Elements of Arithmetic, theoretical and practical: adapted to the use of schools, and to private study.

AN IMPORTANT PRESENTATION COPY

HASSLER, F[erdinand] R[udolph], F. A. P. S. [NICOLLET, Joseph Nicolas]. Elements of Arithmetic, theoretical and practical: adapted to the use of schools, and to private study. 12mo, original calf backed plain blue boards (rebacked), original leather label, pp. [viii], [9]-[214]. New York: Printed and Published by James Bloomfield, 1826.

First Edition. An interesting gift connecting two brilliant minds, probably presented ca. 1832. Presentation copy, inscribed: "Mr. Nicol[l]et astronomer royal of Paris with the respects of the author F. R. H." Importantly, Hassler, the head of the U. S. Coast Survey, supported Nicollet from the time of Nicollet's arrival in the United States, and later worked with him on his important Upper Mississippi River map. As far as we have been able to determine, books from the library of Joseph N. Nicollet are rare. Joseph Nicolas Nicollet (1786-1843), a French geographer, astronomer and mathematician known for mapping the Upper Mississippi River, 1836-1839, and is considered the foremost surveyor and mapmaker of his day. He led three expeditions in the region between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, primarily in Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota, the last assisted by John C. Frémont, and Jesuit missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet. Both Hassler (1770-1843) and Nicollet, who died 70 days apart, were immigrants. Hassler was a Swiss-born surveyor who came to this country in 1805, and Nicollet a "penniless political refugee from France...had come to the United States [1832] and looked up the only man with whose reputation he was familiar. Hassler assisted him in every way and the two became friends, carried on a lively correspondence...and worked on Nicollet's map together in Washington. Entitled The Hydrographical Map of the Region..., [1843] its accuracy made possible further mapping of the West and employed for the first time in this country the use of the barometer for the measurement of heights."-Origin of "The Project", by Martha Coleman Bray, Author of Joseph Nicollet and His Map. By 1832 Nicollet "was widely recognized as a leading authority on virtually all aspects of scientific geographic observation and data collection...the products of his travels, particularly his large map of the 'Hydrographical Basin of the Upper Mississippi River,' were to serve as the models for American explorer-scientists through the age of John Wesley Powell."-John Allen, Joseph Nicollet and His Map (American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1980). It was through Hassler and Joel Poinsett that Nicollet met the explorer John C. Frémont. There were of a number of editions of this arithmetic up to 1848, including a Swiss edition. As an arithmetic book, the U. S. Commissioner of Education gave a long account of the work in 1899, saying it "is somewhat novel in the arrangement of matter...Taken as a whole, the author places theory before practice, and illustrates with very few problems." Early leaves a little stained, and some light scattered browning. American Imprints 24813. Karpinski, p. 274.