PTOLOMAEUS, Claudius (ca. 100-170) Liber de analemmate, a Federico Commandino Urbinate instauratus, & commentariis illustratus. Qui nunc primum eius opera e tenebris in lucem prodit. (&:) Eiusdem Federici Commandini liber de horologiorum descriptione - Roma, Paolo Manuzio, 1562
4to. Contemp. limp vellum. Aldine anchor on title and numerous woodcut diagrams in the text. (4), 93, (3) ff.; old owner’s name on title; small and light damp-stain in upper inner corner and some occasional light foxing but a good copy with large margins.
The first and only edition of this valuable work on astronomy. As the original Greek had been lost Commandino (1509-75) used a fragmentary Latin translation of an Arabian text and achieved an elaborate “piece of restoration” to recover Ptolemy’s complete text. « Because of its excellent commentary, the editio princeps of the Analemma is still worth consulting » (DSB XI, 205). Ptolomay’s work is followed by Commandino’s essay on sun-dials which is one of the first systematic works on gnomonics: «…uno dei primi e più ordinati saggi di gnomonica » (Riccardi I,360). Renouard 187. Houzeau & L. 3071.
Euro5500
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