RARA ARITHMETICA: A Catalogue of the Arithmetics Written Before the Year MDCI, with a Description of Those in the Library of George Arthur Plimpton of New York — of Teachers College Columbia University
Book Details + Condition: Ginn and Company Publishers (Boston and London). First Edition, 1908. Navy cloth with paper label to spine. 8 vo, 507 pages, and heavily illustrated. Inscription by Henry P. Kendall to C.H. Thordarson on the first blank page. Overall in very good condition, with light wear to boards, bumped corners and wear to spine ends; firm binding; interior is clean save inscription. RARA ARITHMETICA is a catalogue of the library of American publisher George Arthur Plimpton (1855 - 1936). Of the libraries of arithmetics printed before the 17th century it was the largest ever created before the beginning of the 20th century. The catalogue was compiled by David Eugene Smith (1860 - 1944) and became a classical bibliography on the subject, and remains indispensable. From the Preface: "Over five hundred and fifty different works are mentioned, or, including the various editions, nearly twelve hundred books at all... Although the nature of the work is usually discussed very briefly, an examination of the Index will show that a fairly complete history of Renaissance arithmetics has been included." Please see below for more information on the inventor C.H. Thordarson, and Henry Kendall.
Chester Hjortur Thordarson (May 12, 1867 – January 6, 1945) — born Hjörtur Þórðarson — was an Icelandic-American inventor and manufacturer of electrical apparatus who eventually held nearly a hundred technology patents related to transformers, inductors, high voltage coils, and more.
Henry Plimpton Kendall (1878–1959) was a New England entrepreneur, industrialist, and philanthropist from Walpole, Massachusetts. He eventually acquired and founded many textile factories and other companies through his company, the Kendall Company, which emphasized product research and scientific processes. His company produced products such as Curity Diapers and Curad finger bandages (those brands are now owned by Covidien). He first turned around the Lewis Manufacturing Company in Walpole and then purchased the manufacturing village of Slatersville, Rhode Island where the Kendall Dean School was named in his honor. Kendall Company produced textiles for the government and Red Cross during World War I and expanded throughout the twentieth century acquiring manufacturing facilities in the United States and Mexico. An overall firm and clean copy, with tight binding; rubbed corners and edges; light wear to boards; interior is clean and free of markings.
