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Very rare first edition of a standard illustrated handbook for ships' pilots

VRIES, Klaas de.
Schat-kamer ofte konst der stier-lieden, ...
Amsterdam, Joannes Loots, 1702. With woodcut illustration of a ship's pilot with a plumb line and navigational instruments by Adriaan Le Duc (1693-1729) on title-page, 4 engraved plates (3 folding and 1 full-page). Further with many woodcut illustrations (mostly diagrams), and letterpress tables of tides and solar and lunar positions.
Including: (2) VLACQ, Adriaen. De Tafelen der sinuum, tangentium en secantium, ofte der hoekmaten, raaklynen en snylynen.
Amsterdam, Joannes Loots, 1702. Primarily with letterpress tables of logarithms and trigonometric functions, the present copy lacking those for logarithms. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. Contemporary vellum. [12], 30, [12], [1], 32-272, 271-334, [1], [1 blank]; [3], 44, [1], [12], [90 lacking], [2], [101], [1 blank] pp.
€ 8,500
Very rare first edition of a standard practical manual on the art of navigation, by the virtually unknown Klaas de Vries, teacher of mathematics in Amsterdam. In the preface De Vries summarises the content of the book, which is profusely illustrated (mostly with diagrams) and includes letterpress tables of the tides, the time lag between the positions of the sun and moon for the years 1701-1710, the declination of the sun, etc., as well as 4 engraved plates of a compass rose, the use of the Jakob's staff, the "Platte Paskaart" and the "Wassende graadige paskaart". The work is concluded by sections on the winds one can encounter on the journey from Holland to the Dutch East Indies; how to sail to the East Indies in autumn, during monsoons, etc.
Ad 2: The corrected Loots edition of tables of trigonometric functions and logarithms. The note to the reader explicitly states that the tables are based on those published by Adriaen Vlacq in 1665 (Tabulae sinuum ...), but that they have been corrected, in part based on comparisons with the folio editions of Pitiscus for the trigonometric functions and Henry Briggs for the logarithms. The present copy lacks the tables of logarithms, but its collation and signing otherwise agrees with the somewhat irregular ones given in Crone.
Good copy, the Schat-kamer complete with the errata leaf. The Tafelen lacks the two tables of logarithms (45 leaves, 2A1-M1). Binding somewhat dirty and stained, with the head of the spine chipped and cracked. Crone Library 373 & 374; cf. Bierens de Haan 5196 (1727 ed.); Cat. NHSM, p. 672 (1713 ed. plus 1707 ed. of Tafelen alone); STCN (1727 ed., plus 1707 ed. of Tafelen alone), WorldCat (1710 ed.).
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Maritime history  >  Navigation
Science & technology  >  Astronomy & Mathematics