WITELO, PERI OPTIKES, NUREMBERG, 1535, CONTEMPORARY NAMED CALF

folio (313 x 202mm.), title printed in red and black, woodcut illustration on title-page, full-page woodcut armorial, woodcut initials and diagrams, with final blank leaf, contemporary blind-tooled calf, roll-tooled border with initials WL, PERSPECTIVA VITELLION stamped at head of upper cover, manuscript fragment in binding (possibly thirteenth-century), rebacked and repaired at edges

VD16 V 1759

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. A FINE COPY IN A CONTEMPORARY GERMAN BINDING. Witelo (or Vitellio), of Silesia, wrote his treatise on perspective in the 1270s. The first book contains the mathematical principles required to understand perspective, designed to supplement Euclid's Elements, and the remaining nine books on optics and perspective were based primarily on Alhazen, though Witelo shows his familiarity with other mathematical sources. It was a very influential text, becoming a university textbook alongside Alhazen, and was a considerable influence on practical perspective in art as well as among scientists, until Kepler's Ad Vitellionem paralipomena of 1604 rewrote the science of optics while acknowledging his debt to Witelo. The roll-tooled border has been connected with the binder Wenzel Dörffler (active 1561-1581; Haebler I 273) and with a Cologne binder, but neither of these is considered correct. The watermark in the pastedowns is similar to Briquet 5006 and 5007 (a tall crown containing a star), variants of which were common across Germany from the 1520s onwards.