(1559). BUTEO-[BORREL (Jean)]. OPERA GEOMETRICA... - Lot 308

(1559). BUTEO-[BORREL (Jean)]. OPERA GEOMETRICA... Lyon, Michel Jove, 1559 (In fine Thomas Bertheau, 1554) In-4°, 158-[2] pages, contemporary soft vellum, double gilt fillet on covers, gilt Renaissance motif at center of covers, gilt edges, remnants of green silk fastenings, in modern red half-maroquin folder and slipcase. Second edition of this treatise by Jean Borrel (or Johannes Buteo), a Dauphin mathematician born in 1492 and a pupil of cartographer Oronce Finé in Paris, of which only the first 6 leaves, including the title, have been altered from the original (see 1554). The treatise is lavishly illustrated with diagrams and curious woodcuts, and is divided into 15 main chapters on different subjects: the construction of Noah's Ark, squaring the circle, river waters, Caesar's aqueduct-bridge, islands... The first 9 deal with mechanical, arithmetic and geometric problems. This is the most interesting book by the author, who later quarreled with Oronce Finé, before retiring to his estate at Balan, a popular place for the abbots of Saint-Antoine; one plate shows the author's house. A magnificent copy, kept pure in its gilt-stamped vellum, which has preserved large margins. (USTC 152716) (Adams B-3357).