London: Printed by the Author, 1671.. Engraved frontispiece, thirty-seve plates (six portraits, thirty-one views and plans [two of these folding,... More

London: Printed by the Author, 1671.. Engraved frontispiece, thirty-seve plates (six portraits, thirty-one views and plans [two of these folding, twenty-nine double- page]), nineteen maps (two folding, seventeen double-page), sixty-six engraved illustrations. Ruled in red throughout, title printed in red and black. Folio. Contemporary English paneled calf gilt, covers with paneling tooled with fillets and roll tools, the inner panels with lozenge-shaped stylized floral-spray tools, expertly repaired, the spine in seven compartments with raised bands, green morocco lettering-pieces in the second and third compartments lettered in gilt, edges stained in gilt. Portrait facing p.60 expertly remargined, some small neat repairs to margins and folds. Very good. In a tan morocco-backed cloth box, lettered in gilt on spine. A very fine large copy of Ogilby's first edition of this important work, here ruled in red for presentation and including the rare Lords Proprietors map of Carolina. The binding, the size and the rubrication of this copy of Ogilby's most important publication all suggest that this copy was prepared for presentation. The ruling in red of a book (an essential part of manuscript production in the middle ages) had come to be a costly extra process by the second half of the 17th century, and one that was reserved for copies of books that were intended for presentation. The McGill University copy of Francis Willughby's ORNITHOLOGY (published in 1678) was edited by John Ray and presented by him to Samuel Pepys (probably when he was President of the Royal Society) - it is ruled in red. From the spine labels on the present volume which are lettered "Ogilby's / Atlas / Vol.3. / America" it is clear that this copy formed part of a collection of works published by Ogilby, that were placed under the general title of "Ogilby's Atlas" by the 18th-century owner and would probably have included his volumes on Africa, Asia, China and Japan. The present copy is also unusual in that it contains the so-called Lords Proprietors map "A New Discription [sic] of Carolina By Order of the Lords Proprietors" - a map that was commissioned by Ogilby for this work, but which was not included in the earlier issues of the book as it was apparently not available until, at the earliest, 1672 and possibly as late as 1675. The present copy is the second issue of the first edition and is complete. Our definition of the first three issues of the first edition is as follows: 1) dated 1671, with both the "Arx Carolina" plate and the "Virginia pars australis..." map, without the "Carolina" map, possibly without the "Barbados" map, and with the plate list including the "Arx…" and "Virginia...," but not the "Carolina" or "Barbados." 2) dated 1671, with the "Carolina..." map replacing both the "Arx..." plate and the "Virginia..." map. The "Barbados" map is included, but the plate list still includes the "Arx…" and "Virginia...," but not the "Carolina" or "Barbados." 3) dated 1671, with the "Carolina..." map replacing both the "Arx..." plate and the "Virginia..." map. The "Barbados" map is include, and the plate list has been removed and substituted by a reset cancel that no longer includes either the "Arx…" or the "Virginia...," but probably still does not include the "Carolina" or "Barbados." These definitions are somewhat at variance with Cumming GEOGRAPHICAL MISCONCEPTIONS, Baer MARYLAND and EUROPEAN AMERICANA - but they all contradict each other to some degree as well, and none of them agree with either Sabin or Borba de Moraes. The work is an English translation of Arnold Montanus' DE NIEUWE EN ONBEKENDE WEERELD, but with a number of additions concerning New England, New France, Maryland and Virginia. The work is divided into three books or sections and an appendix: the first gives an overall survey of the most important voyages and expeditions to the Americas; the second book offers a description of Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, Bermuda, and North America; the third deals with South America and the appendix includes a miscellany of information including notes on the "Unknown South-Land," the "Arctick Region," and the search for the northwest passage. ARENTS 315A. BAER MARYLAND 70A-C (ref). BORBA DE MORAES, p.626 (ref). CHURCH 613. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 671/204-207 (ref). JCB III:227-228. SABIN 50089. STOKES VI, p.262 (ref). K.S. van Eerde, JOHN OGILBY AND THE TATE OF HIS TIMES, p.107. WING O-165. Carolina map: CUMMING SOUTHEAST IN EARLY MAPS 70. DEGREES OF LATITUDE 13. Less

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Woodcut vignette on title, two engraved headpieces, five folding engraved plates, & woodcut diagrams in the text. 6 p.l., 210, [3] pp. Folio,... More

