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Paris, Garnier Frères, (ca. 1873-75). Bound in two very nice cont. almost uniform red hcalfs w. gilt geometrical ornamentations to backs and blindstamped (vol. 2 black) ornamentations to boards. All edges gilt. Excellent, clean and well-preserved set w. numerous beautiful illustrations. W. both half-titles and frontispieces. Two first editions, both containing the first French translations of the present works by Hans Christian Andersen. With original handwritten and signed presentations in both volumes from the translator, Ernest Grégoire, for Robert Watt.Robert Watt (1837-94) was a leading figure in the Danish modernist breakthrough (1870-90) and a famous figure in Danish cultural life in the second half of the 19th century. In spite of the age difference, he became closely connected with Hans Christian Andersen, and it was he who accompagnied Andersen to the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867. He was also the one to encourage Andersen to have his fairy tales translated into and published in French, and he is the one who made this translation happen. Thus this particur presentation copy is of great interest.In his diaries from 1873 and 1874, Andersen fairly frequently writes about the preparation of this translation, about Watt and Gregoire. On the 31st of March (Vol. X, p. 54-55) he writes: "Besøg af Watt der havde faaet Brev fra den franske Journalist Gregoire, der vilde oversætte og lade illustrere mine Eventyr, med Undtagelse af dem Soldi havde udgivet..." ["Visit by Watt who had received a letter from the French journalist Gregoire, who wanted to translate my fairy tales and have them illustrated, except for the ones that Soldi had published..." (own translation) ]. On several occations Andersen worries about the rights to the French translations, and he is not happy with the fact that Gregoire apparently claims them. On the 13th of April (Vol. X, p.64) he writes: "-Hele Dagen Hoste og mit Nerveuse, Middag hos Eduard Collin, der skrev for mig en Skrivelse til Gregoire, efter min Opfattelse, og ikke som Watt havde givet mig til Underskrift. Strax paa Aftenen kom Watt og blev ilde stemt ved at jeg ikke vilde underskrive hans Skrivelse, sagde at MIN havde ikke Betydning for Loven i Paris, jeg forstod ikke hele hans Forklaring og da han vedblev kom jeg i saadan nerveus Stemning at jeg brast i Graad og sank om paa Sophaen." [- The entire day cough and my nerves, dinner at Eduard Collin, who wrote for me a letter for Gregoire, according to my conception, and not like Watt had given me to sign. As soon as evening fell Watt came and became ill disposed because of me not wanting to sign his letter, said that MINE had no significance according to the law in Paris, I did not understand all of his explanation and when he kept on going I became so nervous that I broke down crying and collapsed on the couch." (own translation) ].Robert Watt later (1886) became the director of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, where he, among many other things, installed the famous rollar coaster.

A la Haye, J. Neaulme, 1741. Small 8vo. Cont. full mottled calf. Richly gilt back with 6 compartments. Gilt leather titlelabel. A small nick to lower part of back, 2 corners lightly bumped. A fine copy, on good paper. Engraved frontispiece (dated 1707). IV,XVIII,394,(6) pp., 1 large engraved vignette and 8 engraved plates with many figs., showing details of fireworks. A highly esteemed treatise of fireworks for celebration. Originally issued 1706, and this edition, pirated by Naulme the publisher, is identical to the 1706 edition, apart from the titlepage. Encouraged by this pirated edition Frezier wrote a second edition which appeared in 1747 in three different versions. (Chris Philip, Firework Books F 110.3).

Kjøbenhavn, 1869-73. 4to. Bound i one cont. hcalf. Back a little rubbed. Around 300 pp. and 3 folded plates. Together with the authors: Bidrag til et thermochemisk System. Kbhvn., (1852). 4to. (48) pp. All issued in Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter. First edition of Thomsens main contributions in thermochemistry, undoubtly the most importent contribution from a Dane in chemistry in the 19th century. - The paper from 1852 "Contribution to a Thermochemical System" is famous as it is the first statement of a new nomenclatura and the paper contains the first enunciation of the thermochemical affinity principle, which states that chemical affinity, or the attraction between substances, can be measured by the heat evolved when body combine. His fundamental thought was that the evolution of heat accompanying a chemical reaction (which he called varmetoning, equivalent to enthalpy change) is an exact expression of the chemical affinity of the reaction.

