Cursus mathematicus, or, a compleat course of the mathematicks, in five volumes … the whole illustrated with near 200 copper plates … done into English with improvements and additions by J.T. Desaguliers, L.L.D. F.R.S., and several other hands.

OZANAM, Jacques.

Published by London, Tho. Worrall, 1712., 1712

About this Item

Five vols, 8vo, with 206 copper-engraved plates; imprints of vols I-III 'London, John Nicholson … and sold by John Morphew', vols IV-V 'Oxford, L. Lichfield … and sold by John Morphew', date of general title '17[12]' completed in manuscript; general title and facing leaf of advertisement very slightly browned, minimal foxing, otherwise a fine and fresh copy; bound in contemporary English tan calf, boards panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner-pieces, spines richly gilt in compartments with gilt-lettered tan sheep lettering-pieces, numbered directly in gilt, edges speckled red, sewn on 5 cords selectively laced in; very light wear to spines and sides, engraved armorial bookplate of William Constable FRS FAS to front pastedowns (see below).A beautiful set of the first and only English edition of Ozanam's Cours de mathematique (Paris, 1693), from the library of a contemporary Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries. Ozanam's 'contributions consisted of popular treatises and reference works on "useful and practical mathematics" and an extremely popular work on mathematical recreations'. Although the latter had by far the more lasting impact, his Cours de mathematique was held in high esteem by Leibniz. Ozanam is still known for his combinatorics, an important feature of baroque mathematics (see Grattan & Guinness II, p. 963). Jean-Théophile Desaguliers (1683 1744) moved from Oxford to London in 1712 where he made a living giving public lectures on natural philosophy and translating several scientific works from the French. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society and assisted Isaac Newton in his experiments. By 1716 he was curator of experimental research for the Royal Society. A lifelong Newtonian, Desaguliers was an author in his own right; his major work was A Course of Experimental Philosophy (1734, 1744) which took the reader through a large number of experiments confirming Newton's theories. Provenance: William Constable (1721 1791), of Burton Constable Hall in East Yorkshire, was an avid collector, gathering a variety of objects from dolls and fine art to scientific instruments and natural history specimens. He showed much interest in the advancement of arts and sciences, including botany, geology, zoology, and physics, often travelling abroad to keep abreast of the latest ideas and developments. During his studies he set out to observe and collect the phenomena of nature, both for knowledge and amusement, and even attempted to master the systems of classification that were current before Linnaeus. ESTC N15362; Andersen, Geometry as an Art, p. 407. Language: English. Seller Inventory # S1037.1

Bibliographic Details

Title: Cursus mathematicus, or, a compleat course ...

Publisher: London, Tho. Worrall, 1712.

Publication Date: 1712

Edition: First Edition.