Prefazione allo stato antico, e moderno della città di Asolo e del suo vescovado opera inedita del conte Jacopo Riccati nobile trivigiano

4to (292x212 mm). [4], LVIII pp. Title page printed in red and black with woodcut vignette in the center. Woodcut decorative initials, head- and tail-pieces. Contemporary marbled boards, ink title on spine (lacking a portion of paper on the back panel, worn and rubbed). Slightly uniformly browned, some staining, but a genuine, wide-margined copy.

First edition, appeared postumously, of this work on the origins and history of the Veneto town of Asolo in ancient and medieval times, which also contains a short dissertation on the role of the historiographer and the importance of documentary sources, as well as a brief historical eulogy of the Veneto region.

Jacopo Riccati was a celebrated mathematician who enjoyed great and well-deserved fame while still alive, but declined the many honorary positions offered to him, including Peter the Great's invitation to the presidency of the St. Petersburg Academy. He was repeatedly consulted by the Venetian senate for his expertise in hydraulics. Riccati made a notable contribution to infinitesimal calculus in the early phase of its development; in particular, in 1724-'25 he solved the differential equation that bears his name. His sons Francesco, Giordano and Vincenzo were also important mathematicians. Riccati's writings appeared in Lucca between 1761 and 1768 in a four-volume edition entitled Opere.

Italian Union Catalogue, IT\ICCU\MODE\022771; Lozzi, I, p. 129.

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