Sth.,Kbhvn., Oslo, 1928-78. Lex8vo. Bd. 1-38 indbd. i solide hldrbd., rest heftet. Registerbd. 1928-57 i hldrbd.

London, C. Davis, 1750. Bound to style in a fine later hcalf with raised bands and titlelabel in leather on back, gilt. VIII,470,(1) pp., 15 large folded engraved plates and 10 textengravings (as headpieces). A few scattered brownspots. Scarce first English edition. Reaumur, perhaps better known as an entomologist and member of Academie Royale des Sciences, kept a large and well-known collection of living birds on his Country House in Bas Poitou, where Mathurun-Jacques Brisson was his assistant, collaborator and keeper of the valuable birdcollection. "It is an importent early work on artificial incubation, mostly experiments with manure heaps and bakers owen" (Wood), all these experiments depicted and analysed in the work. - Wood No. 1750 - BMC (NH) not having the English edition.

Folio. Cont. full calf. 7 raised bands. Gilt back. Extremities rubbed. Some cracking along upper part of hinges, but covers not loose. Engraved frontispiece, engraved titlevign., 1 half-page engraving. (36),34,728,48,123 pp. 2 double-page engraved maps. Printed on good paper. Ocassional a little brownspotted and a few margins slightly dampstained. Brunet V,845. "Bonne édition, ornée d'un beau frontispiece gravé et de deux cartes géographiques (Græcia antiqua et Sicilia vetus). Greek and latin paralelltext.

Kiøbenhavn, Gyldendals Forlag, 1775-77. Indbundet i 9 ensartede samtidige helldrbind i flammet kalv med ophøjede bind på rygge. Rig rygforgyldning. Forgyldte titeletiketterpå rygge. Her og der med lettere rygslid. Fra ferderik heymans bogsamling. Alle bind har Heymans kobberstukne exlibris på indersiden af forpermerne. Udmærket komplet eksemplar med Sneedorffs kobberstukne portræt i første bind. Originaludgaven. Sneedorff var en helt central skikkelse i udbredningen af oplysningstidens idealer i Danmark og Norge: "Sneedorffs oplysningsforhavende er primært formidlende, samfundsopbyggende og ikke af den kritiske, autoritetsanfægtende slags. Det kritiske ytre sig hos ham i det moralsk-opdragende blik på menneskers adfærd i samfundet og de almene menneskelige brist såsom standshovmod, pyntesyge, forfængelighed, hykleri, fordomsfuldhed." (Dansk Litteraturs Historie, Gyldendal, 2007, p. 479).

Utrecht, Gedruckt voor de erfgenamen van Mr. Willem Teellinck, 1659. 4to. In contemporary full calf with three raised bands. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Wear to extremities, scratches and a few wormholes to boards. First and last leaf slightly browned but otherwise internally very nice and clean. (18), 1048, (4), (1049)-1213, (38) pp. First edition of Teelinck’s intended “complete works” which were published by his sons three years after he passed away. Only three parts were published and his complete works were never published. Teellinck produced 127 manuscripts in all, of which only 60 were printed. Willem Teellinck (1579-1629) was one of the earliest leaders of the Dutch Nadere Reformatie, also often called the second Dutch reformation. He placed a heavy emphasis on the absolute necessity of personal conversion. Teellinck is a direct link between English Puritanism and Dutch Reformed thought. He was himself converted in England and was deeply moved by the Puritan emphasis on God as the centre of one’s whole life.

Braunschweig, Schulbuchhandlung,1794 - 1801. 8vo. Uniformly bound in six contemporary marbled paper covered cardboard bindings with gilt lettering to spine. With wear to extremities. Internally very fine and clean. VI, 192 pp.; (2), 253, (1) pp.; VI, 249, (1) pp.; (4), 254 pp.; (6), 232 pp.; (4), 276 pp. First edition of this set of Campe's publications on various travel-account retold for the youth.

