DÜRER, Albrecht

De Sym[m]etria partium in rectis formis hu[m]anorum corporum, Libri in latinum conversi. Nuremberg, (H. Andrea) for Dürer's widow, 1532[bound with:] De varietate figurarum et flexuris partium ac gestib[us] libri duo.

Nuremberg, Hieronymus Formschneyder for Dürer's widow, 1534 Two works in one vol, folio (318 x 200 mm), ff 80 [including last blank] with 72 full-page woodcuts and several smaller woodcuts in text; 56 [including last blank, and the four leaves with fold-out extensions], with 71, mostly full-page, woodcuts; first two leaves of the first work with minor repairs to upper margins, and with a few spots and fingerstains; in the second work quire g6 and leaf k1 misbound, one extension cut close, minimally touching one letter, and with restoration to upper margin, occasionally a little spotted, final blank and rear end-papers stained, a fine copy in early seventeenth-century German vellum over boards employing a sheet from a medieval Biblical manuscript, ties lacking, inner hinges repaired. £25,000 A fine copy of the first Latin editions of Dürer's highly important contributions to the science of art, anatomy, and the theory of human proportions. This comprises the highly influential translation of Camerarius of all books of the Vier Bücher von menschlicher Proportion (Nuremberg 1528), which 'should, of course, accompany each other, but [because of their different dates of publication] they are often found apart and separately bound' (Fairfax Murray). Joachim Camerarius (the elder), a devoted classical scholar, translated both texts, after Dürer's friend Willibald Pirckheimer had abandoned his attempt. Camerarius' translation ensured the popularity of Dürer's theoretical work throughout Europe. 'Without Camerarius' translation Dürer's writings would not have achieved widespread influence in Europe... His theory of proportions was not only a part of artistic discourse, but - now in the language of the learned - could become part of European scientific literature. Without Camerarius' work Michelangelo never would have seen the Proportionslehre' (translated from the Dürer catalogue, 1971). 'As early as his Wanderjahre Dürer had come to appreciate the works of Mantegna and other Italian artists. He wished to learn more of the artistic and philosophical rediscoveries of the Italian Renaissance (he knew from books about the Academy of Florence, modelled on Plato's Academy). Moreover he had become convinced thart the new art must be based upon science - in particular, upon mathematics, as the most exact, logical, and graphically constructive of the sciences. It was this realisation that led him to the scientific work for which he was, in his lifetime, as celebrated as for his art. He decided to travel to Italy and in 1494 left his wife in Nuremberg and set off on foot to visit Venice. 'On his return to Nuremberg in 1495, Dürer began a serious study of mathematics and of the theory of art as derived from works handed down from antiquity, especially Euclid's Elements and the De architectura of Vitruvius... Most importantly, however, this period marked the beginning of Dürer's experiments with scientific perspective and mathematical proportion. ... In 1505-1507 Dürer returned to Venice. He extended his Italian travels to Bologna on this occasion, "on account" he wrote, "of secret [knowledge of] perspective." He most probably made the journey to meet Luca Pacioli, the mathematician and art theorist. This period of Dürer's life marks the full maturity of his mathematical, philosophical, and aesthetic theory' (DSB). I: Bohatta Bibliographie der kunsttheoretischen Werke Albrecht Dürers, n 20 (the 1528 edition of De symmetria has been proved to be a ghost since 1971) and 21; Dürer exhibition catalogue, Nuremberg, 1971, no 495 and xyz; Fairfax Murray 152 and 153; Meder p 288 XXIX; Dodgson I 265; VD 16 D 2860 and 2861

• GBP 25,000.00 > other currencies
• ordernr.: 1714

• bookseller: W P Watson Antiquarian Books (GREAT BRITAIN)