Bidspirit auction | [SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - RARE
[SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - RARE FIRST EDITION OF DE L’HOSPITAL’S POSTHUMOUS WORK ON CONIC SECTIONS - DE L’HOSPITAL Guillaume François Antoine (1661 - 1704) - [MATHEMATICS – ANALYTIC GEOMETRY] Guillaume François Antoine de L’Hospital. Traité analytique des sections coniques et de leur usage… Paris, Veuve de Jean Boudot & Jean Boudot fils, 1707. 4to (approx. 268x 204 mm); contemporary limp vellum, manuscript title on spine, red morocco label with gilt lettering. Large woodcut device on title. Illustrated with 33 folding engraved geometrical plates. Inner hinge partially cracked. 459, (3) ff Complete First edition of this significant posthumous treatise by Guillaume de l’Hospital (1661–1704), best known for L’Hospital’s Rule in calculus. This advanced mathematical text focuses on analytic treatment of conic sections, demonstrates their use in solving equations, both determinate and indeterminate and is one of the earliest works to integrate algebra with classical geometry. The work was edited and published after the author’s death by his widow, under the privilege of the French King.