Lot 3500: Fournier, Georges (1595-1652), S.J. , Hydrographie, contenant la théorie et la practique de toutes les parties de la navigation. Paris: Michel Soly, 1643

Description: folio (340 x 222mm.), [24], 420, [2 (blank)], 421-859, 372, 875-922, [20]pp., title-page printed in red and black, illustration : engraved vignette on title-page, folding engraved plate of a French warship, woodcut diagrams in text, woodcut initials, head- and tail-pieces, binding : contemporary calf, Rrr2 & 3 misbound, woodcut diagram in margin of Zzz3 verso cropped, short tear in text of 4G2 without loss, a few small wormholes in some lower margins, binding rubbed, upper cover detached

Notes: first edition. From 1629 until 1640 Georges Fournier was professor of mathematics at La Flèche, where he had been educated by the Jesuits, and then from 1640 until 1642 at Hesdin. The present work contains sections on navigation, the construction of ships, the rules of the sea, longitude, compasses, tides etc. It enjoyed enormous success and in 1667 a second edition was published (see next lot), containing a supplementary section, La navigation du roy d'Escosse Iacques Cinquiesme du nom, autour de son royaume & Isles Hebrides & Orchades, and an extremely fine engraved plate of a French warship, which was issued separately and is sometimes found added to copies of the first edition, as here.

Provenance: William Jones, signature dated 1707 on title-page

Literature: Houzeau & Lancaster 10707 ("très rare")