Rare second (first Venetian) edition of an extensively illustrated practical handbook on the construction and use of mechanical devices including hoists, cranes and other equipment for constructing buildings, monuments, bridges, fountains and monuments, as well as water wheels, clocks, canon carriages etc., and simple machines such as levers, pulleys and screws. It also provides detailed information about the use of artillery, with tables of angles and distances. The text is divided into 3 parts, the first covering mechanics in six chapters, the second statics and the third practical applications. An appendix gives instructions for determining the centre of gravity of an object.
In very good condition, with only a small stain in the gutter margin of 1 leaf. The binding has a small chip at the head of the spine, a tear in one paste-down and a few worm holes in the endpapers, but is still very good. A practical handbook of mechanical devices, with hundreds of illustrations. ICCU (6 copies); Riccardi II, col. 427; WorldCat (1 copy); cf. Roberts & Trent, Bib. mechanica, pp. 290-291.