[EMERSON, William, 1701-1782]

The Elements of Geometry. In which, The principal Propositions of Euclid, Archimedes, and others, are demonstrated after the most easy manner. To which is added, A Collection of useful Geometrical Problems. [bound with] The Doctrine of Proportion, Arithmetical and Geometrical. Together with a general Method of arguing by proportional Quantities.

London: Printed for J. Nourse, Bookseller in Ordinary to his Majesty, 1763. First Edition. Full Leather. First Edition. 8vo: viii,183, [1]; iv,32 pp, with 296 geometrical figures and perspective designs on 14 folding engraved plates. Prefaces to both titles signed: W. Emerson. Contemporary full leather, spine ribbed and divided into six compartments, red morocco lettering piece gilt to second. A Very Good or better copy, front hinge skillfully (almost invisibly) reinforced, pages and plates free of stains and foxing, save for first 10 leaves, which have been professionally restored on the top inner edge (with no loss of text). Both first editions of elementary works on geometry and perspective, the first divided into eight books; both start with definitions, axioms, and postulates, followed by numerous problems (keyed into the 296 figures, in the case of the first book) and their solutions. ESTC Citation Nos. T77181 and T77180. Very Good +. Item #BB0331

Like his fellow County Durham savant John Bird, the astronomer and instrument designer, Emerson makes a fictional appearance in Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Mason and Dixon.’ He was the very archetype of the English eccentric: According to an Age of Enlightenment account, Emerson dressed in old clothes and his manners were uncouth. He wore his shirt back to front and his legs wrapped in sacking so as not to scorch them as he sat over the fire. He complained about the expense of all the candles he had used during a lifetime studying mathematics, mechanics (he apparently never advanced a proposition he had not tested, nor published an invention without first proving its effects by a model), and music, including the theory of sounds and the ancient and modern scales. He died on 20 May 1782 at his small estate in Weardale, where his gravestone bears epitaphs in Latin and Hebrew. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $499.00