Jean–François Niceron: Curious Perspective – Being an English Translation of his 1652 Treatise "La Perspective Curieuse"

James Hunt graduated in physics from the University of Toronto, and taught physics for 35 years at the University of Guelph, Canada. On his retirement in 1999, he switched his research interests to the interaction of mathematics and art and began a collaborative association with John Sharp. He is the co-author of textbooks on elementary physics and environmental physics. John Sharp started his career as an analytical chemist before becoming a technical writer, authoring manuals on a variety of software and hardware products. He also taught geometry as continuing education, and organised and lectured at Bridges Maths and Art conferences. He is known for paper sculpture including books on sliceform surfaces. Dominique Raynaud is a science historian at Université Grenoble Alpes, France. He has dedicated most of his research work to the history of geometry, optics, and linear perspective. Among his publications are A Critical Edition of Ibn al-Haytham’s Epistle on the Shape of the Eclipse: The First Experimental Study of the Camera Obscura (2016), Studies on Binocular Vision (2016), Scientific Controversies (2015), Optics and the Rise of Perspective (2014). Sylvia Hunt is a professor of literature at Laurentian University, Canada.

Acknowledgements 

Preface
Stván Orosz

Introduction   
History of Perspective Drawing   
Timeline of Anamorphosis (1495–1725)   
Historical and Biographical Sketch   
History of the Minim Order   
Marin Mersenne   
Jean-François Niceron   
Gilles Personne de Roberval   
The Editions   
Source of the Text   
Table of Concordances between the Editions of 1638, 1646, and 1652   
The Graphics   
Transcription of the Text   
Pagination   
Mathematical Commentary and Explanatory Notes   
Bibliography   

Curious Perspective by Jean-François Niceron   
Preface   
Geometrical Introduction   
Volume I   
Volume II   
Volume III   
Volume IV   

Mathematical Commentary   
The Fundamentals of Perspective   
Commentary on Geometrical Introduction   
Commentary on Volume I   
Commentary on Volume II   
Commentary on Volume III   
Commentary on Volume IV   

Appendices   
Natural Magic in the Seventeenth Century   
Laboratory and Workshop Techniques   
The Compas Proportionnel or the Sector