BARTOLI, DEL MODO DI MISURARE, VENICE, 1564, CONTEMPORARY VELLUM

FIRST EDITION, 4to (225 x 170mm.), elaborate woodcut border on title-page, woodcut portrait of the author, woodcut initials and headpieces, woodcut diagrams, 2 folding woodcut plates, signature M in duplicate, contemporary vellum, ties, last leaf holed affecting a few letters

bought from Jonathan Hill, New York, 1979; Erwin Tomash, booklabel

Edit16 4299; Mortimer, Harvard Italian 45; Riccardi i, 90; Tomash & Williams B109; USTC 812411

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

First edition of one of the most important Renaissance treatises on instruments and methods for measuring by sight. Substantially based on the Protomathesis of Oronce Fine and Underweysung der Messung of Dürer, both works which Bartoli had translated into Italian (the latter from Camerarius’s Latin translation; see lot 124), it was largely completed by 1559 (dated holograph in Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Ms. Pluteus30, cof. 27). The author lived in Venice as an agent of the Medici between 1562 and 1572 and gave his book to the local press of Francesco de' Franceschi.