Roman letter, 72 leaves, 30 lines, five fine woodcut initials with a white interlaced branchwork design on a black ground. Guide letters for the... Ouvrir

Roman letter, 72 leaves, 30 lines, five fine woodcut initials with a white interlaced branchwork design on a black ground. Guide letters for the smaller initials. Small 4to (200 x 147 mm.), antique blindstamped calf (extreme inner margins of five or six leaves expertly & almost invisibly strengthened, verso of final leaf a little dusty). Nuremberg: Johann M?r of K?sberg (Regiomontanus), [ca. 1473-74]. First edition of the first printed book on astronomy; of the greatest rarity with only two other copies having appeared at auction in the last fifty years. "The work of Manilius was the main exemplar of that 'poetic astronomy' which exerted such a powerful influence on German humanist thought from Regiomontanus to Conrad Celtis and beyond."-Rose, The Italian Renaissance of Mathematics, p. 105. Regiomontanus envisioned the new invention of the printing press as one of the chief means of restoring mathematics and astronomy. It was this book and the others in Regiomontanus' publishing program with which he formally launched the renaissance of astronomy and mathematics, issuing the most important texts in edited and corrected editions. The Astronomicon describes the sphere, zodiacal and other constellations, great circles, comets, and astral influences on human beings. It put forward a number of sound astronomical hypotheses, especially relating to the nature of the stars, and became an important textbook, representing the most advanced views on astronomy of ancient Roman times. The text of the poem, composed in the first century A.D., had only recently been discovered when it received this, its first printing. This book was printed at the press of Regiomontanus, the foremost astronomer of the time, who established the first observatory in Europe, and was the first publisher of astronomical and mathematical literature. He had finally settled in Nuremberg after a career in Italy under Cardinal Bessarion and, more recently in Vienna, as librarian to Mathias Corvinus. The press was probably a private one and not a commercial office; it was the first scientific publishing house. Its output was limited to some ten titles, all issued within a year and a half, of which this is the only one to bear a full colophon. The type, apparently never used again, seems to have been cut in imitation of the smaller type of Sweynheym and Pannartz at Rome. It is amongst the most elegant of the early roman types used in Germany. This and the second edition (Bologna: ca. 1474) were printed from independent sources. The great modern editor of Manilius, A.E. Housman, considered this the more important textually and believed that Regiomontanus must have corrected the text himself as so many corrections are not to be found in any surviving manuscript (Housman, V, p. xvii). Neither of Manilius' other great editors, Scaliger and Bentley, knew of this edition, and so Regiomontanus' corrections were incorporated into the text only in the 20th century. This is an extremely rare book. As we have mentioned above, only two other copies have appeared at auction in the past fifty years. The ISTC-in-progress records only the Chapin, Harvard, Huntington, and Morgan Library copies in the U.S. Fine copy. 18th-century crowned stamp on outer margin of title and foot of final leaf. ❧ B.M.C., II, p. 456. Goff M-202. Klebs 661.1. Lalande, p. 9-"Le premier livre d'astronomie qu'on imprima." Stillwell, The Awakening Interest in Science during the First Century of Printing 1450-1550, 75. . Fermer

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London W. Strahan & T. Cadell 1778 Two large quarto volumes (8.5" x 10.6875"); [8], 510; [8], 589, [1] pages. Complete with half-title in... Ouvrir

London W. Strahan & T. Cadell 1778 Two large quarto volumes (8.5" x 10.6875"); [8], 510; [8], 589, [1] pages. Complete with half-title in Volume II (no half-title called for in Volume I). Contemporary calf, rebacked, with original gilt spines and morocco labels laid down. Corners renewed. First published in 1776, this Second Edition is scarcer than the first with only 500 copies printed and is the only other edition published in quarto format. "The second edition exhibits a number of alterations large and small, some providing new information, some correcting matters of fact, some perfecting the idiom, and a large number now documenting references in footnotes" (William B. Todd, in the 1976 Oxford edition of THE WEALTH OF NATIONS). Adam Smith (1723-1790) spent ten years in the writing and perfecting of THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. The book succeeded at once, and the first edition was exhausted in six months. Goldsmith 11663; Grolier, 100 English, 57; KressB 154; PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN 221: "The certainty of its criticism and its grasp of human nature have made it the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought." Armorial bookplate of Gorham Parsons on the front pastedown of each volume. Some foxing and browning, heavier in the first volume which has the front free endpaper and the title strengthened at inner and outer margins. Occasional slight offsetting to the text in the second volume which has the final gathering strengthened in the gutter. Very Good set in a contemporary binding Fermer

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Paris: Teriade Editeur, 1956, first Chagall edition, two volumes, number 246 of 275 exemplars (total edition 295), printed on Montval paper, signed... Ouvrir

Paris: Teriade Editeur, 1956, first Chagall edition, two volumes, number 246 of 275 exemplars (total edition 295), printed on Montval paper, signed by Marc Chagall on the justification page. The complete book with the Bible text, illustrated with 105 original etchings by Marc Chagall; pp. 124 + 108, loose leaves in 2 thick Arches paper folders with four folded flaps and black printing on the front, inside publisher's 2 board chemises covered with grey paper printed in gold on the spine for each volume; housed in publisher's slipcase. In very close to excellent condition. Size of each book 18 x 13.5 x 3 in (46 x 35.5 x 7 cm); overall size 18.5 x 14 x 5.5 in (47 x 36 x 14 cm). References: Rauch 148; Klipstein 1960, The Artist & The Book 53; Cramer 29; Sorlier 199-303 (p.62); Monod 1532; The Artist & The Book in France p.326; Meyer 24; From Manet to Hockney 88. Aside from totally insignificant imperfections on the chemises and slipcase, this is a superb exemplar of a book that is now quite rare, especially in this condition (very clean and bright, no habitual foxing, no tears, no creases, no staining). Fermer

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