Name: Auction: Brass circular protractor 18th century
Brand: Lyon & Turnbull
Price: 150 GBP
Availability: InStock

James Stirling, one of the foremost mathematicians of eighteenth-century Europe and a protégé of Sir Isaac Newton, played a pivotal role in the Newtonian revolution in mathematics. Renowned for his contributions to infinitesimal calculus and infinite series, he gives his name to two major discoveries in Stirling’s formula and the Stirling numbers. &nbsp;Stirling’s principal work, the Methodus Differentialis&nbsp;(1730), is present in the library in three remarkable forms: his holograph manuscript, his personally corrected first edition, and a first edition in English with autograph letters from the translator. His notebooks, covering subjects from infinite series to the figure of the earth and ancient weights and measures, are complemented by a selection of landmark works by his contemporaries, including a large-paper copy of Newton’s Principia Mathematica, a first edition of Newton’s Analysis&nbsp;Per Quantitatum&nbsp;series, fluxiones, ac differentias, and a first edition of Colin Maclaurin’s Treatise on Fluxions&nbsp;(to which Stirling contributed), alongside presentation copies of works by Brook Taylor, Abraham de Moivre and Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis. The library also contains a spectacular collection of letters to Stirling from peers including Leonhard Euler, Nicolaus Bernoulli, and Gabriel Cramer. A selection of scientific instruments, believed to have been used by Stirling, completes this extraordinary collection.Buyer's Guide:&nbsp;

Cathy Tait | Head of Books & Manuscripts | Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers

878stirling overview.jpg

878 Stirling feature.jpg

881 stirling viewing.jpg

Browse a selection of lots from our forthcoming sale.

Specialists' Selection

The Library of James Stirling, Mathematician Auction

large_2025-07-14 L&T Books 86808112.jpg

medium_2025-07-14 L&T Books 86808112.jpg

small_2025-07-14 L&T Books 86808112.jpg

thumbnail_2025-07-14 L&T Books 86808112.jpg

xlarge_2025-07-14 L&T Books 86808112.jpg

878 Header 2

small_MicrosoftTeams-image-removebg-preview.png

thumbnail_MicrosoftTeams-image-removebg-preview.png

Logo with add text

Lyon & Turnbull | Online Auction Specialists

large_Placeholder-for-Blog.jpg

medium_Placeholder-for-Blog.jpg

small_Placeholder-for-Blog.jpg

thumbnail_Placeholder-for-Blog.jpg

xlarge_Placeholder-for-Blog.jpg

Placeholder-for-Blog.jpg

5 ¾ inches, engraved with 0-360 degree scale, unsigned, 15cm diameter

18th century

Brass circular protractor 

0001_fansWU.jpg

Margin Scheme

Brass circular protractor

18th century

Description