "one of the most significant works in the history of mathematics" (Caspar) and the first book printed in Linz, Austria. After the death of his first wife, Kepler remarried in 1613 and settled in Linz. Kepler outfitted his new home with barrels of wine, but he questioned the method the wine merchant used to measure the volume of the barrels, which determined the price. Kepler proposed an innovative solution: to accurately calculate the volume of a wine barrel, think of the contents of a full barrel as made up of numerous thin “leaves” arranged in layers, and treat the volume as the sum of the volumes of these leaves (in the case of a barrel, each of the leaves is a cylinder). He then added up the volumes of the component leaves to obtain the total volume of the given solid. Kepler reported his results in this 1615 book, “New solid geometry of wine barrels,” a systematic work on the calculation of areas and volumes by infinitesimal techniques and one of the most significant works in the prehistory of calculus (Edwards). Kepler had trouble finding a local printer who would assume the risk of issuing a sophisticated mathematics book in Latin, so in 1615 he brought Johannes Planck, a printer from Erfurt, to Linz. Nova stereometria was published later that year and thus represents the first book printed in that city. Caspar 48; Hoock & Jeannin II/K3.1; Tomash & Williams K25; USTC 2094957. See Caspar, Kepler (1959), pp. 233-240; C.H. Edwards, The Historical Development of the Calculus (1979), p. 102. Folio (278 x 184mm). Errata leaf, cut and pasted on final folio leaf as usual; woodcut mathematical illustrations and diagrams throughout (pages slightly browned and occasionally foxed; small paper restorations to upper margin of leaves G2-I1 sometimes affecting running title and portions of first two lines of text from leaves G4-H2, with missing text redrawn in ink; a few adjacent leaves have progressively smaller paper restorations in the same area affecting running title only, diagram shaved at foot on H3v). Early full vellum over boards, ink titling on spine (boards slightly warped, old repair along the length of lower joint); blue clamshell box.
Estimate:£18,673.75
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Estimate:
£18,673.75
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