1597 Digges Geometrical Treatize
GUEST:
I brought a family book that we were always told was very special and we were not allowed to touch it.
APPRAISER:
(laughs) Uh-huh.
GUEST:
So probably 60 years before I touched it. And when I opened it, I couldn't really make any heads or tails of it. But supposedly it was written by an ancestor of ours.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
And my grandfather collected it at some time in his life. And then he gave it to my father for Christmas in the '60s, so...
APPRAISER:
And what makes it a family book?
GUEST:
Our name is Digges, and my grandfather was really big into family genealogy, and we tend to be architects, builders, mathematicians. (chuckling)
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.
GUEST:
And I think this book was written by a Digges that he has in the genealogy book as being part of the family.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
So that's what I know about it, so.... (laughs)
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
It's...
APPRAISER:
So what we're looking at here is a book by Leonard and Thomas Digges. It was published in 1597.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
And the binding is parchment. So parchment is a treated animal skin.
GUEST:
Oh, it is. Okay.
APPRAISER:
Yes. So it's a 16th-century binding on a 16th-century book.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And that makes it very interesting. Many times, books of this age were rebound.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
If you look at the title page, it's by Thomas Digges, who took his father's manuscript.
GUEST:
The father, Leonard Digges. Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And it first was published in 1571. And this is the second edition. And the title is "A Geometrical Practical Treatize Named Pantometria." And so it's a book on geometry and surveying land. You can see that in this nice emblem down on the, on the title page, there is sort of a triangular geometrical shape in the world map. And there are a fair number of really interesting illustrations in here. For instance, here, a device is being used to measure the size of a fortress. And in this illustration here up front, they're using the same device to measure the height of a tower.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Both Leonard and Thomas Digges were into geometry and surveying of the land. But they also invented various devices to, to measure land.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And in this case here, on page 35, you see the composition of the instrument called “theodelieus.” And this instrument is a, is a fascinating device. It's, it's illustrated here, as well. But to this day, that instrument is used, for instance, in rocketry.
GUEST:
Hm!
APPRAISER:
So an invention from the 1590s is still being used today. And here is the first illustration.
GUEST:
Hm.
APPRAISER:
And it is your ancestors who, who invented that device.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Have you had it ever appraised?
GUEST:
No. No.
APPRAISER:
Because the book is in its first contemporary binding, and it has wide margins, it's not been cut down, and the nice condition it's in, I would put a conservative estimate at auction of $15,000 to $25,000 on it. It's a real...
GUEST:
For a book.
APPRAISER:
Yes. For this book. Yeah.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
It's a real, real treasure.
GUEST:
Very nice.
APPRAISER:
So I hope you keep the book in a safe place.
GUEST:
I do. I keep it locked up. (laughs)
APPRAISER:
Yeah. And an insurance value for the book I would think is about $40,000 all told.
GUEST:
Wow. Okay.
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