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

One large & finely engraved folding plate & numerous woodcut diagrams in the text. 4 p.l., 40, 49-72 pp. (but quite complete). Small 4to, modern vellum-backed boards (minor browning). Amsterdam: W. Jansz, 1616.

First edition in German, originally published in Dutch in 1612; both editions are very rare. WorldCat lists no copy of either edition in North America.

In this work, Dou (1572-1635), land surveyor and gauger of wine for the city of Leiden, describes an instrument that is a derivative of the astrolabe. It is known as the “Holland Circle” or vollkreisgerätes, a circular surveying instrument with a compass in the center, two fixed... 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

Engraved frontis. port. of Leybourn and numerous woodcut diagrams & tables in the text. Title printed in red & black. 6 p.l., 84, 177-279 pp. Small folio, cont. sheep (some wear & rubbing, a few unimportant stains). London: R. & W. Leybourn for E. Brewster & G. Sawbridge, 1653.

First edition under this title. “Of all the seventeenth-century writers on surveying, William Leybourn probably exerted a greater influence on the practicing surveyor than any other, with the possible exception of John Love. Leybourn’s first contribution to surveying was a short pamphlet, Pantometria or the Whole Art of Surveying, published in London in 1650 and written under the... More

Added engraved title (with the arms & port. of the dedicatee, Christian Ludwig I, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin) & 32 engraved plates (one is folding). 12 p.l., 408, [20] pp. Small thick 4to, cont. vellum over boards (minor browning throughout). Würzburg: J.G. Schönwetter, 1660.

First edition of one of the most comprehensive works of the period dealing with all kinds of measuring operations, including surveying. Many of the instruments described were preserved in Kircher’s museum. This book, along with that of Claramontius, “contains the most important records of the leveling instruments of this period.”–Kiely, Surveying Instruments, p. 130–(& see pp. 130-33, 136, 137, 139, 233, 241, & 340).

Fine copy. Contemporary ownership inscription on title. More