HENRY SOTHERAN & CO., 140, STRAND, W.C., AND 37, PICCADILLY, W. 150 



3182 [NAPIER, or NEPER (John, LAIRD OF MERCHISTON)] ARCANUM SUPPUTATIONIS 

 ARITHMETICAE : quo Doctrina et Praxis Sinuura ac Trian^ulorum mire abbreviatur : Opus 

 curiosis omnibus, Geometricis pnesertim et Astronomis utilissimum ; with vignette on title, and 

 numerous diagrams, Svo. large and sound copy in old calf (RARE), 1. 5s 



Lugduni, Huguetan et Ravaud, 1658 



3183 A THICK PAPER COPY, Svo. white vellum (FINE COPY), 1. 17s Qd 



Including a reprint of the author's famous work ' MIRIFICI LOGARITHMOBUM CANONIS DESCRIPTIO', containing his 

 invention of Logarithms, with the 'Canon' or Table, and his posthumous ' MIRIFICI LOGARITHMORUM CONSTRUCTIO', 

 explaining the method of their construction. 



This edition is a reprint of the Lyonese one of 1620 (in itself a facsimile reprint of the original), and very rare, being 

 unknown to Brunet. 



Thick Paper copies were unknown to Mr. W. Rae Macdonald. 



3134 _ -De ARTE LOGISTICA Libri qui supersunt [edited, with Introduction (pp. 92), by MARK 

 NAPIER], with fine mezzotint portrait aet. 66 by Hodgetts, and aquatint view of Merchiston Castle, 

 4to. boards, uncut, 1. Is Edinburgi [Maitland Club}, 1839 



' His earliest mathematical investigations seem to have been directed to systematising and developing the sciences of 

 algebra and arithmetic, and the fragments published for the first time in 1839, under the title De Arte Logistica, were the 

 result of his initial studies. Here he mentions that he was considering imaginary roots, a subject he refers to as an 

 algebraic secret, and that he had discovered a general method for the extraction of roots of all degrees '. W. Rae Macdonald . 



3185 The CONSTRUCTION of the WONDERFUL CANON of LOGARITHMS, trans., with Notes and 



CATALOGUE of the VARIOUS EDITIONS of NAPIER'S WORKS, by WILLIAM RAE MACDONALD, cr. 

 4to. cL, uncut (scarce), 12s ibidem, 1889 



Dedicated to Lord Napier and Ettrick, Napier of Merchiston's representative. It contains a very complete and 

 valuable bibliography of the author's works, as well as a biographical introduction. 



31S6 : MIRIFICI LOGARITHMORUM CANONIS DESCRIPTIO, ejusque Usus, in utraque Trigono- 

 metria ; ut etiam in ornni Logistica Matheniatica, amplissimi, facillimi, et expeditissimi 

 Explicatio. Authore ac Inventore, JOANNE NEPERO, Barone Merchistonii, &c. Scoto, editio 

 princeps; title within woodcut border, and numerous diagrams, sm. 4to. newly and finely bound 

 in /if. polished crimson Levant morocco extra, uncut (some II. somewhat water-stained, otherwise a 

 VERY FINE AND UNUSUALLY TALL COPY), very rare, 8. ISs Qd ib.,ex officind Andrew Hart, 1614 



3187 - ANOTHER COPY, old hf. calf (title soiled and slightly defective, and blank corner torn off 



4 II. ; otherwise a TALL AND SOUND COPY), 7. 



FIRST EDITION of one of the most important works in the history of mathematics, being the first to give an account of 

 the invention of logarithms. There were two issues of this edition, the first having the reverse of the last leaf blank, while 

 the second contains an ' Admonitio ' on it. Both the above copies are of the first an r l the rarer issue, of which there are only 



5 copies in the public libraries of the United Kingdom, while there are 14 of the 2nd issue. The second copy has moreover 

 the rare misprint of pp. 22 and 23 instead of 14 and 15. 



' It is one of the greatest curiosities of the history of science that Napier constructed logarithms before exponents were 

 used . . . Napier's process is so unique and so different from all other modes of presenting the subject that there cannot 

 be the shadow of a doubt that this invention was entirely his own ; it is the result of unaided, isolated speculation . . . 

