VERGILIO (Polidoro), De rerum inventoribus libri octo, Basel: Michael Isengrin, 1540, 8 pages, saddle-skin, cold-rolled frame with three vertical rolls in the center of the boards, ribbed spine, green silk ties (contemporary binding). New edition of this treatise on the history of inventions by the Italian humanist Polidoro Vergilio (1470?-1555), published during the author's lifetime. First published in Venice in 1499, it initially consisted of three "technical" or "anthropological" books. It was constantly revised by the author, who added five books in 1521. This Basel edition includes the 8 books, followed by Vergilio's commentary on Sunday prayer and the 3 books of dialogues on prodigies. A precious copy by Achille Pirminius Gasser (1505-1577), bearing a crossed-out manuscript bookplate on the title page, dated October 1543: "Est Achillis P. Gassari mense octobri 1543". At the end is his monogram and a note, both referring to Feldkirch, Austria, where he practiced as a physician. Achille Pirminius Gasser, born November 3, 1505 on the island of Lindau, was a physician, historian, astrologer and cosmographer. He advised political dignitaries, including Emperor Charles V, and maintained intellectual exchanges with scholars such as André Vésale and Sébastien Münster. Gasser is best known as an early advocate of Nicolaus Copernicus' heliocentric theory, which asserts that the Earth revolves around the Sun. He began his studies at the University of Wittenberg in 1522, shortly after Martin Luther's 95 Theses, where he acquired an interest in the celestial sciences. After three years at Wittenberg, he went on to study medicine in Vienne, Montpellier, Avignon and Orange. He then practiced medicine in Lindau and later in Feldkirch. His personal library of almost 3,000 volumes was incorporated into the Palatinate collections in Heidelberg and sent to Rome during the Thirty Years' War. Ironically, many of Gasser's books can now be found in the Vatican library, despite the Catholic censorship to which he was subjected. A good copy in a very skilfully restored contemporary binding. Provenance: Achille Pirminius Gasser, with bookplate and monogram. - Handwritten bookplate dated 1625 on top of title.