Leopold, J.H. (John)

The Almanus Manuscript: Staats-und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg, Codex in [Folio] No. 209, Rome Circa 1475-Circa 1485

London: Hutchinson, 1971. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 4to. Fine / Near Fine. Item #007478

Full black cloth. 306 pp. B&W reproductions and illustrations. Light rubbing to spine ends. Foxing to edges of text block. Dust jacket is price clipped, lightly stained and foxed in a few spots. Since its discovery in the Augsburg City Library, the Almanus Manuscript has been quoted by many but read by few. Its fame rests largely on the fact that it contains what was, at the time, the earliest known drawing of a fusee. But this is not the most significant thing about the manuscript. All the earlier texts on clockmaking are either descriptions of unusual pieces of clockwork or are general treatises on how to make clocks. This, however, is the notebook of a practical clockmaker, and is of singular value since it is the earliest known manuscript to describe a number of existing chamber clocks of all sorts and origins, amplified with a profusion of technical detail.

Price: $85.00