Basel: Impensis Thurnisiorum Fratum, 1713. First edition, an exceptionally fine copy, rare in this condition. “Jakob 1 Bernoulli’s posthumous treatise, edited by his nephew [Nicholas I Bernoulli], (the title literally means “the art of[dice] throwing”) was the first significant book on probability theory: it set forth the fundamental principles of..... More
Item #4063

[Cambridge: University Press, 1905]. First edition, extremely rare offprint, inscribed by Edgeworth, of his most important contribution to mathematical statistics. “The most important of the papers relating to this subject” (Bowley). “‘Of all the great economists in this book, he [Edgeworth] is (apart from Bernoulli and Slutsky) the only one..... More
Item #4955

Paris: Courcier, 1812-25. First edition, very rare, accompanied by all four supplements (the fourth supplement is especially rare), of “the most influential book on probability and statistics ever written” (Anders Hald), which John Herschel called “the ne plus ultra of mathematical skill and power” (Essays from the Edinburgh and Quarterly..... More
Item #4159

Edinburgh: Sands, Murray, and Cochran, for A. Kincaid and A. Donaldson, 1753. First edition, first issue, of Lind’s epochal work on the prevention of scurvy, the identification of a dietary deficiency as the cause (later identified as Vitamin C), and the first recorded example of a clinical trial. This work..... More
Item #5100

London: Printed by W.P. and sold by F. Fayram; Benj. Motte; and W. Pearson, 1725. First edition of de Moivre’s influential study of annuities based upon the mortality statistics gathered by Edmund Halley in the 1690s. “De Moivre’s contribution to annuities lies not in his evaluation of the demographic facts..... More
Item #3291

London: W[illiam]. Pearson for the Author, 1718. First edition, and an unusually fine copy without any restoration, of this classic on the theory of probability, the first original work on the subject in English. “De Moivre’s book on chances is considered the foundation for the field of probability and statistics”..... More
Item #4637

Paris: Jacque Quillau, 1708. First edition, first issue, very rare, of the first separately published textbook of probability. This issue has significant textual differences from what is usually referred to as the first edition. “In 1708 [Montmort] published his work on Chances, where with the courage of Columbus he revealed..... More
Item #4632

Paris: Guillaume Desprez, 1659. First edition, extremely rare (one of about 120 copies printed), of one of Pascal’s most brilliant works. “Édition originale, extrêmement rare, de la dernière œuvre de Pascal, l’une des plus éclatantes de son génie” (Lucien Scheler in Tchemerzine, V, pp. 54-55). “Pascal devoted himself during 1658..... More
Item #4403