24th ILAB International Antiquarian Book Fair - Vereinigung der ...

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Illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci
[Pacioli, Luca]. Diuina proportione. Venice,
Alessandro & Paganino de’ Paganini, June 1509.
3 parts in one vol., folio, 154 leaves comprising
65 leaves of text, 87 full-page woodcuts, and
two blanks, title printed in red and black, last
‹plate,› Arbor proportio et proportionalitas,
printed in black with type labels in red, strapwork
criblé initial D on title printed in red,
with 183 marginal diagrams in the first two
parts. Bound in 17th-century English mottled
calf. CHF 375 000.–
First edition of the only book illustrated by Leonardo
da Vinci in his lifetime: a treatise on mathematical
and artistic proportion as applied to architecture.
Pacioli (1445–1517), professor of mathematics at
Milan, believed that regular solids were the basic
building blocks of the universe and that their understanding
was fundamental. His friend Leonardo
provided some 59 drawings of geometrical solids
which are here reproduced. Apart from the 183 marginal
illustrations, there are 5 single subject woodcuts
including the ideal proportions of the human
head. Also contained are 23 of Pacioli’s alphabet
designs intended for stone-cutters and architects,
a fundamental source for the study of type design.
Two additional texts included are a translation of
the libellus de quinque corporibus regularibus by
the great 15 th century mathematician and painter,
Piero della Francesca, and an architectural treatise
by Pacioli, tractato del architectura , based on Vitruvius
and dedicated to stonecarvers (lapidici) in
Borgo San Sepolcro.who were experienced in the
pursuit of sculpture and architecture». Pacioli acknowledged
his debt to, and admiration for Leonardo
in the introduction to this work, the result of
their collaboration and intellectual friendship in
Milan. – R. Bertieri, ‹Gli studi italiani sull’alfabeto
nel rinascimento: Pacioli e Leonardo da Vinci,›
Gutenberg Jahrbuch (1929) 269–87; Berlin Katalog
4679; Essling 1645; Mortimer II,.346; Sander 5365/6;
Smith, Rara Arithmetica, pp. 87–9; Vagnetti EIb14.
Hünersdorff Rare Books
Richard v. Hünersdorff
PO Box 582 · London SW10 9RP, Grossbritannien
Telefon +44 (0)20 73733899
E-Mail: books@hunersdorff.com
Europäische Bücher in seltenen Ausgaben ∙ Lateinamerika ∙ Gartenbau ∙ Wissenschaften ∙ Medizin
First eye-witness accounts
of Argentina & Brazil
Franck, Sebastian, Schmidel, Ulrich und
Hans von Staden. Erst [und Ander] theil
dieses Weltbuchs, von Newen erfundnen
Land schafften. Warhafftige Beschreibung
aller theil der Welt… Frankfurt am Main, M.
Lechler, S. Feyerabendt & S. Hüter, 1567. 3
pts in 1 volume. Folio. [6] + 242 + [8] + [6]
+ 110 + 59 + [1] ff. Fraktur. First title in red
& black; 1st & 2nd titles with 2 woodcuts
attributed to Jost Amman; 3rd part with drop
title. Decorative initials & ornaments. Printer’s
device at end. Contemporary German pigskin
over wooden boards, richly blind-tooled with
portrait- and ornamental borders; original
leather straps with metal clasps and catches
intact. CHF 60 000.–
The first cosmography in German, and the first
to contain a substantial section on America.
Including the first printing of the earliest account
of colonisation of the River Plate and of the
founding of Buenos Aires: The narrative of Ulrich
Schmidel, a German soldier, who fought the
Iocal Indian tribes for over 18 years, is entitled
‹Warhafftige und lieb liche Beschreibung… erstlich
in der Schiffart Ulrici Schmidt’s von Straubing
… erkundigt … und…beschrieben …’ (on first
26 leaves of 3rd part). It is followed by the first
folio edition of Hans von Staden’s description of
Brazil (on ff27–59). Staden made two voyages to
Brazil in 1547–1555. His ‹Wunderbarliche und
warhafftige beschreibung der wilden nacketen
Menschenfresser› provides a graphic account of
the cannibalism and barbarous customs of the
aborigines. ‹ … considered … the most important
source for information on the ethnography of the
southern Tupinamba›. – Alden & Landis 567/16;
Borba de Moraes I, 273 (‹one of the rarest of early
German collections of voyages›); Bosch 27; John
Carter Brown.I, 234; Palau 304834; Sabin 25471,
25472 & 77677.
58 24th ILAB International Antiquarian Book Fair