BERNOULLI Jacob I Ars conjectandi, opus posthumum. Accedit Tractatus de seriebus infinitis, et Epistola Gallicè scripta De ludo pilæ reticularis.

Dibner, 110; D.S.B., II, pp. 46-51; Evans, 8; Horblit, 12; Printing & the Mind of Man, 179.

First edition of the "establishment of the fundamental principles of the calculus of probabilities" (Horblit).

The Ars Conjectandi "was the first systematic attempt to place the theory of probability on a firm basis and is still the foundation of much modern practice in all fields where probability is concerned -insurance, statistics, and mathematical heredity tables" (PMM).

"Bernoulli's ideas on the theory of probability have contributed decisively to the further development of the field. They were incorporated in the second edition of Rémond de Montmort's Essai (1713) and were considered by Abraham de Moivre in his Doctrine of Chances (1718). Bernoulli greatly advanced algebra, the infinitesimal calculus, the calculus of variations, mechanics, the theory of series, and the theory of probability… Bernoulli was one of the most significant promoters of the formal methods of higher analysis” (DSB).

A fine copy in its original condition.