[ATHENA] Niceron, Perspective curieuse

[Dominique Raynaud <dominique.raynaud AT univ-grenoble-alpes.fr>]

Chères et chers collègues,

J’ai le plaisir de vous annoncer la parution de l'édition critique et traduction de la Perspective curieuse de Jean-François Niceron (Mersenne et Roberval) aux éditions ACMRS. Ci-joint, le sommaire (avec mes excuses pour les doublons).

Bien cordialement,

Dominique Raynaud

https://univ-grenoble-alpes.academia.edu/DominiqueRaynaud

Jean-François Niceron. Curious Perspective, with a Mathematical and Historical Commentary by James L. Hunt, John Sharp and Dominique Raynaud. Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies, 2019, 468 pp.

To students and practitioners of anamorphic art, the name of Jean-François Niceron is more than preeminent; it has become iconic. La Perspective Curieuse was first published in 1638. An augmented version was then translated into Latin by Mersenne in 1646. A newly amended and augmented version was retranslated into French by Roberval in 1652. This book is an English translation of the 1652 text, with reference to the 1638 and 1646 versions. 

Considering the continued high reputation of the book, the mathematics have been checked for correctness and consistency, and the authors have provided a full commentary, pointing out the most difficult turns of the 17th-century French, the respective contributions of Niceron, Mersenne and Roberval, and explaining Niceron's greatest insights and weaknesses.

https://acmrs.org/publications/catalog/niceron-curious-perspective

https://www.academia.edu/41055115/

Acknowledgements… vii 

Preface… ix 

Introduction… 1 

History of Perspective Drawing… 2 

Timeline of Anamorphosis (1495–1725)… 3 

Historical and Biographical Sketch… 10 

History of the Minim Order… 10 

Marin Mersenne… 12 

Jean-François Niceron… 13 

Gilles Personne de Roberval… 15 

The Editions… 17 

Source of the Text… 19 

Table of Concordances between the Editions of 1638, 1646, and 1652… 21 

The Graphics… 31 

Transcription of the Text… 34 

Pagination… 35 

Mathematical Commentary and Explanatory Notes… 36 

Bibliography… 36 

Curious Perspective by Jean-François Niceron… 47 

Preface… 61 

Geometrical Introduction… 69 

Volume I… 81 

Volume II… 173 

Volume III… 255 

Volume IV… 287 

Mathematical Commentary… 309

The Fundamentals of Perspective… 309

Commentary on Geometrical Introduction… 325

Commentary on Volume I… 327
Commentary on Volume II… 385
Commentary on Volume III… 423
Commentary on Volume IV… 453

Appendices… 461
Natural Magic in the Seventeenth Century… 461

Laboratory and Workshop Techniques… 464

The Compas Proportionnel or the Sector… 466