Lull (Ramòn) and Bernard de Lavinheta (editor), Ars Magna Generalis et Ultima, title and A4 in red and black, title and final page with woodcut printer's device, woodcut folding plate, woodcut initials and diagrams, ink ownership inscriptions to title, small paper restoration to blank margin of title with slight loss of woodcut border, small marginal paper restorations to A2 and C8, C18th German boards, gilt spine with label, extremities scuffed, [Palau 143693; Rogent & Duran 65; Tomash L142], 4to, Lyon, Symon Vincent, [1517].

⁂ Third edition, the first edited by the Lullist Bernard de Lavinheta, of Lull's greatest work. Lull invented an 'art of finding truth' which inspired Leibniz's dream of a universal algebra four centuries later. The most distinctive characteristic of his Art is its combinatory nature, which led to both the use of complex semi-mechanical techniques that sometimes required figures with separately revolving concentric wheels - 'volvelles' - and also to the symbolic notation of its alphabet. These features justify its classification among the forerunners of both modern symbolic logic and computer science. The Art's function as a means of unifying all knowledge into a single system remained viable throughout the Renaissance and well into the seventeenth century. RBH lists only 4 copies of this edition in the last 50 years.

Provenance: 'Josephi Trivellini, Veneti [Venice]' (inscription to title). Dr. Franz Jachimowicz (medical doctor, Vienna C19th; inscription to title)