Title within architectural woodcut border & many woodcuts in the text (many highlighted in red). Printed in black letter. [208] pp. Small 4to, modern calf (title with a few minor stains). London: “Prynted in Southwarke in Saynt Thomas Hospitall, by me James Nicolson,” [1537].

First edition of the first English work on surveying in the modern sense: the measuring and plotting of land. In the 16th century, “surveying” could also mean giving instructions to land stewards and overseers of the manor; John Fitzherbert wrote the first book on that subject in 1523. Our book is very rare and is a fine copy.

Benese (d. 1547), Augustinian canon and surveyor to Henry VIII, noted that sellers tended to overestimate the size of the land they were selling and buyers underestimated. He set out to devise geometric rules for the accurate measuring of land to be sold. More

40 leaves (the final blank). Small folio (332 x 210 mm.), orig. paste-paper boards (spine & extremities somewhat worn), uncut. [Clausthal?: ca. 1815].

A fine and legible manuscript instructional manual on techniques and problems of mine surveying. The text is divided into five chapters: “Von der Vorbereitung zum Markscheiden” (“On preparations for measuring the area in which mining may be carried out”), “Von Bennenung der Gänge und Klüfte” (“On the naming of seams and fissures”), “Vom Observiren” (“On Observations”), “Vom Vermaß oder Verbestimmung eines Grubenfelds” (“On measuring and defining a mining claim”), and “Von Wasserfällen, Wasserleitungen und Tiefbau” (“On waterfalls, water conduits and underground mining”)... More

One folding engraved plate. [6] pp. Small 4to, attractive modern marbled boards, leather lettering-piece on spine. Augsburg: D. Francken, 1610.

First edition and very rare. Faulhaber (1580-1635), a teacher of mathematics at Ulm and a friend of Kepler, made his most lasting accomplishments in the dissemination and explanation of the logarithmic method of calculation.

This is Faulhaber’s second book and caused him considerable problems with the city’s municipal council, as it was published without the permission of the office responsible for supervision of the schools. This book describes a surveying instrument invented by Daniel Speckle in the Netherlands. The fine plate depicts... More

Title within architectural woodcut border incorporating the date “1534.” Largely printed in black letter. 67 leaves, [8] pp. Small 8vo, antique calf by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, spine gilt, red leather lettering pieces on spine. [London: Printed by H. Wykes?], 1567.

An early edition of the first text on surveying printed in English. The first edition was printed by Richard Pynson in 1523; all early editions are rare, as copies were used to death. Our copy is most unusual as it is fine and large with a number of lower edges uncut.

Fitzherbert’s book is concerned primarily with giving instruction to land stewards and overseers of the... More

24 folding woodcut plates & numerous woodcuts in the text of Part I. 12 p.l. (first leaf a blank), 316 pp., one leaf of errata; 205 leaves (incl. added title with woodcut, final three leaves blank). Two parts in one vol. Small 8vo, cont. vellum (carefully rebacked in vellum, later endpapers). Rome: A. Tinassi, 1679.

First edition, presentation copy, with an “Ex dono Auctoris” inscription on front endpaper to an unidentified recipient (in the recipient’s hand). “The Tariffa, perhaps the rarest of all Kircher’s works and his least characteristic, is entirely mathematical. It treats primarily geometrical figures and simple trigonometry. The work is organized in... More

One folding engraved plate. Title within ornamental type border. 2 p.l., 12 pp. Small 4to, attractive antique calf (minor worming at head), spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Nuremberg: P. Fürsten, n.d. [but about 1660].

First published in 1597, this is a description of the author’s newly invented quadrant — depicted on the plate — which could be used by engineers for surveying. It was an extremely successful text with at least five later editions. Ritter (1579-died after 1640), a native of Nuremberg, was an astronomer and innovative cartographer, famous for his “sundial” world map. He had studied... More