Name: Auction: Classical literature Collection of works, continental imprints, 16th-18th century
Brand: Lyon & Turnbull
Price: 700 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

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The Library of James Stirling, Mathematician Auction

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Macrobius, Ambrosius Aurelius Theodosius. In Somnium Scipionis libri II; Conuiuiorum Saturnaliorum libri VII. Paris: : [H. Estienne], 1585. 8vo, contemporary vellum, final leaves of index supplied in manuscript [Adams M71; USTC 171902]; Justinius. Historiae Philippicae… Leiden: Theodorum Haak, 1719. 8vo, contemporary vellum; Tasso, Torquato. Goffredo overo Gierusalemme Liberata Poema Heroico… Vittorio Veneto: Marco Claseri, 1604. 8vo, contemporary marbled boards; Tibullus, Albius. Albii Tibulli equitis Rom. quae extant, ad fidem Veterum Membranarum sedulo castigata. Amsterdam: Ex Officina Wetsteniana, 1708. 4to, contemporary calf; Valierus Maximus cum Selectis Variorum observat… Leiden: Franciscum Hackium, 1651. 8vo, contemporary calf with gilt arms to covers; Celsus, Aulus Cornelius. De Medicina, Libri Octo. Amsterdam: Joannem Wolters, 1713. 8vo, contemporary calf; Orosi, Pauli. Historiarum Libri Septem … Leiden: Geradum Potuliet, 1738. 4to, contemporary calf; Boccaccio, Giovanni. Il Decameron. Amsterdam, 1665. 12mo, contemporary calf; Curtius Rufus, Quintus. Historia Alexandri Magni. Amsterdam: Elzevier, 1673. 8vo, contemporary calf; Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Opera. Amsterdam: Rod. & Gerh. Wetstenios, 1724. 4 volumes, 4to, contemporary calf gilt, rubbed; and approx. 30 others, the lot sold as seen (48)

Classical literature

Collection of works, continental imprints, 16th-18th century

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