Arithmetical Books from the Invention of Printing to the Present Time : Being Brief Notices of a Large Number of Works Drawn up from Actual Inspection

Hugh K. Elliott Ltd., London, n.d. [ but 1966? ], reprint of 1847 first edition. Cloth, small 8vo, 22 cm,. xxviii, 124 pp. Approximately 500 entries. According to the DSB this work is "probably the first significant work of scientific bibliography". The bibliographer A.N.L. Munby commented that " it is one of the earliest, and still one of the best, of the class of work now called a catalogue raisonnee. The notes, based on total familiarity with the subject-matter of each work, are testimony to the extraordinary range of its author's learning." After a lively and informative introduction by De Morgan, the work consists of two parts. The first provides careful descriptions of some 500 books examined by the author, and chronologically arranged with full annotations of each work given, together with details of author, title, size, and place and date of publication.The second part, much briefer, is a list of 1580 reputed writers on arithmetic, arranged to serve also as an index to the first, major list." Full annotations of each work are given, together with details of author, title, size, and place and date of publication. From the introduction "..not the least enjoyable part of [the book] are De Morgan's excursions into such topics as Cocker's Arithmetic or the length of the geometric foot, which are excellent examples of his historical ingenuity. Near Very Good, a trifle rubbed.