Description

DANTI, Egnazio. Le scienze matematiche ridotte in tavole. Bologna: la Compagnia della Stampa, 1577. [Bound with:] CHIABRANDI, Francesco. Descrizione ed uso d’una Tavoletta più comoda, ed accurata del Globo Celeste pe’ problemi d’Ascension Retta. Piacenza: G. Tedeschi, 1781. [Bound with:] Anon. Saggio Cronologico d’Autore Anonimo. Parte I. Milan: Francesco Pogliani, 1785.

A remarkable sammelband of three very rare works, all in first edition.

It opens with Danti’s schematization of the sciences, beginning with mathematics and moving on to astronomy (Ptolemaic, but with a mention of Copernicus), optics in its various branches, including perspective, geography, military architecture; &c. Egnazio Danti (1537-1586) was a Dominican whose original secular name was Carlo Pellegrini from Perugia. The intention of the work is to enable the interested reader to see at a glance (una occhiata) in a series of Ramist tables, mostly set out across a double-page spread, a summary of the various mathematical sciences, from astronomy – the sphere, the planets – to architecture and even sculpture. On p. 24 the printer draws attention to the necessity of illustrations particularly for the astronomical sections, and tells the interested reader to use those in the ‘Theoriche de Pianeti con le annotationi del Reinoldo stampate a Parigi’ and to excuse the printer for not having been able to adapt them for this book, which is partly caused by ‘difficulties with the engravers,’ which he attributes to a ‘pestilent contagion’. On p. 35 where the measurements of the sun etc. are discussed there is a reference to the calculations of Copernicus (‘si come egregiamente è dimostrati dal Copernico’). Tavola 40 ‘della hidrografia’ gives the names of the winds in Italian, Latin, Dutch, French, and Spanish. Tavola 42 deals with civil architecture, 43 with military architecture (taken from Alberti, wrongly given the forename ‘Antonio’ here), and 44 which deals with painting and sculpture is taken from the unpublished books of a relation Vincenzo Danti (‘Il primo libro del trattato delle perfette proporzioni di tutte le cose che imitare, e ritrarre si possano con l arte del disegno,’ Florence, 1567), of which only the first book was published. Library Hub records only four copies in UK.

The second work, extremely rare (Adler Planetarium only on OCLC), describes the use of an instrument used to calculate the right ascension of astronomical objects. It is recorded by Riccardi at I, 347, where the Christian name is a query, suggesting Riccardi hadn’t seen the book, since the name is given in the Dedication.

The third work, also extremely rare (Bavarian State Library only on OCLC, but ‘Kriegsverlust’) is Part 1 only – all published of a projected 4.

[Danti:] Riccardi i, 392,2 ‘raro’; CNCE 15999. [Chiabrandi:} Houzeau-Lancaster 9969; Riccardi I, 347. RBH lists two copies of Chiabrandi (Binoche & Giquello 2015, EUR 875; Bolaffi 2018, EUR 1000), but no copy of the other two works.

Folio, pp. [iv], 59 with woodcut printer’s device on title, woodcut initials, G1 and H1 signed with small stuck-on pieces of paper, private library stamps on first 2 leaves; 48, with (loose) a 2-part engraved moving instrument (operating like a slide-rule), and a folding engraved plate at end; [iv], 62, [2]. 18th-century Italian half calf, contrasting lettering pieces on spine (spine ends repaired).