APIANUS, EYN NEWE UNND WOLGEGRÜNDTE UNDERWEYSUNG ALLER KAUFFMANSS RECHNUNG, INGOLSTADT, 1527, PIGSKIN

FIRST EDITION, 8vo (147 x 95mm.), title within a woodcut border and with woodcut illustrations, full-page woodcut armorial on verso of title-page, woodcut illustrations, numerous early annotations, contemporary blind-stamped pigskin over wooden boards, 2 clasps, new endpapers, binding rubbed, spine chipped at head

Robert B. Honeyman (1897-1987), sale in these rooms, 30 October 1978, lot 110, £4,200; Reiss & Auvermann, 15-18 October 1991, lot 4, DM 28,000, Erwin Tomash

Tomash & Williams A82; Hoock & Jeannin I, A7.1; USTC 654687; VD16 A 3094

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."

RARE. This appears to be the only copy recorded at auction in recent decades. The book states at the end that it was finished on 7 August by Petrus Apianus, and printed by his brother Georg on 9 August. Apianus's Rechenbuch encompasses the work of earlier published arithmetics (including those of Rudolff and Schreiber), and proved to be a successful work of commercial arithmetic, being reprinted many times throughout the sixteenth century. One of the diagrams on the title-page shows the Pascal triangle, a century before Pascal, although it was known to earlier Chinese and Arabian mathematicians; it contains the binomial coefficients as far as the number 8. Apianus also introduced in this work the first notation for multiplying and dividing fractions. There are other interesting woodcuts including a depiction of a man minting coins, finger reckoning and a group of students doing mathematical sums.