Main entry:

Orsini, Latino, approximately 1530-approximately 1580.

Title & Author:

Trattato del radio latino : istrumento giustissimo & facile più d'ogni altro per prendere qual si voglia misura, & positione di luogo, tanto in cielo come in terra : il quale, oltre alle operationi proprie sue, fà anco tutte quelle della gran regola di C. Tolomeo, & del antico radio astronomico / inuentato dall'illustrissimo & eccellentissimo signor Latino Orsini : con li commentarij del reuerendo padre maestro Egnatio Danti da Perugia, hoggi vescouo di Alatri, & da esso di nuouo ricorretto, & ampliato con molte nuoue operationi.

Publication:

In Roma : Appresso Marc' Antonio Moretti, & Iacomo Brianzi, M. D. LXXXVI [1586]

Description:

[16], 112 leaves : illustrations (woodcuts) ; 18 cm (8vo)

Notes:
Second edition, following the first printed at Rome in 1583 by Vincenzo Accolti.
Signatures: pi⁸ A-F⁸ G-H⁴.
Woodcuts: printer's device on title page within ornamental cartouche, featuring scene of the Annunciation; printers' initials "MM" and "IB" within small medallion in lower center of device; ornamental initials; text illustrated with 35 illustrations of instruments and diagrams, and 3 tables.
Text printed in large roman type, with some headings in italic type.
Dedication by the printers, addressed to patron Antonino Pio Bonelli, marchese di Cassano, is dated March 1, 1586 in Rome.
Errata: page [12]
A copy of the Radio latino was in the library of Galileo Galilei; see Antonio Favaro, "La libreria di Galileo Galilei descritta ed illustrata," Bullettino di bibliografia e di storia delle scienze matematiche e fisiche 19 (maggio-giugno 1886): 219-290, page 267, no. 250. [New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1964].
Corrected print of diagram mounted over original on p. 55 and 59.
DLC
Short-title catalogue of books printed in Italy and of Italian books printed in other countries from 1465 to 1600 now in the British Museum, page 478
Adams, H.M. Catalogue of books printed on the continent of Europe, 1501-1600, in Cambridge libraries, O-318
EDIT 16, CNCE 37284
Riccardi, P. Biblioteca matematica italiana dalla origine della stampa ai primi anni del secolo XIX, I:393-394
Catalogo ragionato dei libri d'arte e d'antichità posseduti dal conte Cicognara, 586
Ascarelli, F. Cinquecentine romane, page 82

Summary:

Treatise on the "radio latino," an instrument derived from the "regola" of Ptolemy and the ancient "radio astronomico." The instrument, constructed of five hinged pieces, with sights on each end of the hinges, measured angles between two points by sliding the point of a parallelogram along a central bar until both objects appeared within the sights. It was an all-in-one instrument and served travelers, astronomers, navigators, cartographers, artillerists and civil and military architects through the end of the 17th century. Constructed of eight bars pivoted together, the "radio latino" could be folded into a scabbard and carried on a belt, allowing the surveyor to draw it as readily as needed. Although the title states that the instrument was invented by Orsini, it was at least developed by Danti if not invented by him, and he is probably the author of the treatise and not the editor.

Subject:

Surveying Instruments Early works to 1800.
Astronomical instruments Early works to 1800.
Arpentage Instruments Ouvrages avant 1800.
Astronomie Instruments Ouvrages avant 1800.
Astronomical instruments.
Surveying Instruments.

Form/genre:

Early works.

Added entries:

Danti, Ignazio, 1536-1586, editor.
Moretti, Marco Antonio, active 16th century, printer.
Brianza, Giacomo, active 16th century, printer.
Bonelli, Antonino Pio, active 16th century, dedicatee.
Pre-1801 Imprint Collection (Library of Congress)
Radio latino.

Holdings:

Location: Library cage y 133074
Call No.: TA579.O7 (ID:97-B2895)
Status: Available