London, John Bellamie, 1627 - 1626. Folio (340 x 235 mm). In contemporary full calf with six raised bands and ruled fillets to boards. With considerable wear to extremities, scratches to boards, hinges split in lower and upper compoartment, corners bumped with loss of leather. Leather on lower part of front boards partly detached. Inner hinges split. General title-page detached and with loss of paper (and one letter) in inner margin. Ex-libris (S. Philip Sydenham) pasted on to verso of front board. Blank with considerable wear and partly detached. Previous owner's name and annotations in contemporary hand to front free end-paper (Thomas Burton, 1637 (thomas Burton, MP for Westmorland). Seven parts with seperate title-pages. Internally nice and clean. (10), 172, 156, 184, 206, (2), 168, (24), (2), 189, (7), 59 pp. Rare first collected edition of Ainsworth's bible commentaries. Henry Ainsworth (1571–1622) was an English Nonconformist clergyman and scholar. He led the Ancient Church, a Brownist or English Separatist congregation in Amsterdam alongside Francis Johnson from 1597, and after their split led his own congregation. His translations of and commentaries on the Hebrew scriptures were influential for centuries.

Kjøbenhavn, Groth, 1736. 4to. In contemporary half calf with three raised bands. Binding with wear and small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. A few leaves brownspotted but internally generally nice and clean. (8), 8, 677, (48) pp. + frontispiece and 1 folded table (included in the pagination). The rare first edition of Clitau’s seminal work, being the work Danish work on Roman Law - Both in content and in timing, the work marks a turning point in Danish legal scholarship. Clitau here compared Roman and Danish law and extended his analysis to include Lübeck law, public law, feudal law, as well as German, Saxon, and natural law (ius naturae), along with criminal law. His book continued the scholarly project initiated by Weghorst and stands as the first comprehensive work of comparative law in Denmark that systematically engaged with Danish legal tradition. He argued that the Institutiones framework was the most suitable method for organizing legal knowledge. Nonetheless, he explained that he had chosen not to interpret Roman law through Danish law or vice versa. Had he taken Danish law as the foundation, he contended, substantial parts of Roman jurisprudence — such as theories of legal interpretation, legal taxonomy, and general personal rights — would have been excluded, as Danish law lacked direct equivalents. Conversely, he saw little value in including uniquely Danish legal provisions (e.g., those concerning hunting rights or the status of peasants) where no Roman parallels existed. In such cases, he remarked, he would have been limited to merely citing “the bare words of the law, which any reader can find in the Danish Law Book”—an exercise, he argued, of little scholarly use. This admission reflects not only Clitau’s ambivalence toward explicating native law, but also a broader misconception of the time—namely, the belief that the clear language of Danske Lov required no interpretation. Clitau's methodological innovation lay in his reorganization of the Corpus Juris Civilis according to the tripartite division of Personae, Res, and Actiones. He systematically arranged all legal material found in the Digest and Pandects under these headings—an approach that, as far as we know, was unprecedented. (see Björne, PATRIOTER OCH INSTITUTIONALISTER, rättsvetenskapens historia)Biblioteca Danica I, 650

(Stuttgart und Tübingen, Cotta, 1822). Folio. (40 x 28,5). Contemp. blank wrappers. Tears to spine. Frontcover with printed list of the plans/maps. With 17 engraved plans/maps (many in double-folio) and with handcoloured positions + the large engraved map (58 x 69cm) "General Charte des Kriegs Schauplatz in Russland im Jahre 1812.." Maps/plans clean and fine.

Berlin, Julius Springer, 1926. 8vo. Offprint in the original printed wrappes, "Sonderabdruck Band 39, Heft 10/11" printed on the front wrapper. A very fine and clean copy, near mint. Pp. 751-763. From the library of Niels Bohr. Scarce offprint of Stern's first publication of his famous and groundbreaking series of papers named Untersuchungen zur Molekularstrahlmethode (U.z.M.), which established the field of molecular beams. In the first of the U.z.M.-papers (the present), Stern explains the advantages and disadvantages of the method, discusses technical details, and then gives the program for future work. In this section he mentions 1, the measurement of magnetic moments of molecules, including those due to the electrons, to the nucleus, and those induced by diamagnetic action; 2, electric dipole moments, including the so-called permanent dipole moment as well as moments of higher order (quadrupoles); 3, the measurement of the field of force of molecules (molecular forces); 4, fundamental problems such as the recoil on emission of a quantum, the de Broglie waves of matter, and others. The execution of this immense program kept him busy and gave work to many assistants, students, postdoctoral fellows, and guests of his institute.This series reached 30 papers before it ended prematurely due to interruption by Nazi Germany.

