Trithemius, Johannes.

3 parts in one volume, 4to (251 x 184mm.), each part with title within a woodcut border showing the French royal arms, scientific instruments and Collanges' device, full-page woodcut portrait of Collanges on verso of titles, 13 full-page volvelles, woodcut initials, Kerver's device [Renouard 515] at the end, contemporary gilt calf with black-painted strapwork and hatched tools, edges gilt, by "Grolier's Last Binder" for Jean Grolier, his ownership "IO. GROLIERII ET AMICORVM" tooled in lower compartment, his motto "PORTIO MEA DOMINE SIT IN TERRA VIVENTIVM" tooled in central compartment of lower, edges gilt, fitted clamshell case tooled in the same style, title, front free endpapers and first few printed leaves torn and frayed at edges, not affecting text, dampstaining, some repairs to binding

Jean Grolier; De Curyde (?), manuscript leaf at front; Marquis de Grollier; Sourget catalogue Manuscrits et livres précieux (1987), no. 52; Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, bookplate

Mortimer, Harvard French 528; Caillet 10850; Brunet V 960; G. Austin, The Library of Jean Grolier (1971) no. 512; H. M. Nixon, Bookbindings from the Library of Jean Grolier (British Museum, 1965), plates J-K; H. M. Nixon, "Grolier's Bindings Classified by Workshop", Appendix I of A. Hobson, Renaissance Book Collecting (1999), p. 229

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."

First edition in French. Tritheim, abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of Spanheim, was the first important writer on cryptography and is reputed to have been the teacher of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. He was of considerable influence on the reformed Hermetic thought of his period; John Dee, in particular, is said to have been the first to see the cryptographical possibilities of Tritheim's system.

The woodcuts in this work, originally published in Latin at Basel in 1518, are arranged in the form of a wheel of numbers or letters, separated by emblematic figures. They can be moved under a fixed strip bearing the letters of the alphabet in order to encypher or decypher. The work also includes a number of exotic alphabets.

The binding is one of a group of less than two dozen made for Grolier in the last years of his life (he died in in 1565), by a shop that can be identified only as "Grolier's Last Binder". These include both recent purchases from his later years and a number of considerably earlier imprints, such as the 1498 Aldine edition of the Opera of Poliziano, that he may have had rebound. Le Roux de Lincy recorded this volume in 1866 in the possession of the Marquis de Grollier of château Plessier de Roye in Picardy, after which it disappeared from view for more than a century. A presumed earlier owner, "De Cuyrde"(?), inserted at the front a manuscript leaf with an account of Grolier's library, excerpted from Antoine-François Delandine, Mémoires bibliographiques et littéraires (Renouard, 1816). This translated edition of Tritheim's Polygraphia is one of only a handful of French works found in Grolier's library.