JOHANNES DE STRASBURG.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Manuscript abacus treatise in Italian. A rare unpublished abacus manuscript, unrecorded by Van Egmond and notable for its early date, the signed colophon, and its attractive presentation in folio on vellum. Of the c.300 surviving abacus manuscripts documented by Van Egmond (13th century to 1600), almost all are institutionally held; only four are privately owned. We have located only one other unrecorded example in commerce, on paper and dated c.1400, sold in 1999. The present manuscript is the earliest of the six known in private hands.Abacus manuscripts (libri d'abbaco or abbaci) were the principal vehicles through which Europe adopted Hindu-Arabic numerals and the practical mathematics essential to commerce. Originating with Leonardo Pisano's 1202 Liber Abbaci, these treatises spread rapidly through Tuscany and northern Italy, underpinning the work of the abacus schools that trained the mercantile class; Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci were among their pupils. Vernacular examples are known from as early as 1290.The manuscript follows the standard structure described by Van Egmond. After a short initial lacuna (likely covering numerals and the four operations), it proceeds through recreational and business exercises: number puzzles, series and progression problems, and a wide range of mercantile mathematics, including money and purchase, the rule of three, interest, partnership, loans, and barter. A concise section on algebra ("regola della cosa") explains equation-solvin

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.