4to. Samt. helldrbd. med rygforgyldning og ophøjede bind. Lettere brugsspor. Stort rent eksemplar på skrivepapir. (505),(1) pp. samt 26 kobberstukne plancher, byerne i prospekt og grundplan m.v. samt det store foldede landsdelskort: Præfectura Ripensis. Alle kobbere er trykt på skrivepapir. Eksemplaret har tilhørt Erslew og har hans exlibris indklæbet. De kobberstukne prospekter og grundplaner omfatter byerne: Ribe, Varde, Lemvig, Holstebro, Ringkøbing, Kolding, Fredericia og Vejle. Originaltrykket.

København, Godiche, 1769. Samtidigt hldrbd. Rig rygforgyldning. Forgyldt skindtitel på ryg. Stempler på titelbladet. Pp. 529-1104,(2). Med 27 kobberstukne plancher, prospekter og byplaner, heraf 2 med folkedragter, 2 foldetabeller samt det store kobberstukne kort "Præfecturæ Ripensis. Godiche 1768". Aldeles frisk og rent eksemplar trykt på svært skrivepapir, tekst såvel som plancher. Mangler i planche: grundtegningen af Ribe By. Originaltrykket af "Danske Atlas" bind V, første del, omfattende: Om Dueholms Amt eller Mors Land samt hele Ribe Stift. (Ribe Bye - Riberhuus Amt - Lundenæs Amt - Bøvling Amt - Koldinghuus Amt).

Paris, L. Mathias (Augustin), 1847. Contemp. full pattern-stamped cloth. Gilt spine with gilt lettering. A paperlabel pasted on upper part of spine. A stamp on title-page. (4),263 pp., 81 textillustrations in woodcut. Internally fine and clean. First edition in French of his "American electro-magnetic telegraph..", published 1845. The work contains one of earliest publications of the "Standard Morse" code."Vail and another partner, Leonard Gale, made several improvements to Morse's apparatus, and on January 6, 1838, this new telegraph was demonstrated sucessfully, using an early version of the dot-and-dash Morse code. When in 1843 Congress approved the construction of an expwrimental telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington, Vail acted as Morse's chief assistant and received Morse's "What hath God wrought" message on May 24, 1844. (Hook & Norman No 208).Wheeler Gift: 1137 a.- Ronalds Library p. 507.

Breslau, Korn, 1774-81. Bound in 10 uniform nice contemp. hcalf. raised bands. Richly gilt spines. Title-and tomelabels with gilt lettering. stamp on title-pages. In all ca. 4000 pp. 35 large folded engraved plates (maps, plans etc.). Occassionally a few scattered brownspots.

Paris, L'Imprimerie Royale, 1826. Contemp. hcalf. Gilt spine. Gilt lettering. A paperlabel pasted on lower part of spine. Stamps on title-page. Offprint/ Extrait from "Annales Maritimes. - Décembre 1825". (2),177 pp., 6 folded engraved plates. Scarce offprint-edition (printed the same year in Annales as the first book-edition) of Montgéry's notable work on the mechanics, chemistry and useability of rockets in warfare."Montgéry’s investigations of pyrotechnics led him to do research into the war rockets of William Congreve and to the production of what may be the first documented history of rocketry, Traité des fusées de guerre (1825). Known throughout Europe, it became the standard work on the subject, appeared in serial form in several official journals, and was republished in 1841. Montgéry’s coverage was exhaustive and analytical, particularly in his treatment of rocket physics."(DSB).

Paris, Chez Crochard, 1815 Contemp. hcalf. Spine gilt. Top of spine with wear. A few scratches to binding. In: "Annales de Chimie, ou Recueil de Mémoires concernant la Chemie" Tome 95. - 336 pp. (the entire volume offered). Gay-Lussac's paper: pp. 136-231. Some scattered brownspots throughout. First appearance of this milestone paper in organic chemistry, in which Gay-Lussac describes the preparation, the chemical reactions, and the determination of the physical properties of prussic acid."One of the most importent contributions of Gay-Lussac was his work on hydro-cyanid acid and its compounds. In the course of his investigations on the combining volumes of gases he had prepared gaseous hydrogen cyanide. This led him to the study of related compounds, and in 1815 he published a paper, "Recherches sur l'acide prussique" (the paper offered), wherein he announced the discovery of cyanogen and chlor-cyanogen and the composition of hydrocyanic acid. His demonstartion that hydrogen cyanide contains no oxygen added another oxygen-free acid to those already known (hydrogen halides and sulfide) and contributed to the overthrow of Lavoisier's oxygen theory of acids. Gay-Lussac found that the cyano radical,the first orgianic radical clearly recognized, could act as an element analogous to chlorine, passing unchanged through various reactions. This concept of an organic radical was importent to organic chemistry."(Leicester & Klickstein "A Source Book of Chemistry", p. 293). - Partington IV, p.85 a. p. 253. - Roy G. Neville, p. 505. - Parkinson "Breakthroughs", 1815 C.

