Cogitata physico mathematica; Universae geometriae, mixtaeque mathematicae synopsis; and Novarum observationum physico-mathematicarum - photo 1
Cogitata physico mathematica; Universae geometriae, mixtaeque mathematicae synopsis; and Novarum observationum physico-mathematicarum - photo 2
Cogitata physico mathematica; Universae geometriae, mixtaeque mathematicae synopsis; and Novarum observationum physico-mathematicarum - photo 3

Cogitata physico mathematica; Universae geometriae, mixtaeque mathematicae synopsis; and Novarum observationum physico-mathematicarum

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$ 7 560
Auction dateClassic
19.10.2023 10:00UTC -04:00
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CHRISTIE'S
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ID 1032743
Lot 91 | Cogitata physico mathematica; Universae geometriae, mixtaeque mathematicae synopsis; and Novarum observationum physico-mathematicarum
MERSENNE, Marin (1588-1648). Cogitata physico mathematica. In quibus tam naturae quam artis effectus admirandi certissimis demonstrationibus explicantur. Paris: Antoine Bertier, 1644 [With:] Universae geometriae, mixtaeque mathematicae synopsis, et bini refractionum demonstratarum tractatus. Paris, Antoine Bertier, 1644 [And:] Novarum observationum physico-mathematicarum. Quibus accessit Aristarchus Samius de mundi systemate. Paris, Antoine Bertier, 1647.

First edition, very rare complete with the third volume, of "the culmination of Mersenne's 25 year-long investigation into a wide range of topics in Mixed Mathematics; that is, the application of arithmetic and geometry to physics, mechanics, astronomy, music, optics and conic sections" (DiLaura). The second volume contains the first printing of Hobbes's Tractatus Opticus; Hobbes was in Paris at the time and part of Mersenne's circle. This is the second issue, with the privilege dated 15 September, 1644 and three leaves of corrigenda correcting errors in the first and second volumes. The preface to the first volume contains the first appearance of Mersenne numbers. The second volume comprises synopses of ancient and modern mathematical texts, some repeated from the 1626 Synopsis mathematica. It was at Descartes’ request that Mersenne enlarged and expanded the Synopsis, the last part of which comprises the first edition of Thomas Hobbes’s Tractatus Opticus (pp 567-589).

The third volume, which is the rarest of the three, begins with an examination of the heliocentric theory of Aristarchus. This is followed by an examination of the physics of Galileo and a series of Galilean experiments on gravity, acceleration, percussion, and hydraulics, along with the Torricellian experiments with the mercury barometer. The corrigenda in this issue correct hundreds of errors, many of which would have negatively affected the reception of Mersenne’s complex treatises if left unamended. They modify and add to the various monita and errata found throughout the first and second volumes, suggesting that they were printed after these volumes were finished, perhaps in 1647 with the text of the third volume. DiLaura 87 (April issue); Carli and Favaro 200, 201, and 216; Hirsch I 406, 407, 408; Lenoble 20, 21, 22; Macdonald and Hargreaves, Hobbes 37.

Three volumes bound together, quarto (234 x 179mm). Section titles. One engraving in the text and numerous woodcut diagrams, illustrations, and music (first title dustsoiled and with two old library stamps, small marginal chip to dedication leaf, vol 3 title with long repaired tear and repaired top margin, few other repaired margins in vol 3 preface). Modern stiff vellum, edges stained blue. Provenance: contemporary manuscript errata corrections in text – Stadtbibliothek Koenigsberg (old stamp on first title) – Bibliotheca Seminarii Plocensis (old stamp on first title and a few interior pages) – H. Gilhofer (his sale, Zisska and Kistner, 24-5 October 1988, lot 496).
Artist:Marin Mersenne (1588 - 1648)
Place of origin:France
Category:Printed book
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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