PASCAL || ARNAULD, Nouveaux élémens de Géométrie, 1667

[ARNAULD, Antoine] || [PASCAL, Blaise].

Nouveaux élémens de géométrie contenant, outre un ordre tout nouveau & de nouvelles démonstrations des propositions les plus communes, de nouveaux moyens de faire voir quelles lignes sont incommensurables, de nouvelles mesures des angles, dont on ne s'était point encore avisé, et de nouvelles manières de trouver & de démontrer la proportion des lignes.

Paris, Charles Savreux, 1667.

4to (243x180 mm), (24)-345-(2 errata) pages. binding : Contemporary full leather, gilt spine in six compartments. Paper washed and binding repaired. Some staining. Ink stain on the title page and scribbles on pages 112/113 and 160/161.

First edition. Complete with the errata leaf.
First publication of Pascal's work on magic squares.
The work, which would be called Géométrie de Port Royal, was born from the meeting of Antoine Arnauld with Pascal, and their friendly rivalry to make Euclid's geometry more understandable and to compose a manual for use in the Petites écoles.
Pascal conceded that Arnauld's project was better than his, and destroyed his preparatory manuscript. Of Pascal's geometry, all that remains is his solution to magic squares, which Arnauld would place in the appendix of his own work.
The teaching of mathematics in France was lastingly affected and, until Legendre, almost all authors of geometry manuals adopted the views of Port-Royal.
The second state of sheet 251-252, and the rare errata sheet are as described by Dominique Descotes and testify to the modifications made by Arnauld during printing.

references: Dominique Descotes ["Les errata des Nouveaux éléments de géométrie d’Antoine Arnauld"]: "On y trouve aussi une page libre additionnelle que je n’ai rencontré dans aucun des exemplaires que j’ai consultés"], DSB [I, 292], Macclesfield [222].

provenance: De la Varenne (manuscript ex libris on the title page), Pierre Gruget (manuscript note).

Price : 3500 €

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