THE ART OF CALCULATION AND MEASUREMENT

LEUPOLD, JACOB. & ERNST SCHEFFLER.

Theatrum arithmetico geometricum, das ist: Schau-Platz der Rechen- und Mess-Kunst, ... [With:] Theatri machinarum supplementum das ist: Zusatz zum Schau-Platz der Machinen und Instrumenten, ...

Leipzig: Christoph Zunkel and Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, 1727-1739.

Folio. (372x239mm). Two parts in one volume. Contemporary vellum, two cuts in spine, modern slip case. Provenance: Book plates of Arnaud de Vitry and Andras Gedeon. Stamps to half-title and title-page, from Stadtbibliothek Augsburg - sold as duplicate. First part: (14], 200, (4) pp. and 45 plates, numbered I-XLIII (plate III with volvelle). Second part: (12), 100, (94) pp. and 40 plates on 36 sheets, numbered I-XL. All plates intact. An exceptionally fine copy.

The scarce first edition of the of the eighth and tenth volumes (each volume being a complete work in itself) of Leupold's magnificent ten-volume "Theatrum Machinarum" - one of the first encyclopedias of technology, being the most complete and the most extensively illustrated work on mechanical engineering published hitherto. Complete sets of Leupold's Theatrum are virtually never found and Ferguson stated in his bibliography of technology that he had never seen a complete set.

Each volume is complete in itself. The eighth volume is of particular interest in the history of computers, as it deals mainly with calculating machines. This volume contains detailed descriptions of the calculating machines of Schott (1668), Grillet (1673), Leibniz (1674), Poleni (1709), and Leupold himself.

The tenth volume is a supplement to the series published after Leupold's death by Ernst Scheffler. It deals with odometers, gyrometers, step counters and other devices for the measurement of distances. This volume is furthermore of importance, because it contains the 90 page general index to the entire series.

Hook & Norman: Origins of Cyberspace, no. 6 (volume 8 only).
Honeyman Sale, lot 1997 (volume 7 and 8).
Macclesfield Sale, lot 1242 (volume 8 only).
Ferguson: Bibliography of the History of Technology, pp.45-46.
Wolf: A History of Science, Technology, & Philosophy in the 18th Century, pp.657-8.

Order-nr.: 35955