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an old book with a golden cover on a white backgroundan old book with a drawing of a man and woman in a rooman old book with writing on it and a picture of a dragon on itan old book with a drawing of a circle and a line of circles on it
ALDE

25 - THEODOSUS OF BYTHINIA. *De sphæricis libri tres*.
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Estimate €600 - €800
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Description
THEODOSUS OF BYTHINIA. *De sphæricis libri tres*. Vienna, Johann Singriener, 18 March 1529. Small quarto, lemon morocco, quadruple framing covering the covers with a wide cold-stamped scroll, flower and bird motif repeated, smooth spine with the title cold-stamped vertically, smooth edges, half-lemon morocco slipcase echoing the spine’s decoration, case edged (Modern binding). First separate edition, extremely rare, of this treatise on spherical geometry—essential to Greek astronomy—translated into Latin by Johannes Vögelin (1500?–1549), an astronomer and mathematician from Heilbronn, who was a professor at the University of Vienna. *The Spherics* is the principal work of Theodosius of Bithynia (also known as Theodosius of Tripoli), a Hellenistic astronomer and mathematician of the 2nd century BC, originally from Asia Minor. The author undertook a formalisation of Greek spherical astronomy comparable to that which Euclid had achieved for geometry in general in the *Elements*. In particular, he identifies the great circles of the sphere (the equator and the meridians) and develops the concept of the spherical triangle. The text was first published alongside other short treatises on the same subject in a collection that appeared in Venice in 1518 under the title *Sphera cum commentis*. On the title page, a large woodcut depicts the author presenting his book to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. The work is illustrated with around a hundred geometric diagrams within the text, engraved on wood. A copy in a fine amateur binding, incomplete by the last five leaves, which have been replaced by facsimiles on antique paper (ff. M4, N1–4); a small repair affecting the text on f. M3, scraping with a slight loss at the bottom of the woodcut decorating the title page, a handwritten note partially trimmed in the margin of the same folio, scattered faint water stains. Houzeau & Lancaster, 846 – Zinner, no. 1399 – Honeyman, no. 2971.
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About the sale Antique books – Alchemy & the occult sciences
Auction location
Auction time 11/04/2026 at 2:00 PM
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ALDE
See original version (French)
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