Bidspirit auction | [HISTORY] - EUCLIDES (IV-III sec

[HISTORY] - EUCLIDES (IV-III sec BC) - “Luca Pacioli, Leonardo, and the Geometry of the Renaissance” - EUCLIDES. Elementa geometriae. Interprete Campano, ed. by Luca Pacioli. Venice, Paganinus de Paganinis, 22 May 1509. Folio (c. 290 x 217 mm). 145 ff Title printed in red and black with fine woodcut initial, numerous woodcut diagrams in text, ornamental initials. Contemporary limp vellum with manuscript title on spine and fore-edges. Rare and celebrated first edition of Euclid’s Elementa with the extensive commentary by Luca Pacioli (1445–1517), the Franciscan mathematician, humanist, and close friend of Leonardo da Vinci. Prepared at Leonardo’s request, as stated in the preface, this edition was issued only weeks before the appearance of Pacioli’s Divina Proportione. It represents one of the greatest intellectual milestones of the Renaissance, transmitting the foundations of Greek geometry in a form enriched by Pacioli’s scholia and insights into proportion, arithmetic, and perspective. This superb Venetian printing is not only a cornerstone in the history of mathematics but also a tangible witness to the collaboration between two of the greatest minds of the Renaissance. Pacioli’s dedication to Leonardo underscores the deep intellectual bond between mathematician and artist, whose studies of perspective and proportion were inseparable from the Euclidean tradition revived in this edition. An extraordinary copy: in perfect condition, with exceptionally wide margins, preserved in its original limp vellum binding with manuscript title on spine and fore-edges. Minor wormholes in margins, professionally restored and never affecting the text. Crisp and fresh throughout, a truly outstanding survival. Complete copies of this 1509 Pacioli–Euclid are of the utmost rarity, with only a handful traced at auction in recent decades. A masterpiece of Renaissance printing, mathematics, and intellectual history — uniting Euclid, Luca Pacioli, and Leonardo da Vinci.