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Pagnini, Giovanni (fl. circa 1750) Costruzione ed Uso del Compasso di Proporzione.
Naples: Ignazio Russo, 1753.
First and only edition, quarto, woodcut emblem to title, illustrated with fifteen folding engravings illustrating the use of the proportional compass, and related tables; bound in contemporary parchment over stiff boards, title tooled in gilt directly on spine, very old ms. library shelf locations, 9 x 6 1/2 in.
The proportional or reduction compass is a device that facilitates the reduction, enlargement, or division of distances based on a set ratio. It has two legs, like a normal compass, but the pivot point can be adjusted by moving it along a channel cut in each leg. Once set, the change in size of a set figure can be made by consulting the needle points on the other end of the compass. A practical instrument for sculptors, craftsmen, and astronomers alike, its invention has been credited to Galileo, Hulsius, Jost Bürgi, and Fabrizio Mordente, although it was certainly used in antiquity, as one has been discovered in the charred remains of Pompeii.