Woodcut vignette on title, two engraved headpieces, five folding engraved plates, & woodcut diagrams in the text. 6 p.l., 210, [3] pp. Folio, early 19th-cent. half red morocco & red boards (minor browning), flat spine gilt. Toulouse: J. Pech, 1679. First edition, and now rare on the market; this copy belonged to Dominique Fran?s Jean Arago (1786-1853), the great French scientist who made important contributions to astronomy, electro-magnetism, and optics (see D.S.B., I, pp. 200-03). This book, Fermat's only substantial publication apart from his edition of Diophantus (both prepared and published posthumously by his son), contains the majority of Fermat's mathematical work. Included are Fermat's important researches on analytic geometry, developed concurrently with, but independently of, Descartes, as well as his method of maxima and minima, based upon which some have proclaimed Fermat the true first discoverer of the differential calculus. It also includes the first printing of Fermat's important correspondence with Pascal which founded the modern theory of probability. There is also correspondence with other contemporary mathematicians, including Mersenne, Roberval, Wallis, Digby, and Gassendi. Although Fermat published practically nothing during his lifetime, his work was freely communicated to others in correspondence and was profoundly influential. Descartes and Pascal notwithstanding, many scholars regard Fermat as the greatest of all 17th-century French mathematicians. Fermat (1601-65), was shy of publicity and reluctant to communicate his findings. As a result, his discoveries remained comparatively unappreciated until the 19th century when they catalyzed the development of modern algebra. The title-page is in Horblit's second state (no preference), while leaves a2 and e2 are in his first state (no preference). The rare portrait of Fermat, not present here, was also not found in the Horblit, Honeyman, or Norman copies. A small minority of copies have the portrait; it was printed in a much larger format than the book and was probably intended only for large paper copies, of which a few survive (e.g. one of the two BL copies). A very good and crisp copy. With the signature of Arago on the title-page (his sale, Paris, 1854, lot 824 "in-f. dem. m. r.") and with a slightly later note of an English collector "From the Library of F. Arago, H.S." ❧ Dibner, Heralds of Science, 108-"The above, published after his death, first presented his work and correspondence." En Fran?s dans le Texte 115. Evans, Exhibition of First Editions of Epochal Achievements in the History of Science (1934), 6. Horblit 30-"Fermat is considered the father of the modern theory of numbers, and herald of differential calculus and analytical geometry." . Less

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London: Printed by Humfrey Lownes, for Robert Clerke, 1616.. [16],61,[2]pp. plus folding engraved map of New England. Small quarto. Full calf in... More

London: Printed by Humfrey Lownes, for Robert Clerke, 1616.. [16],61,[2]pp. plus folding engraved map of New England. Small quarto. Full calf in antique style. Light dampstaining on top edge. Some careful expert paper restoration to upper foremargins of first ten leaves or so (including titlepage), and to a lesser extent on some later leaves. Map trimmed to the neat line, with a very small hole (4 x 25 mm.) at center in the ocean, neatly filled in. Some contemporary manuscript on verso of title- leaf and first text leaf. A nice copy. One of the great rarities of colonial Americana, Smith's A DESCRIPTION OF NEW ENGLAND... was, according to Streeter, "the pilgrim's principal guide to their American haven." Based on Smith's two visits to the New England coast in 1614 and 1615, this book did much to encourage later settlement in New England, preceding by four years the sailing of the Mayflower. In fact, Smith named Plymouth Rock, and described the place as "an excellent good harbour, good lands, and no want of anything but industrious people." Smith's first voyage was financed by a group of London merchants, with the primary objective being the search for whales and gold mines (the gold mines turned out to be "the masters device to get a voyage"). That first visit was relatively brief but afforded ample opportunities for trading with the Indians and for the collection of much geographical and natural history information. On his second voyage in 1615, Smith met with less success; thwarted by storms and pirates, he was eventually taken prisoner by a French warship. During his free time as a captive, Smith wrote A DESCRIPTION OF NEW ENGLAND..., destined to reveal the advantages and prospects for future adventurers to the region. "The use of the term 'New England' on the title page of this book established that name for the region that until then had been called North Virginia. The 'altered names' leaf, inserted between A4 and B1, records thirty new names chosen by Prince Charles to replace the mainly Indian place names of New England. All of the new names seem to have stuck except Cape James for Cape Cod" - Streeter. The rare map, printed by George Low, is here present in the fourth state as described by Sabin, Church, and Burden (there are nine recorded states of the map). Only the exceedingly rare first two states of the map properly belong with the book, both produced in 1616 (most copies, however, contain later states of the map; the only copy in some decades to have the first issue was the Siebert copy). Based on surveys made by Captain Smith for the Council for New England, the map is considered the foundation of New England cartography. It stands as the first map on which the name New England appears. The map depicts the area from the present Penobscot Bay in Maine, to Cape Cod. A monumental American rarity of the greatest possible importance. While not the main entry in PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN, Smith's GENERALL HISTORIE..., this work appeared eight years earlier, and is wholly incorporated into that work. CHURCH 369 (originally with 6th state of the map, but with the Britwell Court 1st state later substituted). BURDEN 187. STC 22788. VAIL 40. JCB II, pp.113-15. SABIN 82819. STREETER SALE 610. STREETER, AMERICANA BEGINNINGS 11. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 616/107. SIEBERT SALE 94. SCHWARTZ & EHRENBERG, pp.96-99. DEK, PICTURING AMERICA 19 (illustrating one of the NYPL copies). PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN 124. Less

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