PLAYFAIR (William). The Commercial and Political Atlas... London, Debrett, Robinson, etc., 1786. Oblong 8vo, bound in full contemporary root-grained tan calf, gilt-decorated spine with raised bands, gilt-rolled borders on covers, gilt-rolled edges (Contemporary Binding). VII, 151 pp. (numbered 153). Illustrated with 40 plates of aquatint-enhanced graphs. The first ten plates were engraved by John Ainslie in 1785 for a preliminary edition that circulated only within a restricted circle; the remaining illustrations are signed by Samuel John Neele.

Rare first edition of this groundbreaking work, which was the very first publication to present a graphical representation of statistical data and contains one of the earliest known histograms. This innovative work by the Scottish engineer and economist William Playfair (1759-1833) makes a wide range of data easily readable and appreciable at a glance, moving away from the tabular presentations used in his time. The interpretation and understanding of the illustrated dynamics were thus fundamentally clarified. Despite the significance of his contributions to data visualisation, Playfair was not recognised during his lifetime and died in poverty in 1833. His influence on the visual representation of quantitative data, however, remains major.

Rare first edition in very good condition

PLAYFAIR (William). The Commercial and Political Atlas... London, Debrett, Robinson, etc., 1786. Oblong 8vo, bound in full contemporary root-grained tan calf, gilt-decorated spine with raised bands, gilt-rolled borders on covers, gilt-rolled edges (Contemporary Binding). VII, 151 pp. (numbered 153). Illustrated with 40 plates of aquatint-enhanced graphs. The first ten plates were engraved by John Ainslie in 1785 for a preliminary edition that circulated only within a restricted circle; the remaining illustrations are signed by Samuel John Neele.

Rare first edition of this groundbreaking work, which was the very first publication to present a graphical representation of statistical data and contains one of the earliest known histograms. This innovative work by the Scottish engineer and economist William Playfair (1759-1833) makes a wide range of data easily readable and appreciable at a glance, moving away from the tabular presentations used in his time. The interpretation and understanding of the illustrated dynamics were thus fundamentally clarified. Despite the significance of his contributions to data visualisation, Playfair was not recognised during his lifetime and died in poverty in 1833. His influence on the visual representation of quantitative data, however, remains major.

Rare first edition in very good condition

Très bon état malgré de petit défauts à la reliure et à certaines planches

Reliure :
Fragilité de la tenue de la coiffe de tête
Petits manques aux coiffes
Mors du plat sup. partiellement fendu
Petit enfoncement à l'une des coupes
Coins légèrement émoussés et enfoncés

Pages intérieures:
Papier oxydés
Qlqs rousseurs plus visibles à certains ff. en milieu d'ouvrages
Qlqs décharges sépia des gravures aux pages en regards