Zerella Y Ycoaga, Manuel de | A first edition treatise on horology

Zerella Y Ycoaga, Manuel de

Tratado general y matemático de reloxería. Madrid: Imprenta Real, 1789

Folio (255 x 170 mm). Half-title, 22 folding plates; half-title and title moderately soiled, contemporary ink initials to outer margin of every page, ink signatures on plates 21 and 22, dampstaining to final 5 plates and blank verso, minor repair to margin of p. 148, a few leaves mispaginated. Modern red morocco boards with elaborate gilt borders, spine with raised bands in six compartments, gilt-lettered green morocco label in second, others with repeat decoration in gilt, edges stained red, marbled endpapers, inner dentelles gilt; small rubbed areas to upper and lower boards, top edges with minor dust-soiling.

First edition of an early addition to literature on Spanish horology.

After completing his studies in Geneva, Manuel de Zerella Y Ycoaga returned to his homeland in hopes to establish Spain's presence in the clock-making industry amongst its competitors and neighbors, France and England. Zerella Y Ycoaga's work demonstrates a mastery of the math and science of clockmaking, with folding plates illustrating the anatomy of the clock.

REFERENCES

Basanta Campos, Bibliografia relojera española p. 62; Palau 380316; not in Aguilar Piñal or British Library, Eighteenth-Century Spanish STC