Borgo (Pietro) Aritmetica mercantile, first edition, Venice, Erhard Ratdolt, 1484.

Borgo (Pietro) Aritmetica mercantile, first edition, 118 leaves, 36-38 lines, gothic type, woodcut initials, printed marginal calculations, occasional foxing and soiling, small wormhole throughout textblock, central fold of each quire reinforced and browned, good margins, modern limp vellum with paper label to spine, slightly bowed, 4to (201 x 152mm.), Venice, Erhard Ratdolt, 1484.

? Rare first edition of only the second treatise on commercial arithmetic to be printed in Italy, after Larte dela merchadantia, Treviso, 1478, which was never reprinted. Borgo's work was more detailed and influential and further incunable editions appeared in 1488 and1491 followed by many more in the 16th century. Only 2 copies at auction prior to this one - the Honeyman copy in 1978 (£7,000) and the Shuckburgh copy (lacking 2 leaves) in 1993 (£3,600).

Provenance: early unidentified ink inscription to b4 recto.

Literature: Tomash & Williams B208; Smith, Rara arithmetica, p.16; ISTC ib 01034000.