Rara Arithmetica: A Catalog of the Arithmetics Written Before the Year MDCI with a Description of Those in the Library of George Arthur Plimpton of New York

Boston: Ginn & Company, 1908 8vo (24 cm), XV, 507 pp, with 9 plates. Publisher's cloth with a paper printed label on the spine, deckled edges (binding slightly stained). Inscribed by George Arthur Plimpton on the front endpaper, dated 1910. This catalog of the library of the American publisher George Arthur Plimpton (1855-1936). It is considered the third great collection in the field of elementary mathematics after the dispersed libraries of Guglielmo Libri and Prince Boncompagni in the 19th century. Of the libraries of arithmetics printed before the opening of the 17th century, it was the largest ever brought together before the beginning of the 20th century and is fairly complete. The catalog of the Plimpton library was compiled by David Eugene Smith (1860-1944) and has become a classical bibliography on the subject, remaining an indispensable tool today. "Over five hundred and fifty different works are mentioned, or, including the various editions, nearly twelve hundred books in all... The arrangement is chronological by first editions, but the Index allows for alphabetical and geographical reference. Although the nature of the work is usually discussed very briefly, an examination of the Index will show that a fairly complete history of Renaissance arithmetics has been included." (From the Preface.)