LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716) - photo 1
LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716) - photo 2
LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716) - photo 3
LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716) - photo 4
LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716) - photo 5
LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716) - photo 6
LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716) - photo 7
LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716) - photo 8

LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716)

Lot 151
14.12.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
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£ 30 240
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 870708
Lot 151 | LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716)
Estimate value
£ 10 000 – 15 000
LEIBNIZ, Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716)

‘Brevis descriptio machinae arithmeticae, cum figura’ and other papers in: Miscellanea Berolinensia ad incrementum scientiarum... edita. Berlin: for J.C. Papen, 1710 and 1723.

Rare first edition of this milestone in computer history, Leibniz’s description of his famous calculating machine, the first stepped-drum calculator, the first machine that could perform all 4 basic arithmetic operations. Leibniz’s paper is of paramount importance, and the machine is illustrated not only on a folding engraved plate, but also appears at the foot of the engraved frontispiece. Leibniz himself only had a wooden model and two working metal examples of the machine, one of which was lost; the only surviving and functioning device is now in the Lower Saxony State Library in Hannover.



In 1700, Leibniz founded the Berlin Academy under the patronage of Sophia Charlotte, daughter of the late Elector Ernst August. Beginning life as the Societas regia Scientiarum, it became the Koniglich-Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, before evolving into today’s Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften. The society’s first seven volumes of its proceedings were published in Latin between 1710 and 1743. The first volume alone contains 60 scientific works in the three subject areas of Literaria, Physica & Medica, and Mathematica & Mechanica, of which 13 are by Leibniz. Two important papers include ‘Symbolism memorabilis calculi algebraici et infinitesimalis’ (on calculus, pp. 160-165), and ‘Constructio problematis ducendi rectas quae tangunt lineas centrorum gravitatis’ (on gravity, pp. 170-173); there is also an exchange of letters between Leibniz and Bernoulli from the years 1707-1709 (pp.171-184). There are also other works by Bernoulli, Hartsoeker, Jacob Hermann, J.W. Wagner, A. des Vignoles, J.L. Frisch, B. de Belidor, J.B. Clairault, G. Kircher, P.S. Bayer (mostly on China), Jacob Brucker (the historian of philosophy) and others. In his paper, ‘Annotatio de quibusdam ludis,’ Leibniz describes the game of Go, and this is illustrated in an engraved plate.



Although these volumes are naturally present in some institutional holdings, they are absent from many, and are very rare on the market. Parkinson, Breakthroughs (1985) p. 113; Ravier 305.



2 volumes (only, of 7 published), bound in one, quarto (206 x 165mm). Vol. I: [22], 394pp., engraved frontispiece and 30 folding engraved plates (frontispiece lightly trimmed into left-hand side, B1, 2R1 and 2R4 with irregular lower margins due to paper flaws, some occasional light spotting and browning); vol. II: [12], 188pp., engraved frontispiece and 8 folding engraved plates numbered I-VIII (L2 corner clipped, some occasional light spotting and browning). Contemporary calf, gilt spine (spine refurbished, joints cracking with tiny defective area at foot of upper joint, extremities lightly rubbed). Provenance: ‘W.S.’ (bookplate).





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