List New York Antiquarian Book Fair - Antiquariat - Michael Kühn

gate.- Freiburg im Breisgau: Stephan Graf, 1543. [104] leaves with numerous tables &
woodcut diagrams.
[bound with:]
Sacrobosco, Johannes de. [Melanchthon, Ph., Reinhold, Erasmus] Libellus de Sphaera.
Accessit autoris computus ecclesiasticus, et alia quaedam in studiosorum gratiam edita. Cum
praefatione Philippi Melanchthonis.- Wittenberg : Veit Kreuzer, 1545. 129 leaves. The 7
leaves with Melanchthon’s preface have not been bound in this copy: for catholic censorship !
Melanchthon’s name has also been inked out of the title-page, as often. With numerous astronomical
diagrams in the text, of which two with volvelles. At the end are bound two large
fold. tables. $ 4800.-
I.) Rare fifth edition of this elementary introduction into geometry, mainly based on Euclid. Johann Vögelin (end
of 15 th cent. – 1549) from Heilbronn, lectured mathematics in Vienna from 1525. He succeeded Tannstetter as
Prof. at the University of Vienna. “Obwohl Vögelins Werk wissenschaftlich nichts Neues brachte, wurde es im
Universitätsunterricht oft benutzt und mehrfach nachgedruckt.“ – HAB, Maß, Zahl u. Gewicht 62; Graf-Stuhlhofer,
Tannstetter 1996. pp. 56-68; Steck, Euclid. 53
II.) Rare second edition of this mathematical primer, first printed in Strasbourg (1536) and than in Freiburg
(1543,1550). This is an arithmetic book in the traditional style. Rather than being practical like the Arithmeticae
practicae of Gemma Frisius (which was published only four years later), this work follows the tradition of Boethius.
It begins with a discussion of number theory, figurative numbers, etc. but does include a more practical
sec-tion on basic arithmetic at the end. The work closes with a small section on the use of the table abacus.
What both DeMorgan and Smith overlooked is that this book holds an important place in the history of number
theory. Perfect numbers are those whose divisors sum up to the number itself, e.g. 1+2+3=6 and 1+2+4+7+14 =
28. Nichomachus knew that the first four perfect numbers were 6, 28, 4096, and 8128. On the basis that the first
had a single digit, the second was two digits, the third three, and the fourth four digits, he predicted that the fifth
perfect number would have five digits, the sixth would have six, etc. This made sense from the Pythagorean view
of numbers in that it provided symmetry. It eas also suspected that 2p-1 (2p-1) was always a perfect number.
Regius found the factors of 2³-1 = 2047 = 23 x 89, which disproved this last conjecture. … It was, of course, discoveries
like these that led to the decline in the study of the ancient mathematicians [Nicomachus proved
wrong]. Little is known about Ulrich regius (Rieger); he was a school teacher and preacher at Freiburg.– Tomash
Coll. R62 [Straßbourg ed.]; Smith, Rara 182; VD16 ZV13011
III.) Ninth edition, the fifth Wittenberg imprint of Sacroboscos Sphaera, edited by Philip Melanchthon. “Sacrobosco’s
Sphaera, written in paris around 1220, enjoyed a long popularity as the leading introduction to spherical
astronomy. First printed in 1472, it went through at least a score of editions in the 15 th cent. And something over
100 in the 16 th cent. Publishing Sacrobosco entered a new and different phase in Wittenberg in 1531. Prior to that
year all the editions were folio or quarto, often quite expensive. In 1531 the Lutheran University of wittenberg
apparently sponsored a version cheap enough to become a required textbook for the astronomy course. It is fully
illustrated with didactic figures, and comes with a preface in praise of astronomy by Philipp Melanchthon [here
omnitted by the catholic census]. In 1538 a revised revision appeared: for the first time three of the diagrams
incorporated moving parts. This proved to be such a popular feature that virtually every octavo Sacrobosco from
the 1540’s on – regardless where printed – included these same identical volvelles. [O. Gingerich]. At the end is
printed Erasmus Reinhold’s text Themata quae continent methodicam tractationem de horizonte, … Lit.: O. Gingerich.
Sacrobosco as a textbook, in: History of Astronomy XIX (1988), 269-273; Reich. Melanchthon und die
Mathematik; in: Frank/Rhein [eds.] Melanchthon u. d. Naturwiss. pp. 116. Gastgeber in: Biblios 46 (1997), 19-
51; VD16 J726; Houzeau/Lan. 1653.
Heart Beat Registration – Electrocardiogram (ECG) invented
Einthoven, Willem. Galvanometrische registratie van het menschelijk electrocardiogram. in:
Herinnerings-bundel Prof. S. S. Rosenstein.- Leiden: E. Ijdo, 1902. 4°. VIII, 741 pp. Contemporary
publisher cloth with printed cover title, rubbed and soiled, but a fine copy. $ 3000
First edition of his paper announcing the first modern ECG registration, which was obtained with his newly
developed string galvanometer. The key sensing element of the apparatus is a thin silver-coated quartz string that
is placed in a strong magnetic field. Willem Einthoven de-monstrates the improved results obtained with his new
equipment for registering the electrical activity of the heart. He shows the superior performance of the string