Dirck Nierop, 1659

NIEROP, Dirck Rembrantsz van (1610-1682). Mathematische Calculatie, dat is, Wiskonstige Rekening [and:] Wiskonstige musyka. Amsterdam: Gerrit van Goedesbergen, 1659.

Tomash copy of the first edition of an important mathematical treatise, with an additional section on music. Nierop’s work is on topics “ranging from plane and spherical trigonometry to the creation of sundials on various surfaces. It contains a folding plate of logarithms very similar to that found in earlier publications of Edmund Wingate ... [The second part] is a mathematical/technical discussion of music with sections on the human voice, organs and harpsichords … The author was a prominent Dutch mathematician in the latter half of the seventeenth century. He was born into a humble Mennonite family in the North Holland village of Nieuwe Nierdrop (Nierop) where he lived all his life. He was evidently self-taught. Originally he was a shoemaker by trade but found he could make a living by teaching navigation and writing almanacs” (Tomash and Williams).
Pages 5-24 comprise logarithm tables. Tomash and Williams N39 and N40

Two parts in one, octavo (182 x 110mm). Two title pages, each with woodcut portrait of the author, 9 folding tables and charts, diagrams in text (closed tear affecting type on D1). Contemporary vellum. Custom box. Provenance: a few inscriptions, including "H. Albers" – monogram stamp on reverse of flyleaf (AMZ?) – Bibliothecae Publicae Amstelaedamensis (stamp with duplicate release stamp) – Erwin Tomash (bookplate).