Pedro Roiz - Libro de reloges solares - 1575

Pedro Roiz – Book of Sundials – Valencia, 1575 – treatise on sundials and gnomonics

Very rare Spanish treatise from the 16th century on sundials and gnomonics, by Pedro Roiz (or Ruiz), Valencian cleric and disciple of the master Hieronymo Muñoz.

Full title:
“Book of Sundials, composed by Pedro Roiz…”
Printed in Valencia, at the house of Pedro de Huete, in the year 1575.

Important scientific and astronomical work of the Spanish Renaissance, devoted to the construction of sundials “in the flat, and on walls, in any exposed direction, raised plumb or inclined toward the earth”.

Characteristics:

* Original edition of the year 1575
* Ancient binding in flexible parchment
* 126 pages (2 missing) 124 + 6 pages
* Woodcut engravings and astronomical diagrams interspersed in the text
* Small quarto format
* Text in Old Castilian

Condition:
Original 16th-century copy in an antique flexible parchment binding.

With normal signs of age: stains, wear, small losses, and old restorations. Some initial leaves show adhesions and structural fragility due to almost 500 years of age, so they have not been handled or separated to preserve the integrity of the exemplar.

The pages and engravings retain a very good visual presence for a work of 1575.

A very rare work of great interest to collectors of scientific bibliography, astronomy, clockmaking, and Spanish Renaissance books.