Milestones of Science Books

RISNER, Friedrich.

Opticae libri quatuor ex voto Petri Rami novissimo. .

Kassel: Wilhelm Wessel, 1606.

1st Edition. Soft cover. Very Good. Item #003461

4to (188 x 148 mm). [26], 259 [1] pp. Several woodcut text illustrations and diagrams, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. Contemporary limp vellum, spine with ink hand-lettering and old shelf-mark paper label at foot, untouched original endpapers, red sprinkled edges (vellum browned, soiled and spotted, covers warped). Text somewhat browned throughout, occasional minor dust-soiling and spotting, pale dampstaining to few pages. Provenance: Franciscan convent of Dettelbach (ink stamp to title-page), old ownership inscriptions on title and last page, partly cancelled. Still very good copy in untouched binding. ----

VD 17 39:121946R; DSB XI, 468. EXCEPTIONALLY RARE FIRST EDITION. Published posthumously at the instigation of the Landgrave of Hesse. Risner was a student of Petrus Ramus and, as his successor, held the chair of mathematics at the Collège Royale de France in Paris. But a short time later he returned to his birthplace in Hersfeld. Important results of the collaboration between Ramus and Risner is the 1572 edition of two basic optical writings of the Arabic and Latin Middle Ages, namely the 'Opticae' by Ibn al-Haitam (Latin: Alhazen) and the 'Perspectiva' by Witelo. Risner's edition received a lot of attention and influenced Johannes Kepler in particular. The 'Opticae libri quatuor' was also created in collaboration with Ramus; the conception probably goes back to Ramus, while Risner worked out the details and the evidence. The main source of this writing was Witelo's 'Perspectiva'. Only the first book was fully worked out "(see NDB XXI, 646). Risner's 'Opticae libri quatuor' "later influenced Snell. It seems that the book was begun during the early years of Ramus and Risner's association; and it is probable that the basic outline was Ramus', while Risner was given the task of providing appropriate demonstrations and discussion . . . The work depends primarily on Witelo, although other ancient and medieval authors are also cited." (DSB). - Visit our website to see more images!

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