Christophorus Clavius - Practical Geometry, first edition (Geometria Practica) - 1604

1604 RARE FIRST EDITION ON GEOMETRY, ASTRONOMY, MATHEMATICS, CARTOGRAPHY, SCIENCE, ARCHITECTURE, TOPOGRAPHY by Christophorus Clavius (1538–1612), a German mathematician, astronomer and cosmographer. This book "Geometria Practica" (Practical Geometry) is richly illustrated with several hundreds of engravings and contains one of the first complete description of a more precise type of astrolabe (an improvement of the Nonius) combined with a mobile square and a quadrant, its construction, and how to use it to measure the unknown, proportions (height, length, depth), positions, time, map the territory, and to understand and navigate the globe. Christophorus Clavius was nicknamed "the Euclid of the 16th century" for his skill, was the head of mathematicians at the Collegio Romano (an university of the time) and member of the Vatican commission that changed the old calendar on the reform proposed by Luigi Lilio or Aloysius Lilius (c. 1510–1576), that is known as the Gregorian calendar. Original rigid parchment binding from the period and in good condition. References; World Cat OCLC n°495075602 & 835753434; USTC n°4030093; Brunet II:92; Honeyman II 718; Sommervogel II, 1220; Early European Books (Proquest) Reference: ita-bnc-mag-00000812-001; New York, USA, Columbia University, Butler Library Shelfmark: PLIMPTON 513 1604 C57; Augsburg, Germany, Universitätsbibliothek Shelfmark: 02/VII.3.4.7; Between Copernicus and Galileo: Christoph Clavius and the Collapse of Ptolemaic Cosmology. University of Chicago Press; Karl Christian Bruhns (1876); "Clavius, Christoph". Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Vol. 4. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 298–299. COMPLETE FIRST EDITION.

No copy for sale, the last copy was sold for GBP 5,000 at Christie's here https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5447582, the same edition is offered here at a fraction of that price. In the preface to this treatise divided into 8 books, the author Christophorus Clavius ​​declares his desire to create the most comprehensive work by bringing together the teachings and advances in geometry, mathematics, cartography, and astronomy—for example, those of Euclid, Archimedes, Ptolemy, Nicomedes, Leonardo Fibonacci, Pappus of Alexandria, Hippias of Elias, Nicolo Tartaglia, Oronce Finè, Michael Stifel, Giovanni Antonio Magini, Leonardo Pisano, Luca Paccioli, Christoph Rudolff, Girolamo Cardano, and many others. Clavius ​​claims that his experience as a teacher has taught him that students learn best when they understand that what they are learning will prove useful. The work is exceptionally versatile and universal; for every practical or theoretical problem, there is a detailed and well-illustrated solution. For any regular or irregular figure, distance, or depth, the correct procedure is explained. Clavius ​​also presents a method for dividing a measurement scale into subdivisions of any desired size, which is much more complete than that provided by Pedro Nunes or Nonius (1502–1578). Clavius was probably one of the most respected mathematician and astronomer in Europe and his textbooks were used for astronomical education for over fifty years in and even out of Europe. Beautiful book with hundreds of highly detailed illustrations that illustrate the concepts very well.

TITLE : Geometria Practica (Practical Geometry), title vignette with the IHS Jesuit logo or "Iesus Hominum Salvator" (Jesus, Savior of Men), the same date and logo also on the last page
AUTHORS: Christophorus Clavius (1538–1612)
PUBLISHER: Aloisio Zanetti
DATE: MDCIIII (1604), printed in Rome, Latin text

DESCRIPTION: In 4to size, height 215 x width 165 mm or 8.5 by 6.5 inches. Pages [32], 439, [30], some numbering errors but complete. Contemporary hardback parchment with a coat of arms depicting a rampant lion planting a dark arrow and gold noble decorations on the boards, gold-decorated spine, some stains and minor defects, solid and perfectly functional antique binding, with titles as shown in the photo. Pages, text and illustrations well printed and intact, rare stains or defects. Hundreds of illustrations and diagrams. COMPLETE FIRST EDITION.

THIS TREATISE IS DIVIDED INTO 8 BOOKS:
Book I: Construction of a proportional compass and quadrant for measuring lengths and angles plus a summary of elementary plane trigonometry.
Book II: Measuring lengths, heights, and depths with the astronomical quadrant.
Book III: A parallel discussion of measuring lengths, heights, and depths with the geometer’s square; other methods for the same sorts of problems.
Book IV: Measuring areas of plane regions, including an augmented translation of Archimedes’ Measurement of the Circle, and quoting from other works of Archimedes including the Quadrature of the Parabola.
Book V: Measuring the dimensions and volumes of solid bodies, with extensive quotations of results from Archimedes’ works.
Book VI: Geodesy, division of rectilinear surfaces of any type. Plane or solid figures enlarged or reduced according to a given ratio; various methods for finding proportionalities between two lines. Algorithms for extracting roots of any type through calculations.
Book VII: Isoperimetric figures and questions, with an appendix on the problem of squaring the circle via the quadratrix curve of Hippias of Elias.
Book VIII: Various theorems and geometric constructions that can be used to develop mathematical ability in solving many problems, including the trisection of general angles using the conchoidal curve.

AUTHOR: Christophorus Clavius also known as Christoph Clau or Cristoforo Clavio ​​(1538–1612), was a German Jesuit, astronomer, and a mathematician at the Collegio Romano in Rome (an university of the time). Called the "Euclid of the 16th century" by his contemporaries, he became famous primarily through the calendar reform to the Gregorian calendar, which was carried out under his professional leadership and decreed in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII with the bull Inter gravissimas. Clavius ​​implemented a reform draft by Aloisius Lilius, who had already died in 1576. Clavius ​​made the Roman College one of the main centers of mathematical studies of his time. Thanks to his commitment, the Jesuit schools and colleges played (from the last decades of the 16th century until the second half of the 18th) an important role in the development and transmission of mathematical knowledge, not only in Europe but also in the Far East, particularly in China.

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