拍品 666
  • 666

TRENCHANT, L'ARITMETIQUE, LYON, 1558, CONTEMPORARY VELLUM

估價
3,000 - 4,000 GBP
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描述

  • L’aritmetique (sic)... departie en troys livres, ensemble un petit discours des changes. Avec l'art de calculer aux getons. Lyon: (Jean d'Ogerolles for) Jean Trenchant, 1558
FIRST EDITION, 8vo (165 x 103mm.), A-T8 V4, a few woodcut diagrams, last leaf with "L'auteur" verses on recto and imprint on verso, old scribblings on paste-downs, contemporary vellum, modern cloth chemise and folding box, rather soiled and spotted, upper outer corner gnawed at end just affecting a few page numerals (and cover), binding worn

來源

bought from Roger Gaskell, Warboys, 2006

出版

not in Tomash & Williams but cf. T49 (footnote); FB 49731; Gültlingen XIV p.17 no. 38; Hoock & Jeannin T8.1; USTC 37124; Natalie Zemon Davis, “Sixteenth-Century French Arithmetics on the Business Life” in Journal of the History of Ideas 21 (1960), pp.18-48 (quotations pp.37-38)

Condition

the condition of this lot is as described in the catalogue description
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

拍品資料及來源

A commercial arithmetic “noteworthy as the first printed specimen of tables of interest and for a good method of computing interest over a fraction of a year”. The author was a private teacher of commercial arithmetic and mensuration in Lyon. In his royal privilege (24 March 1557) and his preface, Trenchant “claimed to have invented several rules, and to have treated arithmetic more 'simply' and 'exquisitely' than previous mathematicians”. “He was probably mathematical advisor to the king's officers or to the banking houses in Lyons in regard to the vast loans Henri II obtained at 16% interest and attempted to amortize in the 1550's. Trenchant gave the calculation for the actual loan in his book” (Zemon Davis). THIS FIRST EDITION IS VERY RARE. USTC and Von Gültlingen locate copies in Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and Herzog August Bibliothek, only; another copy is in the Bodleian Library. We have found just one record of a copy selling at auction in the last 40 years (Sotheby's, 21 June 1972, lot 746). Smith found no edition earlier than 1566 (Rara arithmetica, p.320); the earliest edition in the BNF is 1561, and in the British Library 1571.