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Petri (Nicolaus) The Pathway to Knowledge

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Conteyning certaine briefe Tables of English waights, and Measures, translated by William Phillip, first edition in English, title within printed ornamental border, 1 folding table, extensive annotations by William Oughtred on verso of title and last leaf, with further annotations on n2, o1r-o4v, p2v-p3v & z4v, title trimmed slightly affecting lower border, small section of loss to head of title at inner margin, the Macclesfield copy with bookplate on front pastedown and discreet blind-stamp on title, eighteenth century speckled calf, spine in compartments with gilt flower motif, an excellent copy, [STC 19799. ESTC records 11 copies: CSmH (imperfect); Lica; Lu, DFo (imperfect); C (imperfect); L (imperfect); Lwe; PETc; WHs; CU; NNC], small 4to, for William Barley, 1596.

***One of the earliest works on accounting to be printed in England, and a fascinating association copy with the seventeenth century mathematician William Oughtred's notations. Tables of foreign currency and weights and measures for commodities such as wool, cheese, ale, fish and cloth are supplied together with directions for the use of counters in working out financial transactions. The numerous examples of mathematical problems, generally involving mercantile situations, not only illustrate the calculations utilised by Elizabethan businessmen, but also provide insights into the social context of the world of international trade at the close of the sixteenth century..

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