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Mathematics
Lot 16
IMPORTANT ASSOCIATION COPY OF ONE OF EULER'S GREATEST WORKS. EULER, LEONHARD. 1707-1783. Methodus inveniendi lineas curvas. Lausanne and Geneva: M.-M. Bosquet, 1744.
31 March – 8 April 2025, 12:00 EDT
Online, New YorkSold for US$5,632 inc. premium
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IMPORTANT ASSOCIATION COPY OF ONE OF EULER'S GREATEST WORKS.
EULER, LEONHARD. 1707-1783. Methodus inveniendi lineas curvas. Lausanne and Geneva: M.-M. Bosquet, 1744. 4to (234 x 180 mm). Title in red and black, 5 folding engraved plates. Contemporary marbled boards, morocco gilt lettering piece on spine. Rubbed, spine a bit loose, lacking final leaf (instructions to binder), minor spotting.
Provenance: Georg Wolfgang Krafft (German physicist, 1701-1754. Ownership signature on title dated 1745).
FIRST EDITION of the work considered to be Euler's greatest contribution to mathematics. The publication of this work cemented Euler's reputation as the greatest mathematician of his time. He was the first to define the problems and solutions of the calculus of variations, and his work here provided valuable tools for future generations of mathematicians to apply calculus to real-world physical problems. "With the publication of this work, the calculus of variations came into being as a new branch of mathematics. Euler was the first to formulate the principal problems of the calculus of variations and to create general methods for their solution" (Norman).
This copy features the ownership signature of Georg Wolfgang Krafft, professor of physics at the University of Tübingen, and first director of the Tübingen Observatory. Krafft and Euler had both taught at the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, and corresponded after Euler moved to Berlin in 1741, continuing until at least 1753.
Dibner 111; DSB IV, 480; Grolier/Horblit 28; Norman 731.
Provenance: Georg Wolfgang Krafft (German physicist, 1701-1754. Ownership signature on title dated 1745).
FIRST EDITION of the work considered to be Euler's greatest contribution to mathematics. The publication of this work cemented Euler's reputation as the greatest mathematician of his time. He was the first to define the problems and solutions of the calculus of variations, and his work here provided valuable tools for future generations of mathematicians to apply calculus to real-world physical problems. "With the publication of this work, the calculus of variations came into being as a new branch of mathematics. Euler was the first to formulate the principal problems of the calculus of variations and to create general methods for their solution" (Norman).
This copy features the ownership signature of Georg Wolfgang Krafft, professor of physics at the University of Tübingen, and first director of the Tübingen Observatory. Krafft and Euler had both taught at the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, and corresponded after Euler moved to Berlin in 1741, continuing until at least 1753.
Dibner 111; DSB IV, 480; Grolier/Horblit 28; Norman 731.