An important edition in the original Latin, the first to be edited by Hartman, of the English Franciscan John Peckham's Perspectiva communis, one of the earliest works on perspective, written in the late 1200s and first printed ca. 1482/83. Divided into three parts, the Perspectiva communis presents 162 propositions: 84 on optics (the anatomy and the physiology of the eye), 56 on catoptrics (the reflexion of light) and 22 on dioptrics (the refraction of light). This last part also contains descriptions of a rainbow, the milky way and a camera obscura, the predecessor of photography. The 44 woodcuts illustrating the propositions were designed by Hartmann, and include a fine, large cross-section of the human eye, one of the earliest representations of the eye in print.
Very good copy. Extensively revised and well-illustrated Nürnberg edition of a famous work on perspective and optics. Albert, Norton & Hurtes 1756; Vagnetti Db8 and Cb6, note; this edition not in VD16.