BEYER, Johann Hartmann (1563-1625). Ein newe und schöne Art der Vollkommenen Visier-Kunst. Frankfurt: Zacharias Palthenius for Jonas Rose, 1603.

Tomash copy of the first edition, German issue, of Beyer's treatise on calculating the volume of irregular solids—an important precursor to Kepler's Nova Stereometria. "Johann Beyer was not only a well-known Frankfurt physician and mathematician but also a person of civic eminence due to his position as Bürgermeister. His wide contact with the scientific community is illustrated by a letter he is known to have written to Kepler in 1616 in which he used a combination of both the decimal point (actually a comma) and the old system of accents to represent decimal fractions" (Tomash and Williams). Both the German and Latin editions were published in 1603, and both are dated 12 September in their dedications. However, the dedications are different, and there are significant differences in the text and calculations. Tomash and Williams B148; VD17 547.658949Q.

Quarto (195 x 156mm). Woodcut device on title, illustrations and diagrams throughout (toned). Contemporary German stiff vellum ruled in blind, yapp edges (stained). Modern cloth box. Provenance: some annotations – Erwin Tomash (bookplate; bought at Zisska und Kistner, 24-5 October 1988, lot 54).