Pratique de la Geometrie sur le Papier et sur le Terrain. Avec un nouvel Ordre & une Methode particuliere

Engraved frontis., an engraved head-piece at beginning of the dedication, & 82 full-page engravings in the text. 4 p.l. (incl. frontis.), 41, 139, [8] pp. 12mo, 18th-cent. green morocco, sides panelled in gilt, flat spine gilt, a.e.g. Paris: T. Jolly, 1669 (colophon dated 1668).

First edition, and a lovely copy, of this uncommon and influential book, a popular manual for artists and architects. This is "one of the most attractive little mathematical works ever published."-Hofer, Baroque Book Illustration, pp. 14 & 32. The illustrations in this book show beautiful small landscapes in the lower portion of the image, while the upper portion shows geometrical diagrams; many are animated by figures (peasants, soldiers, noblemen in contemporary costume). Leclerc's style of illustration strongly influenced the 18th-century French vignettists, prefiguring the grace and elegance of the best French rococo.

Le Clerc (1637-1714), a native of Lorraine, adapted the technique of his countryman Jacques Callot. Professor of geometry and perspective at the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, Le Clerc also worked for Louis XIV as "graveur du Roi."

Fine copy.

❧ Brunet, III, 915-"elle est recherchée à cause des figures qui y sont de premier tirage.".