Opticae libri quatuor ex voto Petri Rami novissimo Fridericum Risnerum per ejusdem in mathematicis adjutorem olim conscripti, .Kassel, Wilhelm Wessel (sold by Johann Berner in Frankfurt), 1615. 4to. With numerous optical, astronomical and mathematical woodcut diagrams in text, woodcut headpieces, tailpieces and initials, and headpieces built up from cast fleurons. 18th-century tan calf, gold-tooled double fillets, re-backed in sheepskin.

RISNER, Friedrich.

About this Item

[20], 259, [1 blank] pp.Rare work on optics and mathematics by Friedrich Risner (1533-1580), apprentice and colleague of Peter Ramus, the famous anti-Aristotelian humanist and educational reformer. The first edition appeared in 1606.Risner's mathematical abilities were highly praised by Ramus, who, in his will, even established a chair in mathematics at the Collège Royal de France with Risner as its first occupant. The first major result of the collaboration between Risner and Ramus was Risner's edition (1572) of two manuscripts discovered by Ramus: the first edition of Optics by Ibn al-Haytham (in Latin Alhazen), who worked at Cairo in the first half of the 11th century; and a greatly improved edition of Perspectiva by Witelo (in Latin Vitello), a Polish scientist of the second half of the 13th century. Alhazen's work preserved all that was known by the ancients in the field of optics, and Risner's edition and his own observations and corrections helped establish the science upon a new foundation. Risner's present Opticae, based partly on Witelo, appeared only posthumously, but was probably outlined by Ramus and further developed by Risner during the early years of their collaboration. It exerted a great influence on Snell and others.Badly browned, but otherwise in good condition, with an abrasion on the title-page and last text page (probably erasing a library stamp), not affecting the text. Re-backed and with some restorations to the boards.l VD17 12:159504X; cf. DSB 11, p. 468; Poggendorff II, col. 648; not in Honeyman; Houzeau-Lancaster. Seller Inventory # 17878

Bibliographic Details

Title: Opticae libri quatuor ex voto Petri Rami ...

Binding: Hardcover

Edition: 1st Edition