Back to the search result

De Viribus Quantitatis

De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)

Italy β€” 1496–1508

Game theory and mathematics meet magic tricks and number puzzles: Pacioli's both fascinating and entertaining introduction to the world of medieval games, diligently illustrated with 98 explanatory miniatures

  1. A wild smorgasbord of entertaining and exciting games, instructions for magic tricks, and number puzzles

  2. Luca Pacioli (ca. 1447–1517) wrote the text in black and red ink and illustrated it with 98 explanatory illustrations

  3. It contains algebraic and geometric principles in the first section that relate to game theory

De Viribus Quantitatis

Ms. 250 Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €
(under 1,000€)
Inquire current price here or ask a different question
Wish List
Stock List
Share
  1. Description
  2. Facsimile Editions (1)
Description
De Viribus Quantitatis

This exceptional treatise with the title De viribus quantitates presents the famous Italian Renaissance mathematician Luca Pacioli in a completely new light. Pacioli assembled a wild smorgasbord of entertaining and exciting games, instructions for magic tricks and tricky number puzzles. Originating from the years 1496–1508, the document has lost none of its fascination to this day and offers a gorgeous glimpse into the art of playful and challenging pastimes!

De Viribus Quantitatis

Luca Pacioli (1445–1517), an Italian Franciscan priest, is considered to be one of the most famous mathematicians of the Renaissance. He was inter alia closely befriended with Leonardo da Vinci, the great historical universal genius, with whom he also collaborated. Pacioli left behind numerous groundbreaking and significant works, which were concerned with the problems of and fascination with mathematics in all its aspects. For example, the text De divina proportione about the golden rule or his chess book De ludo scachorum.

A Unique, Unpublished Manuscript

In the years 1496–1508, Pacioli finally composed a small book that only marginally dealt with mathematics and also did not ostensibly follow the perspective of a text book like his other works: De viribus quantitatis, β€œThe Strength of Numbers”. This unique manuscript is stored today in the Bologna University Library. Pacioli wrote 661 pages with black and red ink and illustrated it with a total of 98 explanatory illustrations.

A Significant Math-Based Book of Entertainment

De viribus quantitates is certainly no mathematic treatise, but nonetheless contains a description of algebraic and geometric principles in the first section. The content that made the text famous follows thereafter: gimmicks both mathematical and otherwise, card tricks and number riddles, but also instructions for performing magic or juggling and much more, everything that is useful for a fun diversion. As a result, the book is a diverse, mathematically-entertaining puzzle book, a compendium of various tricks and amusements. Alongside mathematics and logic, other natural sciences are represented and even the literary!

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Von der StΓ€rke der Menge
Size / Format
661 pages / 24.0 Γ— 17.0 cm
Origin
Italy
Date
1496–1508
Language
Latin
Illustrations
98 drawings
Artist / School
Available facsimile editions:
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
#1 De Viribus Quantitatis
Aboca Museum – Sansepolcro, 2009
Limited Edition: not limited
Facsimile Editions

#1 De Viribus Quantitatis

Aboca Museum – Sansepolcro, 2009
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
De Viribus Quantitatis – Aboca Museum – Ms. 250 – Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna (Bologna, Italy) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles

Publisher: Aboca Museum – Sansepolcro, 2009
Limited Edition: not limited
Binding: Cloth over paperboard and housed in a slip case with the commentary volume
Commentary: 1 volume (661 pages) by Furio Honsell and Giorgio T. Bagni
Language: Italian
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €
(under 1,000€)
Inquire current price here or ask a different question
You might also be interested in:
Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games by Alfonso X The Wise – Scriptorium – T.I.6 – Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain)
Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games by Alfonso X The Wise
Toledo (Spain) – 1283

Games as an allegory of society, created for King Alfonso the Wise: on the peaceful coexistence of Christians, Arabs, and Jews in 13th-century Spain

Experience More
Chess Book of Jacobus de Cessolis – Belser Verlag – Pal. lat. 961 – Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican City, State of the Vatican City)
Chess Book of Jacobus de Cessolis
Amberg (Germany) – 1458

An allegory for medieval society: a German translation of Jacobus de Cessoli's popular, socially critical chess treatise in a splendidly illuminated copy

Experience More
De Ludo Scachorum – Aboca Museum – ms. 7955 – Archivio Coronini Cronberg (Gorizia, Italy)
De Ludo Scachorum
Italy – Ca. 1500

Possibly with drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and lost for centuries: Luca Pacioli's famous compilation of more than 100 classical chess problems for Isabella d'Este and Francesco II Gonzaga

Experience More
Tractatus de Ludo Scacorum – SiloΓ©, arte y bibliofilia – Vit. 25 - 6 – Biblioteca Nacional de EspaΓ±a (Madrid, Spain)
Tractatus de Ludo Scacorum
Prague (Czech Republic) – 1400–1425

Glittering golden chess scenes from the famous Wenceslas workshop in Prague: the popular game of kings as an allegory of society in a magnificent late Gothic manuscript

Experience More
Libro del Juego de las Suertes – Vicent Garcia Editores – R/9015 – Biblioteca Nacional de EspaΓ±a (Madrid, Spain)
Libro del Juego de las Suertes
Valencia (Spain) – July 1st, 1528

Forbidden by the Spanish Inquisition in 1559 but still widely used: the popular quiz game by the Italian poet Lorenzo Spirito Gualtieri on the fundamental questions of life

Experience More
The Game of Chess by William Caxton – Scolar Press – Library of the Trinity College (Cambridge, United Kingdom)
The Game of Chess by William Caxton
United Kingdom – Ca. 1483

One of the first books to be printed in the English language: an allegory for medieval society in which chess pieces stand as metaphors for the different classes

Experience More
Blog articles worth reading
16th Century
16th Century

When did the Middle Ages end and the Early Modern Period begin? Most agree it was sometime in the course of the 16th century, a...

Read more

Filter selection
Style
Genre
Origin
Language
Publisher
Show all available expressions

Visit us!

WHERE? In our store in Regensburg's Old Town.

We have been running a specialist store for facsimiles for nearly 15 years in Regensburg's Old Town, just opposite the "Schottenportal" of the Romanesque Scots Monastery of St. Jacob at Jakobstraße 6.