Morin (Jean-Baptiste) Trigonometriae canonicae libri tres. Quibus planorum et sphæricorum triangulorum theoria atque praxis accuratissimè brevissiméque demonstrantur. Adiungitur liber quartus, pro calculi tabulis logarithmorum, first edition, Paris...

Morin (Jean-Baptiste) Trigonometriae canonicae libri tres. Quibus planorum et sphæricorum triangulorum theoria atque praxis accuratissimè brevissiméque demonstrantur. Adiungitur liber quartus, pro calculi tabulis logarithmorum, first edition, woodcut initials, head-pieces and diagrams, errata f. at end, section excised from margin of title and restored, contemporary calf, ruled in gilt and lettered "Convent. Concept. Capucin. Parisi.", wear to upper joint, spine ends and corners, g.e., [Tomash & Williams M131], 4to, Paris, Jean Libert, 1633.

⁂ "Morin had a difficult personality and is remembered not only as an opponent of Galileo (and his Copernican ideas) but also as a fervent opponent of Descartes. He should, however, be given credit for his attempts to solve the longitude problem. His solution was based on measuring absolute time by the position of the moon relative to the stars. Morin recognized that better instruments and better lunar tables were required to implement his solution, and he sought to make some advances in these areas. As a practical matter, his method, though theoretically sound, did not achieve the required accuracy. Morin is remarkable in that these logarithm tables are among the earliest anywhere and certainly are the first published in France by a Frenchman. He was obviously a capable mathematician and seems to have grasped the usefulness of logarithms when many of his contemporaries did not." - Tomash & Williams.

Provenance: Couvent des Capucins du Marais (Paris, founded 1622, inscription on title and lettered on upper cover).