- 76
BOISSIERE, L'ART D'ARYTHMETIQUE, PARIS, 1554
Estimate
3,500 - 4,500 GBP
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Description
- L’art d’arythmetique. Paris: Anet Brière, (13 October) 1554
FIRST EDITION, 8vo (162 x 100mm.), woodcut diagrams and illustrations (including full-page profile portrait of a woman on last leaf), penultimate leaf with errata, modern calf gilt antique-style, modern red calf-backed cloth folding box, some damp-staining at beginning and end
Provenance
Arnaud de Vitry d'Avaucourt (1926-2012), bookplate, sale in these rooms, 3 November 1998, lot 48; sale in these rooms, 17 June 1999, lot 108, £2000, Erwin Tomash
Literature
Tomash & Williams B190; Smith, Rara arithmetica, p.260; USTC 24336 (6 copies)
Condition
the condition of this lot is as described in the catalogue description
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
A work combining pure and commercial arithmetic, dedicated by its noble author to Pierre d’Asnières, a lawyer counselling royal financial officers. Business was the least savoury of mathematics’ applications, and Boissière hoped to overcome prejudice by invoking a noble dedicatee and associating arithmetic with Neo-Platonic beliefs. He states that had written this work “not only because by it we can easily carry out our business affairs, military, domestic, and other calculations; but also not in the least because we can contemplate the spiritual things comprised in the said numbers” (translation by Natalie Zemon Davis, “Sixteenth-Century French Arithmetics on the Business Life” in Journal of the History of Ideas, volume 21, 1960, p.35).