MARINONI, DE ASTRONOMICA SPECULA DOMESTICA ET ORGANICO APPARATU ASTRONOMICO, VIENNA, 1745

FIRST EDITION, folio (363 x 247mm.) engraved frontispiece, title printed in red and black with engraved printer’s device, engraved initial and headpiece, woodcut initials, tables, engraved illustrations in the text, four leaves of engraved plates printed recto and verso, folding plate tipped-in between pp.194-195, errata leaf, 43 folding plates at end, contemporary green half morocco over marbled boards, frontispiece dampstained

Marchese Bourbon di Monte, di Petrella, armorial bookplate lettered “Ex Libris Petrellianis” (Bragaglia, Gli ex libris italiani, 216); bought from Jonathan Hill, New
York, 1983

Tomash & Williams M37; Riccardi ii, 119; VD18 14616319 

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."

A luxuriously printed and illustrated work, which describes and illustrates the astronomical instruments in the private observatory of Marinoni, mathematician and astronomer to the Imperial Court of Austria and geodetic surveyor. Like the private observatories of Tycho Brahe and Hevelius in the two preceding centuries, Marinoni's observatory was one of the most beautiful and best equipped in Europe in his time. He built his own instruments and those illustrated here include quadrants, telescopes, micrometers, an improved Graham pendulum, and a camera obscura. Marinoni left all the instruments to the Empress Maria Theresa, to whom he dedicated the work.