L’HOSPITAL Guillaume François Antoine, marquis de Traité analytique des sections coniques et de leur usage pour la résolution des équations. Ouvrage posthume.

Sotheran, I, 2600 ; DSB, VIII, 304-305 (giving by mistake the date of 1720).

First edition.

This important treatise, which in the author’s mind was an extension of Descartes’ Geometry, remained the standard work on the subject for over a century. It was published after the death of the Marquis de l’Hôpital in 1704.

“L’Hospital was a major figure in the early development of the calculus on the continent of Europe. He advanced his cause not only by his scientific works but also by his many contacts, including correspondence with Leibniz, with Jean Bernoulli, and with Huygens. Fontenelle tells us that it was he who introduced Huygens to the new calculus” (DSB).

The book is lavishly illustrated with a total of 33 engraved folding plates (including on unnumbered one at page 415) depicting geometrical figures.

Very good copy, albeit some occasional foxing.