Beautifully calligraphed manuscript version of a well-known 18th-century Dutch algebra textbook. It is likely based on the third edition of Een kort en klare onderwysinge in de beginselen van de Algebra ofte Stelkonst (1756) by Pieter Venema (d. 1748), but the author of the manuscript added many examples and solutions to clarify the theory, especially in the first part, making the text much more accessible for the average student. Like the printed work, the manuscript covers addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, root extraction, and solving equations.
After the famous arithmetic book by Willem Bartjens, De Cijfferinghe ..., Venema's textbook was an important step forward in arithmetic and algebra education in the Netherlands. It was widely used in schools to improve the impoverished mathematical education. Venema was a teacher of mathematics and the art of writing in Groningen, and pupil of Johann Bernoulli (1677-1748), one of the first propagators of Leibnizs differential and integral calculus. The first edition of Venemas work was published in 1714 in Groningen, with later editions appearing in Amsterdam in 1730, 1756, 1768, 1783, 1794 and 1803. Venema emigrated to New York in the 1720s, where he published another edition of his work, Arithmetica of Cyfferkonst, volgens de munten, matren en gewigten te New York gebruykelyk. Als mede een kort ontwerp van de Algebra (1730). This was the first algebra textbook ever printed in North America.
The vellum is somewhat rubbed and soiled, the corners of the boards have been repaired. The gutter between the second free flyleaf and the title page is starting to weaken at the foot, the ink of the calligraphic parts shines through on the other side of the leaf. Otherwise in good condition. Cf. Beckers, D., 'Het despotisme der Methesis', in: Opkomst van de propaedeutische functie van de wiskunde in Nederland, 1750-1850 (Hilversum, 2003); Idem, Getuigen. Pieter Venema, in: Euclides, 89/4 (2012), pp. 12-13; Bierens de Haan, nos. 4974-4976; Lao Genevra Simons, A Dutch text-book of 1730, in: The mathematical teacher, 16 (1923), pp. 340-347.