拍品 74
  • 74

BOETHIUS, DE INSTITUTIONE ARITHMETICA, AUGSBURG, 1488, MODERN CRUSHED MOROCCO

估價
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
招標截止

描述

  • De institutione arithmetica. Augsburg: Erhard Ratdolt, 20 May 1488
FIRST EDITION, 4to (196 x 145mm.), 48 leaves, a-f8, double column, 40 lines, gothic type, 6- to 13-line woodcut white-on-black initials, woodcut diagrams, 7pp. of contemporary manuscript notes and diagrams in brown ink bound at end, the first entitled "Verus locus Sat[ur]ni i[n] sua spera", modern crushed chestnut morocco, slipcase, inscription neatly erased from head of a1

來源

sale in these rooms, 1 November 1976, lot 90, Brandon, £1,500; sale in these rooms, 27 September 1988, lot 158, £8,500, Erwin Tomash

出版

Tomash & Williams B184; ISTC ib00828000; Riccardi i, 139, Smith, Rara arithmetica p.25

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"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

Boethius' treatise was "the first systematic and well-developed treatise on the mathematical subject in the Roman world" (Jean-Yves Guillaumin, "Boethius' De institutione arithmetica and its influence on posterity", in A Companion to Boethius in the Middle Ages, p. 135). It is an adaptation with additions of the work with same title by Nicomachus of Gerasa, written in c. 100 AD, and it became the main textbook on arithmetic in the medieval period. In this work Boethius introduces the concept of the quadrivium, the meeting of the four branches of science (arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy). Boethius dedicates his text to his father-in-law, Symmachus, who encouraged Boethius to undertake this work, which was his first book (his last being the Consolation of Philosophy). The manuscript notes at the end, in an Italian hand, show the movements of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the sun and moon.