London: printed for J. Mawman and sold by J. Booth, 1826. First edition of Babbage’s first substantial published work, the first thorough treatise on actuarial theory, complete with folding table of mortality statistics, generally considered the first reliable life table. It serves as an early example of the desire and... More
Item #3302

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

First edition. London: Taylor, 1851. A fine copy, in original wrappers, of Boole’s first paper probability. The ideas he put forth in this work were later developed and included in his famous Laws of Thought (1854). “This seems to have been the first mention, by any author, of the close... More
Item #2974

First edition. Berlin: Julius Springer, 1928. A fine copy, from the library of Niels Bohr, of Fermi’s statistical approach to the determination of atomic structure. The association is particularly appropriate since Bohr had inaugurated the quantum-theoretical approach to atomic structure in 1913. Fermi’s approach was developed independently and simultaneously by... More
Item #3540

First edition. Paris: Courcier, 1816. A fine uncut copy of his influential text book on probability - beeing the first exposition of Laplace's 'Théorie analytique des probabilités' (see Landmark Writings in Western Mathematics, p.339). 8vo (213 x 140 mm). VIII, 299, (3: errata) pp. Original interims-brochur, spine heavely worn but... More
Item #2025

Paris: Firmin Didot, 1805. First edition, first issue of the invention of the method of least squares, “the automobile of modern statistical analysis” and the origin of “the most famous priority dispute in the history of statistics” (Stigler). “The great advances in mathematical astronomy made during the early years of... More
Item #4038

First edition, pre-print. Washington: American Statistical Association, 1949. Very rare proof typescript of the first public account of the Monte Carlo method - "The generally accepted birth date of the Monte Carlo method is 1949, when an article entitled 'The Monte Carlo Method' by Metropolis and Ulam appeared." (Ilya M.... More
Item #2293

Paris: J. Quilau, 1708. Rare first edition, first issue (i.e., without plates and with significant textual differences in comparison with the second issue also from 1708 which has plates). Based on the problem’s set forth by Huygens in his famous treatise De Ratiociniis in Ludo Aleae (1657), it spawned the... More
Item #2862

Paris: Jacque Quillau, 1708. First edition, extremely rare large paper presentation copy inscribed by the author, of the first separately published textbook of probability. “In 1708 [Montmort] published his work on Chances, where with the courage of Columbus he revealed a new world to mathematicians” (Todhunter, p. 78). “The Essay... More
Item #4102

Paris: Chez Batilliot jeune et Genets jeune, 1802. A fine copy of the important first French edition (see below) of The Statistical Breviary. Playfair, the founder of graphical methods of statistics, published this work originally in English in 1801. It is considered his most theoretical book about graphics in which... More
Item #3265