# The Construction of the Wonderful Canon of Logarithms/Preliminary

A CATALOGUE
OF THE WORKS OF
JOHN NAPIER
of Merchiston
To which are added a Note of some Early Logarithmic Tables and other Works of Interest
Compiled by
William Rae Macdonald
PRELIMINARY.
Contents and Arrangement.
The works of John Napier of Merchiston were published in the following order:—
A Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St John, published in English in 1593.
Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio, published in Latin in 1614, together with the Canon or Table of Logarithms.
Rabdologiæ, published in Latin in 1617, the year of the Author’s death.
Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Constructio, published in Latin in 1619, two years after the Author’s death, by his son, Robert Napier.
Ars Logistica, ‘The Baron of Merchiston his booke of Arithmeticke and Algebra,’ in Latin, edited by Mark Napier, and published in 1839.
These works naturally fall into three groups: the first contains the result of his early studies in Revelation by which he became famous among the Reformed Churches of Europe, as one of the most learned Theologians of the day; another contains his works on Logarithms, by which his fame as a Mathematician was established in the scientific world; between these two groups may be placed his other works, which were more or less preparatory to or suggested during the elaboration of his Logarithms. Accordingly, in the Catalogue we have arranged his works in the following order: I. A Plaine Discovery; II. Ars Logistica; III. Rabdologæ; IV. The Descriptio and Constructio, As a ​ are added particulars of the Logarithmic tables computed by Ursinus, Kepler, and Briggs, with a note of some other works of interest.
Collation.
The arrangement of the title-page in the original is indicated by placing an upright bar to mark the end of each line.
The symbols 4°, 8°, 12°, etc., indicate the number of leaves into which the sheet of paper was folded; but the number of leaves made up in the signatures sometimes differs from this: thus, for example, in the early editions of A Plaine Discovery, though the sheet is folded into 4 there are 8 leaves to each signature.
The measurement of the largest copy examined has been given, but in many cases the work in its original state must have been considerably larger, the copy having been cut down in rebinding.
The signatures in the editions described consist of the letters of the alphabet excluding J, U, and W, or 23 letters (in one or two instances J and U are used for I and V). To each letter belongs a bundle of leaves, 4, 8, 12, &c., as the case may be. The leaves in each bundle are usually numbered thus :—C, C$_2$, C$_3$, etc., but frequently the signatures are printed only on the first one or two leaves in each bundle. The signature is very rarely printed on a title-page. When a leaf is described as B$_3$, for instance, both sides are included, B$_3$$^1$ being used to signify the recto and B$_3$$^2$ the verso.
Libraries.
To each entry in the Catalogue, under the head of Libraries, is appended a note of the principal public libraries in this country which possess copies, to these the names of a few foreign libraries are added. The following abbreviations are employed:—
Bibliographies.
As several works of this kind are mentioned in the Catalogue, a short note of the particular work and edition referred to is given below:—
The Frankfurt catalogues were issued for the half-yearly book fairs held in that city at Fastenmesse and Herbstmesse.
In these catalogues, and in bibliographical works founded on them, as those of Draudius, Lipenius, etc., the place and name given cannot be taken as the actual place of publication and name of publisher without corroborative evidence. Thus, for example, the editions of the ‘Descriptio’ 1614, ‘Rabdologiæ’ 1617, and the ‘Constructio’ 1619, which were published at Edinburgh by Andrew Hart, are sometimes given with the correct particulars, and again appear as issued at Amsterdam, the first by Iansonius, and the two others by Hondius. There is little doubt, however, that these were simply importers of the Edinburgh editions who supplied the German market. Similar remarks apply to the translations and other editions of Napier’s works.
Draud„Bibliotheca Exotica sive Catalogus Officinalis Librorum Peregrinis Linguis usualibus scriptorum, videlicet Gallica … Anglica … &c., omnium, quotquot in Officinis Bibliopolarum indagari potuerunt, & in Nundinis Francofurtensibus prostant, ac senales habentur. A Frankfourt, Par Pierre Kopf. 1610. Another edition, 1625.
Gerdes.—F lorilegium Historico-criticum Librorum Rariorum. (By Daniel Gerdes.) :
| Groningæ | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | apud | Haj. Spandaw & | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 1763 |
| & Brema | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | apud | G. Wilh. Rump. | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | 1763 |
Rotermund.—Fortsetzung und Ergänzungen zu Christian Gottlieb Jöchers allgemeinem Gelehrten - Lexiko, worin die Schriftsteller aller Stände nach ihren vornehmsten Lebensumständen und Schriften beschrieben werden. Angefangen von Johann Christoph Adelung, und vom Buchstaben K fortgesetzt von Heinrich Wilhelm Rotermund, Pastor an der Domkirche zu Bremen. Fünster Band.
Bremen, bei Johann Georg Heyse. 1816.
Kayser.—Bucher Lexicon (1750-1832) von Christian Gottlob Kayser. Leipzig. Ludwig Schumann. 1835.
Ebert.—A General Biographical Dictionary. Frederic Adolphus Ebert. Oxford. University Press. 1837.
Lowndes.—The Bibliographer’s Manual of English Literature, by William Thomas Lowndes. London. Henry G. Bohn. 1861.
Brunet.—Manuel du Libraire. Par Jacques Charles Brunet. Paris. Firmin Didot, &c. 1863.
Graesse.—Trésor de Livres Rares et Précieux. Par Jean George Théodore. Graesse. Dresde. Rudolf Kuntze. 1863.
Laing Cat.—Catalogue of the Library of the late David Laing, Esq., LL.D., Librarian of the Signet Library (sold in four portions in Dec. 1879, in Apr. 1880, in Jul. 1880, and in Feb. 1881).