HUES, Robert.

Tractatus de Globis, Coelesti et Terrestri eorumque Usu.

Finely engraved vignette on title of a globe, numerous woodcut illus. in the text, & one volvelle on p. 83. 12 p.l., 130 pp. Small 4to, attractive antique vellum (some occasional cropping), panelled in gilt, a.e.g. Amsterdam: H. Hondius, 1624. An important early edition of the first English book on globes; it remained the standard work on globes for nearly a century. This edition is annotated by the distinguished Dutch cosmographer and historian Isaac Pontanus (1571-1639), and published by the artist and great dealer in all things geographical, Hondius. The first edition was published in England in 1594. Hues (1553-1632), wrote at the height of the great age of exploration; he circumnavigated the world with Thomas Cavendish (1586-88) as navigator-geographer. Originally written to accompany a pair of globes by Emery Molyneux, the largest ever made, this book is in five parts. "Because, unlike Hood, who appears never to have gone to sea, Hues combined mastery of the practice as well as of the theory of navigation, his treatise is of particular interest... "The first part treats of the features common to both globes; of their frames; of the circles described upon their surfaces, such as the equator...In the second part of his treatise Hues dealt with subjects 'proper to the Celestial Globe'. These were such matters as the planets, the stars and their constellations, both northern and southern, the zodiac and 'the other stars which are not expressed in globes'... "In the third part Hues briefly described the land and seas delineated on the terrestrial globe, reviewed the bounds of geographical discovery in his day, and discussed the problem of determining the size of the earth and the measurement of a degree... "In his fourth part Hues speaks of the practical uses of the globe. Besides its purely astronomical and geographical uses, the globe, he explained, was invaluable in the art of navigation... "It was in the fifth and last part of his Tractatus that he introduced something quite new, a detailed explanation 'of the Rombes that are described in the Terrestrial globe and their use'... Hues, in a short but brilliantly lucid treatise, discussed first the general characteristics and significance of rhu?b lines in navigation, and then their particular use when represented on a globe, in the solution of various navigational problems... "Hue's Tractatus de Globis remained the standard work on globes for nearly a century."­Waters, The Art of Navigation in England, pp. 192-94. Fine copy. Alden, European America, 617.67. Taylor, The Mathematical Practitioners of Tudor & Stuart England 1485-1714, pp. 178 & 332.

• USD 3,750.00 > Andere Währungen
• Bestellnummer: HillBibl-167

• Antiquariat: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (USA)