STÖFFLER, Johannes. Calendarium Romanum Magnum.
Oppenheim, Jacobum Koebel, March 24, 1518
Bound with: MÜNSTER, Sebastian. Rudimenta mathematica. Haec in duos digeruntur libros, quorum prior geometriae tradit principia seu prima elementa. Posterior vero omnigenum horologiorum docet delineationes.
Basel, H. Petri, 1551
Bound with: REGIOMONTANUS, Johannes. De quadratura curculi, dialogus, & rationes diversae separatim aliquot libellus exquisitae: ad ea de re Cardinalis Cusani tradita & inventa.
Nuremberg, Johann Petreius, 1533
3 Works in one folio volume, 304x205 mm. Contemporary blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, spine with four raised bands, two brass clasps, renewed flyleaves. Stamp "Bibliothek das Franziskanerkloster Miltenberg" on the title pages and on some pages.
I: Leaves [14] 74 [50, with 32 text leaves, 62 columns, 4 full-page illustrations, blank verso of last leaf]; a total of 138 leaves, including 2 leaves of Errata. Title page within araldic frame, architectonic frame at leaf *2r, full-page illustration of the anatomical man within the same frame of the title, Abacus, Calendar and plates imprinted in red and black, 24 small topographic illustrations in the Abaco, 12 depictions of the months and 12 of the zodiac in the calendar, 63 with lunar eclipses and solar, 4 full page of astronomical instruments in red and black, numerous initials, all engraved in woodcut.
Handwritten note of ownership on the Titlepage “Conventus Miltenberg.” dated 1731. Light traces of use and occasional foxing, overall a fine copy with wide margins.
Rare first edition. Work printed in the first Oppenheim printing house, active from 1503 to 1532. Redgrave: "The most famous book by J. Koebel and the finest production of the Oppenheim press." The numbered leaves consist of 41 propositions dedicated to the zodiac, to the eclipses, to the calculation of Easter, etc. The Calendar, printed in red and black, is illustrated with woodcuts showing the appropriate occupations for each month, followed by a chapter on the eclipses of the moon. Then there is the Abacus Regionum for totam ferme Europam that provides the positions of various places starting from England, Ireland and Scotland. In addition to extensive astronomical information, the work contains sections on the salassi, ancient and modern observances of Easter and the calendar reform. The latter occupies 24 columns, at the bottom of each of which a small woodcut illustrates a city or a battle. The book ends with 4 full-page illustrations of astronomical instruments printed in red and blacK.
Adams S-1884; Caillet 10385; Fairfax Murray German 403; Houzeau e Lancaster I; 13730 "Forte raro"; Proctor 11939; Bene, I, 6102. Gilbert R. Redgrave, Some Early Book-Illustrations of the Oppenheim Press, 1896.
II: Work in Two Parts. Pages [12, including the last two blank], 242, [2]. With blank leaf A6 and the final leaf with Errata on the recto, printer’s device on the verso. Large woodcut in the title, numerous illustrations in the text of various sizes. The second part begins, with its own title, on page 69. The plate on a double sheet outside the text is missing, which is almost never found. Stamp “Bibliothek das Franziskanerkloster Miltenberg” on the title page and on some pages. Yellowing, and sporadic foxing, restorations on pages 175-180, pages 167/68 and 181/82 from another copy and with restorations on the lower margin.
First edition of Muenster's last published work, richly illustrated. This book covered essential geometrical principles for timekeeping, architecture, navigation, measuring barrels, and other practical endeavors, and it provided another guide to the making of sundials. Note the sundials on the side of the tower and the division of the globe into circles and regions.The text of the first part deals with geometry largely applied to topography and ballistics. The second part, starting on page 69, is an extensive treatise on sundials and horology. Some woodcuts are attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger.
Adams M1939. Zinner 2022. Houzeau and Lancaster 11364. Burmeister, 54.
See Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Sebastian Münster’s Sundial Instructions and Rvdimenta Mathematica", Convergence (april 2022).
III: Pages 93, including Title Page, [1, with Errata and Colophon]. Diagrams and geometric figures in the text. Light browning and some traces of use, in overall good condition. r
A rare first edition, published posthumously as an appendix to the work ‘De triangulis’, edited by Johannes Schöner. It is a heterogeneous collection of refutations of Nicholas of Cusa’s (incorrect) method for squaring the circle. In the letter to Georg Tannstetter that opens the volume, Schöner describes how he found a small book (libellus) in Regiomontanus’ library containing the latter’s refutation of Cusanus’ construction and decided to dedicate his publication to Tannstetter. Schöner then goes on to tell the story of research into squaring the circle starting with Anaxagoras and provides an overview of the contents of the libellus. The collection is divided into two main parts containing various texts: the first part is composed of several texts by Cusano, including his treatise on the squaring of the circle and probably also one by Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli; the second part, which begins on p. 22, is a collection of calculations, a dialogue, letters and treatises written in Venice in June and July 1464: it constitutes Regiomontanus' response to Cusano's theory.
Tomash & Williams R60; Crone Library 19; Fairfax Murray, German 487; USTC 639761; VD16 M6570. Cfr. Zinner 1968, 121-124.