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DAZA DE VALDS, Benito (b. Cordoba 1591?). Uso de los antoios para todo genero de vistas. Sevilla: Diego Perez, 1623.
4o (188 x 136 mm). Collation: ?14 ?24 ?34 A-Z4 Aa-Bb4. 111 leaves (of 112, without Bb4 blank). Privilege on ?1/2v, errata on ?1/3r, black-ground woodcut title vignette of a pair of spectacles, woodcut vignette at the head of the preliminary "Romance de la aparicion de nuestra Seora de la Fuensanta en la Ciudad de Cordova" (?2/1r-?2/4v), full-page medallion portrait of the author at the age of 32, 11 woodcuts in the text of which one full-page, woodcut passe-partout initials and tailpieces, typographic headpiece and initial ornaments. R2r with printing flaw corrected in ink(?). (Some light staining and soiling, Bb1 torn along gutter, woodcut of degree meter on H1 slightly cropped at bottom.) Contemporary limp vellum, manuscript title on spine (upper inner hinge split). Provenance: a few 18th-century and later marginalia.
EXTREMELY RARE FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE FIRST SPANISH BOOKS ON OPTICS AND OPTHALMOLOGY AND THE EARLIEST SCIENTIFIC TREATISE ON SPECTACLES. Little is known of the author beyond his self-description in the present treatise (his only known work) as a lawyer from Cordoba who worked as a notary for the Inquisition at Seville. The work is divided into 3 parts, the first two being devoted to the anatomy and physiology of the eye, the improvement of vision by means of lenses, materials for making lenses, methods of measuring vision, and the types of lenses used to correct faulty vision. Part 3 contains four dialogues between several fictional interlocutors who discuss various types of visual impairment and corrective lenses. The work was one of the earliest to mention the benefits of using convex lenses after cataract operations. Its schematic woodcuts illustrate spectacles, variously shaped lenses, and tables for measuring sight.
Garrison-Morton 5821; NLM/Krivatsy 3071; Palau 69075; Norman 614.
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EXTREMELY RARE FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE FIRST SPANISH BOOKS ON OPTICS AND OPTHALMOLOGY AND THE EARLIEST SCIENTIFIC TREATISE ON SPECTACLES. Little is known of the author beyond his self-description in the present treatise (his only known work) as a lawyer from Cordoba who worked as a notary for the Inquisition at Seville. The work is divided into 3 parts, the first two being devoted to the anatomy and physiology of the eye, the improvement of vision by means of lenses, materials for making lenses, methods of measuring vision, and the types of lenses used to correct faulty vision. Part 3 contains four dialogues between several fictional interlocutors who discuss various types of visual impairment and corrective lenses. The work was one of the earliest to mention the benefits of using convex lenses after cataract operations. Its schematic woodcuts illustrate spectacles, variously shaped lenses, and tables for measuring sight.
Garrison-Morton 5821; NLM/Krivatsy 3071; Palau 69075; Norman 614.