Lot 122
Fabri, Ottavio
Rare Books, Manuscripts & Photographs
Auction: 16 January 2008 at 11:00 GMT
Description
L'uso del squadra mobile. Venice: Francesco Barilleti, 1598. First edition, 4to., 62 unnumbered leaves, italic letter, engraved title-page within an architectural border supported by two female figures, surmounted by two cherubs with trumpets, instruments of science and learning dependent from the corners, with 26 engraved plates (half or full page) depicting the use of the squadra mobile, most in land or seascapes, richly ornate headpieces and initials, late 18th century quarter vellum over marbled boards, some general discolouration
Footnote
Note: BM STC Italian Books p. 241; Riccardi I 433-4; Not in Adams. Brunet's edition of 1595 is a ghost.
First edition of Fabri's elegant work on the manufacture, theory and use of the squadra mobile, an adjustable set square, designed for cartographers, architects, surveyors and for the general measurement of distance, height and depth in the open, on land or sea. The instrument, a kind of graphomter, was the invention of Marc'Antonio Gandino, whose mathematical genius is lauded in the preface by Guerini. The original edition appears to be rare: Honeyman and Horblitt had only later editions. Occasionally a single unsigned folding plate may be found after folio 15. However, it is not included in the collation and is probably properly found in the 2nd edition.