Complete in 10 volumes. [48], 701, [21]; [4], 736, [36]; [4], 713, [42]; [8], 630; [8], 728; [16], 923; [8],515; [4], 806; [8],570; [8], 585, [17] pp.Vol. 1 with engraved portrait frontispiece; title pages with printer's devices, printed in black and red; head and tail pieces, woodcut initials, some charts and tables in text; printed in double columns. (Folio) 37x22 cm (14½x8½"), period speckled boards, gilt decorated spines with raised bands.
Scarce 1663 printing of the works of Gerolamo Cardano, the Italian polymath, whose interests and proficiencies ranged from being a mathematician, physician, biologist, physicist, chemist, astrologer, astronomer, philosopher, writer, and gambler. He wrote more than 200 works on science. Ex libris St. Mary's College, Birmingham, with small labels to spine ends, bookplates, and a few ink stamps to each volume.
Cardano was one of the most influential mathematicians of the Renaissance, and was one of the key figures in the foundation of probability and the earliest introducer of the binomial coefficients and the binomial theorem in the Western world. Today, he is well known for his achievements in algebra. He made the first systematic use of negative numbers in Europe, published with attribution the solutions of other mathematicians for the cubic and quartic equations, and acknowledged the existence of imaginary numbers.
Condition:
Good amount of wear and rubbing to boards, chipping to spine ends; some hinges cracked or starting, interiors generally very good, with toning, varying degrees of foxing throughout, occasional minor closed tear or chip to edges.