Six rare books History of Science to Utrecht University Library

Jos Aarts donates six rare books to Utrecht University Library

Utrecht University Library has received a precious donation from Descartes Centre member Dr Jos Aarts. For several decades, he has carefully preserved six rare printed books of great significance for the history of science, and as a student of the History and Philosophy of Science, he has also conducted his own research into them. They have now been handed over to the University Library, where they will continue to be looked after in the future.

The donated books are:

• Girolamo Cataneo, Dell' Arte del Misurare, Libri Due, Appresso Thomaso Bozzo, Brescia 1584, with annotations containing dates from the early seventeenth century and handwritten calculations on the parchment cover;

• Galileo Galilei, De Tribus Cometis, Anni MDCXVIII, Typis H.H. de Duciis, Bologna 1665 (part of Galilei’s Opera Varia, Typographia H.H. del Dozza);

• Willem 's-Gravesande, Physices Elementa Mathematica, Tomus Primus, Apud Petrum et Balduinum Janssonium vander Aa, Leiden 1720;

• Willem 's-Gravesande, Physices Elementa Mathematica, Tomus Secundus, Apud Petrum et Balduinum Janssonium vander Aa, Leiden 1721;

• Maréchal de Vauban, Traité de la Defense des Places, Chez Jombert, Parijs 1769;

• Général Montalembert, L'Ami de L'Art Défensif, Chez Louvet, Parijs, Mois Germinal de l'An IV de la République (1796).

In the coming period, the books will first be preserved and catalogued. They will then be available for consultation in the reading room upon request and for use in classes and other meetings at the Special Collections.