CARDANO, Girolamo. De subtilitate libri XXI. Paris, Jacques Du Puys, 15518vo piccolo, 168 x 102 mm. Legatura in piena pelle marrone a spruzzo, titolo su tassello e fregi in oro al dorso, tagli a spruzzo. Carte [24], 312. Segn.: Aa-Cc⁸ a-z⁸ A-Q⁸. Bianca la c. Cc8. Marca tipografica al frontespizio, Iniziali ornate, alcune su fondo nero criblé, numerose figure xilografiche nel testo. Firma di antico possessore alla carta 312 recto. Lievi tracce d’uso alla legatura, buono stato di conservazione. Rara edizione pubblicata un anno dopo la princeps del 1550. L’opera, di carattere filosofico e scientifico, ebbe molta fortuna. Cardano descrive e illustra una gran quantità di esperimenti fisici e di invenzioni, ma anche curiosità e prodigi. In apertura del libro 18 cita i prodigi di un prestigiatore spagnolo: tra le magie di costui compare, tra l'altro, il libro magico in grado di mostrare, se sfogliato opportunamente, figure sempre diverse. Schuh: “Essentially an encyclopedia, in De Subtilitate one can find some article on almost every subject, including substantial sections on technology, medicine, chemistry, mathematics, various branches of the occult, mineralogy, gemology, hydrodynamics, geology, electricity, etc, and descriptions of numerous experiments and apparatus, including the pumps and the screw of Archimedes and a system of Braille writing for the blind. It is thought by some to be based on the manuscript notes of Leonardo Da Vinci; however, it is more probably the sole work of Cardano's penetrating but erratic genius. The text also incorporates many woodcut illustrations which add considerably to the descriptions.”https://www.ustc.ac.uk/editions/150841Curtis P. Schuh, Mineralogy and Crystallography: An Annotated Biobibliography, n. 1047, con indicazione tipografica “Mathurinum Dupuys”; Adams, Cambridge Books, 1967: C-669; Schütze, Naturphilosophie, 2000. Cfr. Galland, Cryptography, 34; Wheeler Gift 37.

Small 8vo, 168 x 102 mm. Full brown leather binding, title on the label and gilt decorations on the spine, spleckled edges. Leaves [24], 312. Sign: Aa-Cc⁸ a-z⁸ A-Q⁸. Leaf Nc8 is blank. Printer's device on the title page, decorated initials, some on a black criblé ground, numerous woodcut illustrations in the text. Signature of an previous possessor on leaf 312 recto. Slight traces of use on the binding, in good condition.
Rare edition published one year after the princeps of 1550. The work, of a philosophical and scientific nature, was very successful. Cardano describes and illustrates a large number of physical experiments and inventions, but also curiosities and wonders. At the beginning of book 18 he mentions the prodigies of a Spanish conjurer: among the latter's magic appears, among other things, the magic book capable of showing, if leafed through appropriately, always different figures. Schuh: “Essentially an encyclopedia, in De Subtilitate one can find some article on almost every subject, including substantial sections on technology, medicine, chemistry, mathematics, various branches of the occult, mineralogy, gemology, hydrodynamics, geology, electricity, etc, and descriptions of numerous experiments and apparatus, including the pumps and the screw of Archimedes and a system of Braille writing for the blind. It is thought by some to be based on the manuscript notes of Leonardo Da Vinci; however, it is more probably the sole work of Cardano's penetrating but erratic genius. The text also incorporates many woodcut illustrations which add considerably to the descriptions.”This edition is particularly rare: in the bibliographies consulted, an edition appears with the same collation but with the typographical indication “Mathurinum Dupuys”.