Blagrave, Baculum familliare, catholicon sive generale, London, 1590, modern wrappers

BLAGRAVE, JOHN

Baculum Familliare, Catholicon sive Generale. A Booke of the making and use of a Staffe... London: H. Jackson, 1590

8vo (177 x 130mm.), black letter, woodcut illustrations, modern blue wrappers, without final blank, some damp-staining, some leaves shaved, first leaf (title) slightly short (possibly supplied from another copy)

FIRST EDITION of this work by the practical mathematician John Blagrave (b. before 1560, d. 1611), who practised as a land surveyor and designed and made instruments. The "familiar staffe" described in Baculum Familliare is an early example of one of the elaborate universal instruments designed by contemporary mathematical practitioners.

LITERATURE:

ESTC S102659; STC 3118