Göttingen, Dieterich, 1841. 4to (22.7 x 18.8 cm). Title page (verso blank) 34, [i] pp. (last leaf with Druckfehler [errata]; verso blank). Original blind blue wrappers.

First edition. Written by the great German mathematician and astronomer Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855). "Gauss considers the path of light rays through a system of lenses and produces his most remarkable result: the reduction of complex optical system to the analysis of a single infinitely thin lens. This was the foundation of what has become Gaussian Optics" (DiLaura). This is regarded by some as Gauss's greatest work, "in any case, it was his last significant scientific contribution" (see DSB). This work was also published in the Abhandlungen der mathematischen Classe der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Volume 1 (dated 1843), but without a separate title and without the list of printing errors. On the front wrapper, a tiny label of the German bookdealer, R. Friedländer & Sohn. Wrappers a bit chipped at edges, otherwise very good, clean and unmarked. DiLaura, Bibliotheca Opticoria, 699; DSB V, p. 306.