A sammelband containing Archimedes' Opera Omnia and Apollonius of Perga's Conics will lead a sale at Swann Auction Galleries in New York on April 3.
The lot carries a $30,000-50,000 estimate.
 The sammelband consists of Archimedes' Opera Omnia and Apollonius' Conics |
A sammelband refers to two or more volumes that have been stitched together to create a compendium. In this case the complete works of the mathematician Archimedes (287-212 BC) have been combined with Apollonius' (circa 262-190 BC) groundbreaking research in the field of geometry.
The two texts, translated into Latin from ancient Greek, were published in the 16th century and stitched together at a later date. They proved instrumental in the development of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment, inspiring scientists from Copernicus to Newton.
The sammelband is bound in contemporary pigskin and remains in exceptional condition despite its advanced age.
Opera Mathematica by Johannes Schoner (1477-1547) is valued at $15,000-20,000.
The work includes some of the earliest printed examples of planetary equatorial, in the form of paper instruments that can be cut out and assembled to calculate astronomical problems.
Schoner was a German polymath with an exceptional intellect who gained a reputation throughout Europe as an expert in the field of astronomy.
He was influential in convincing Copernicus to print his De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, which brought about a revolution in scientific thought in proving the Earth orbits the sun.
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