 Napier's great invention was given to the world in 1614 in a work entitled Mirifici logarithmoruni canonis descriptio. In it 

 he explained the nature of his logarithms, and gave a logarithmic table of the natural sines of a quadrant from minute to 

 minute.' Prof. Cajori. 



3188 - : RABDOLOGLE, seu NUMERATIONS per VIRGULAS Libri II, cum Appendice de expedi- 

 tissisimo [sic] MULTIPLICATIONS PROMPTUARIO; quibus accessit & ARITHMETICAE LOCALIS 

 Liber unus. Authore fc Inventore JOANNE NEPERO, Barone Merchistonii, &c. Scoto; first 

 edition, with engraved and woodcut tables, ISmo. original rough calf (one joint cracked, otherwise a 

 FINE OLD COPY) '; VERY RARE, 5. 5s ib., Andreas Hart, 1617 



THE ROXBUROHE COPY, with bookplate n/ George Chalmers, F.S.A. 



With dedication to Chancellor Seton, Earl ofDunferrnline, in which Napier explains the title as numeration by little rods. 

 'These rods, being usually made of bone or ivory, were familiarly called ' Napier's bones'. By means of them multipli- 

 cation and division could be performed by methods which were received throughout Europe as a valuable aid to the rude 

 arithmetic of the day. The extraction of the square and cube root could also be performed by their help, in conjunction 

 with two larger rods, the method of constructing which is described. In an appendix ' de expeditissimo Multiplications 

 Promptuario ' he explains another invention for the performance of multiplication and division ' the most expeditious of all ' 

 by means of metal plates arranged in a box. This is the earliest known attempt at the invention of a calculating machine. 

 There is also added his ' Local Arithmetic,' wherein he describes how multiplication and division, and even the extraction 

 of roots, may be performed on a chess board by the movement of counters.'!). N. U. 



3189 - : BUCHAN (David Steuart llth Earl of), and WALTER MINTO: ACCOUNT or the LIFE, 

 WRITINGS, and INVENTIONS of NAPIER of MERCHISTON, with 5 plates, roy. 4to. boards, uncut 

 (wanting title and portrait), 5s ib., 1787 



With appendix containing 'Analytical Theory of Logarithms', 'The Hyperbola as connected with the Logarithms', 

 etc. etc. 



3190 - : NAPIER (Mark) MEMOIRS of JOHN NAPIER of MERCHISTON, his LINEAGE, LIFE, and 

 TIMES, with a HISTORY of the INVENTION of LOGARITHMS, with fine steel portraits (some foxed), 

 plates, andfss., 4to. scored russia gilt, g. e. (SCARCE), 1. 12s 6d ib., 1834 



3191 - ANOTHER COPY, original cl., uncut, 1. 7s Qd 



The best biography of Napier, and especially valuable for the copious ' History of the Invention of Logarithms ' (pp. 73). 

 The appendixes include ' ThePhilosopher's Theory of Equations, literally trans, from the unpublished Latin MS.,' and an 

 unpublished letter from JOHANN KEPLER to Napier ; while the illustrations contain ' Neper's Bones ', his Arithmetical 

 Triangle, and a fs. of the titlepage of the first edition of the Logarithms. 



3192 NAUMANN (Alexander, Giessen) LEHR- und HANDBUCH der THERMOCHEMIE, Svo. hf.-calf 

 neat, 6s 6d (p. M. 15. unbound) Braunschweig, 1882 



3193 NAUTICAL ALMANAC (The), and ASTRONOMICAL EPHEMERIS for 1770-1, '75-8, '84, 

 '89-'90, '97-8, 1802, '04-6, : 09, '11, '20-3, '25-6, '28, '32, '34, '37, '39, '42-3, '48, '63, '73, and '76, 

 34 vols. Svo. boards (5 v. calf or hf. bound), 2. 2s 1770-1876 



3194 NEGRETTI and ZAMBBA'S TREATISE on METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS, with 98 wood- 

 cuts, roy. Svo. cl. , 2s 1864 



