1762.]. 4to, pp. [viii] title-page without imprint as issued, with dedication signed and dated, 186, [4] index, with large folding engraved hand-coloured map printed on thicker paper engraved, and woodcut tail-pieces; gutter cracked exposing cords at p. 1 and first gathering a little loose, title-page somewhat soiled at lower corner, occasional light foxing and soiling and sporadic very faint marginal dampstaining; some neat ink underlining and marginal markings throughout; stitched as issued in contemporary carta rustica, with remains of green paper label on spine, head and tail of spine lightly worn, with minor splitting to joints but holding firm, covers a little scuffed and soiled, light rubbed and wear to extremities; a good copy. Rare first edition of this work on hydraulic and river engineering, by the noted Italian Jesuit mathematician, physicist and engineer Antonio Giovanni Lecchi (1702-1776), one of his lesser known works. Dedicated to the Duke of Modena, the study looks in detail at plans to separate and channel three streams and rivers in Lombardy near Tradate (north of Milan), the Tradate, Gardaluso and Bozzente. Of particular note is the large folding, hand-coloured engraved ‘Carta Topografica del corso antico, e moderno de trè torrenti fontanile di Tradate, Gradeluso [sic] e Bozzente’.
From 1738 to 1773 Lecchi taught mathematics and hydraulics at the Jesuit College of Brera in Milan, during which time he also worked as a technical consultant for the Senate of Milan on hydraulic matters. From 1757 he worked mainly as a hydraulic engineer, and was commissioned by both the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa and Pope Clement XIII. The author of numerous works, he is probably best remembered for his Trattato de’ canale navigabili of 1776, a detailed history of inland navigation in Italy and in particular Milan.