By William Stolerman

A rare manuscript by Fibonacci, the lauded Italian mathematician, is heading to the auction block where it is expected to fetch $120,000-180,000.

The 15^th century text contains key components of the groundbreaking work, Liber Abaci or Book of Calculation by Fibonacci. The mathematician famously brought the Hindu-Arabic numeral system to the western world as well as created the Fibonacci Sequence.

Within the text of the Liber Abaci, Fibonacci explains the benefits of Arabic numerals by showing their value in the the practical worlds of book-keeping, weights and measures, trade and so on. By appealing to tradesmen and academics he eventually convinced the public to adopt the system. In so doing he also laid the foundations for modern mathematical equations, computer programming sequences and financial markets.

The Liber Abaci first appeared in 1202 (in manuscript form) and only 12 copies of the manuscript from the 13-15 centuries have been traced in European libraries, many of them in the Vatican.

The lot also comprises a second manuscript from a century earlier, which includes a text by Boethius. The pieces will be sold by Bonhams on June 22.

Via [luxist]

www.bonhams.com