Nürnberg, P.C. Monath, 1736. 4to. Contemp. hvellum. Some minor scratches to marbled paper-covers. Stamps on title-page. Engraved portrait. Engraved titlevignette. (16),144,23,(1) pp. and 79 engravings on 42 engraved plates (some folded and double-page). Upper margins with faint dampstaining. Third, enlarged edition. - Klaus Jordan, 3683.

Amsterdam, Boom, 1664. 4to. In contemporary full vellum with yapp edges. Title in contemporary hand to spine and small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Light miscolouring to extremities. Dampstain to lower and upper outer margin of first few leaves otherwise internally very nice and clean. (8), 612, (18) pp. Rare first Dutch translation of Thomas Goodwin’s collected theological works. Thomas Goodwin (1600–1680) was a prominent English Puritan theologian. Goodwin was known for his deep Calvinist theology, practical spirituality, and emphasis on the application of scripture in Christian life. He served as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and was appointed by Parliament as President of Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1650. Christopher Hill places Goodwin in the "main stream of Puritan thought". “Most of Goodwin’s theological writings were written when he was older and were published after he died. His large corpus reveals a pastoral and scholarly zeal that is rivaled by few Puritans.” (Beeke, Meet the Puritans).

London, Benj. Walford (and) Sam. Smith & Benj. Walford, 1710 and 1705. Small 8vo. Bound in 2 uniform cont. full calf. Spine ends neathly repaired, a nick to one compartment repaired. Corners repaired. Backs a little rubbed. (2),652 pp. and (12),389,(66) pp. A few brownspots, but clean and fine, both volumes printed on good paper. A complete set of Dale's "corpus" with the supplement-volume in first edition and the main work in second enlarged edition."Dale's chief work was the "Pharmacologia" which first appeared in 1693, a supplement being published in 1705, a second edition in 1710...and others after the author's death. It is the first systematic work of importence on the subject." (DNB). - BMC (NH) I: p. 415 (not having the second edition, but the first and later editions) - Wellcome II: pp. 426-27 (not having the second edition and only having the second edition of the supplementvolume).

Lausanne, Édition de la Licorne, 1921. Bound in exquisite full morocco, composed of 3 different colours of morocco, green, light brown and red. Inner joints in morocco. In matching slip-case. With a long dedication (8 lines) from the author "á Mademoiselle Agnete With", signed and dated by the author "René Morax/ Morges... 1921". The book is bound by the recipient, the respected Danish bookbinder Agnete With (1899-1972) and signed in blind on inside backcover. 168,(2) pp. First edition. Arthur Honegger composed the music to Morax's play and the music became his break-through as a composer."Arthur Honegger was commissioned to write incidental music to accompany René Morax’s play Le Roi David in 1921. Honegger was given the nearly impossible deadline of 2 months to complete the work and was rewarded with much acclaim at the premiere. In 1923 he combined Morax’s narrative with his music and created a "symphonic psalm," the form that is familiar today, and titled his work Le Roi David."(Wikipedia)

