Rheticus | Opus palatinum de triangulis, Neudstadt, 1596, contemporary vellum, volume 1 only

Georg Joachim Rheticus

Opus palatinum de triangulis… L. Valentinus Otho principis palatini Friderici IV electoris mathematicus consummavit. (Neustadt an der Weinstrasse: Matthaeus Harnish), 1596

4 parts only (of 6), folio (361 x 221mm.), title within an architectural engraved border, woodcut initials and tailpieces, woodcut diagrams, some printing in red, woodcut printer’s device below colophon (Vvv5r), Rheticus’s name on b5 partly covered over, with blank leaves PP4, LLL3, Q4 and Vvv6, a duplicate of quire P bound in, near-contemporary limp Spanish vellum, stubs from two pairs of ties, gilt edges, lettered “No. 146” on upper cover, lacking quire L⁴, title-page slightly frayed and cut close at foredge, remains of Spanish library ink stamp on title-page, Otho’s name at end of preface partially effaced, some browning throughout, Q2-3 with large brown stain, upper hinge broken, spine with small hole and a few tears

FIRST EDITION. Rheticus’s fame rests on his connection with Copernicus, and his efforts to get De revolutionibus orbium coelestium published. This is the first edition of his work on triangles, a set of comprehensive set of tables using all six trigonometric functions for use in angular astronomical measurements. The work was unfinished at his death in 1574, but the publication of Rheticus’s work was accomplished by his pupil Valentin Otho (c. 1545-1603), eventually seeing the light of day in 1596. These trigonometrical tables (as corrected by Bartholomaeus Pitiscus in 1613) were still in use in the early twentieth century.

LITERATURE:

VD16 J 278; USTC 679854 (all 6 parts)