London, 1832 A lovely contemporary full calf binding with Gilt spine, gilt and blindstamped border-ornamentations and gilt armorial centre-piece to boards. Some wear to extremities and hinges. Nice and tight. Internally very nice and clean, with only occasional, very light minor brownspotting. The scarce first edition of one of the main works of John Galt, the first political novelist in the English language. Althought the name "Gohn Galt" is now primarily associated with the main character of Ayn Rand's modern political classic "Atlas Shrugged", the "real" John Galt (1779-1839) was one of the best known Scottish political and social novelists of the 19th century. Like Rand's John Galt, he too was an entrepeneur, greatly active in political and social issues. Because he was the first novelist to deal with issues of the industrial revolution, he has been called the first political novelist in the English language."The Radical" is a study of religion, politics and law in the local boroughs of Scotland during the transitional late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. As several of his other novels, it is concerned with the effects of change upon communities and upon the social institutions that shape those communities. The work is famous for its, prosaic studies, that are, however, far from dry, and Galt’s storytelling is known to be characterised by wit and humour.Together "The Radical" and "The Member" (also 1832) make up what John Galt himself calls "the Reform", as he states in his autobiography, "they serve to illustrate, by the by, the sagicity of the trade, for they are thought to have too much a seeming of truth, and the sale of them has not been satisfactory. [...]The Radical [...] is deduced from principles and feelings coeval with human nature. It seems to me that the Radicals of our time forget that we are living in society for the benefitsof which we have surrendered a portion of our natural rights. The work in consequence turns on supposing, that what our natural feelings prompt must therefore be what we are entitled to do and to enjoy, forgetting altogether how much the social ties restrain the exercise of natural rights. But although some of my friends think the two works clever and philosophical, and although, on the Continent they have attracted more attantion than any other product of my pen, they have almost been still-born here. [...]." (John Galt, The Literary Life and Miscellanies of John Galt, 1834, pp. 318-19). John Galt was born in Irvine as the son of a sea captain who traded with the West Indies. In 1789 the family moved to Greenock and much of Galt’s fiction draws from the localities of the west coast of Scotland where he spent his youth. John Galt was possessed of a pragmatic as well as an imaginative turn of mind. He had a keen interest in business and politics and always maintained that he regarded writing as a secondary profession. From 1796 - 1804 Galt worked as a junior justice clerk in Greenock before setting off for London on a sudden impulse of restless ambition. Here he studied political economy and commercial history and practise but failed to really make his mark on the business world despite several promising ventures.Around the age of twenty-four Galt began writing. He experimented in verse but was an inferior poet. Several of his essays, however, were published and this writing at this time demonstrates his early interest in politics and the colonies, particularly Canada which had long captured his imagination.In 1809 Galt spent a period of time travelling on the Mediterranean and it was here that he made his acquaintance with Lord Byron who was to become the subject of his acclaimed biography The Life of Byron in 1830. In 1811 he returned to London, his commercial aspirations disappointed and turned to journalism as a means of making money. At 34, he married the daughter of his literary patron, Alexander Tilloch. It was at this time too that Galt gained his experience of the workings of Parliament as a lobbyist for the Edinburgh-Glasgow canal. These experiences were to be formative in Galt’s later political career in Canada and were also to inform his later political novels, The Radical and The Member.Despite critical and commercial success, Galt had not abandoned his business aspirations. In 1824 Galt became actively involved in political campaigning on behalf of the Canadian colony and two years later left for Canada leaving the manuscript for The Last of the Lairds with his publisher. During the years 1827-29 Galt developed the virgin territories of the Canadian colony and founded the townships of Guelph and Goderich. For Galt, the Canadian project was the realisation of his most profound ambitions. But he was to fall foul of colonial bureaucracy and was eventually forced to return to Britain in 1829 under charges of debt and placed in prison.Having returned to Britain, John Galt began writing again, and in 1832 he produced two of his most famous works, "The Radical" and "The Member", for which he is primarily remembered today.

(Paris, Bachelier), 1835-36. 4to. No wrappers. In: "Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences", Tome 1, Séance du Lundi 14 Décembre 1835 and tome 2, Séance Lundi 11 Avril 1836 + Séance Lundi 27 Juin 1836 + Séance du Lundi 18 Avril 1836. + Pp. (467-) 498, (355-) 386, (387-) 402 a. pp. (601-) 630. (4 entire issues offered. Poisson's papers: pp. 473-495 (1835), pp. 377-380, pp. 395-400 and pp. 603-13. (1836). Clean and fine. First appearance of 3 importent paper in probability theory, serving as a preamble to Poissons's famous work published two years later, and with nearly the same title "Recherches sur la probabilité des jugements en matiere criminelle et en matiere civile" (1837). The paper offered introduces THE LAW OF LARGE NUMBERS (Loi universelle des Grandes nombres, pp. 478-79), a key concept in probability theory. Poisson states that all events of a moral as well as of a physical nature are subject to this universal law. His definition (in English translation) on p. 478 reads "Things of every kind obey a universal law that we may call the law of large numbers. Its essence is that if we observe a very large number of events of the same nature, which depend on constant causes and on causes that vary irregularly, sometimes in another, 1.e., not progressively in any determined sense, then almost constant proportions will be found among numbers" (p. 478 in the first memoir).