Search Results

Hermannstadt, Hochmeister, 1790. 8vo. In contemporary (original?) blue paper covered boards with gilt lettering to spine. Corners bumped and boards with scratches. Internally fine and clean. 276, (10) pp. Exceedingly rare work on the state of the Turkish/Ottoman empire. The author is anonymous but with a focus on state income, state administration, juristically aspects and visits by foreign ministers and embassies, the author was most likely a diplomat in the Ottoman Empire. The late 18th century was a dire period for the Ottoman Empire which was facing several challenges and undergoing significant changes. Here are some key aspects of its state during that time. It was in a state of decline and facing numerous challenges, both internally and externally. While efforts were made to reform and modernize certain aspects of the empire, they were often met with resistance and were insufficient to reverse the overall decline.

Kiøbenhavn, Hans Kongl. Majests. privil. Bogtrykkerie, 1732. 8vo. Bound in a fine contemporary panelled calf in the Boppenhausen style with richly gilt spine. Four raised bands. Spine very neatly restored with the original spine laid down. Previous owner’s signature to rear pastedown. Clean and well-preserved internally. (8), 210 [209–210 inserted in the register at the end of the book], 314, (7) pp. Contains: Underviisninger for At lære Hvorledes man ret med nogen Nytte skal reyse... (Instructions on How to Travel Properly and with Some Benefit...). — Historiske Beskrivelser Om Island, Udi Det Franske Sprog først skreven, Og siden Udi det Danske oversat, og med Historiske, Geographiske etc. Anmerkninger formeeret (Historical Descriptions of Iceland, first written in the French language, and afterwards translated into Danish, with historical, geographical, etc. annotations). — Historisk Beretning om Grønland, Hvorudi findes anførte de Rejser og Seyladser, som af de Danske Tid efter anden ere, som samme Land at opfinde, foretagne. Udi Det Franske Sprog først skreven Og siden Udi det Danske oversat (Historical Account of Greenland, containing the voyages and expeditions undertaken by the Danes at various times in order to discover that country. First written in the French language and afterwards translated into Danish).

A la Haye, Henri van Bulderen, 1704. 8vo. Uniformly bound in two contemporary full sprinkled calf bindings with five raised bands and richly gilt spines. Traces from old paper-label on top of spines. Boards with a few stains and leather on spine cracked with parts of the gilt ornamentation worn off. With a few occassional brownspots and light marginal miscolouring, a few maps with tears. Pp. 37-66 lacking small part of paper in margin, not affexting text. (22), 575, (17) pp.; (4), 292, (8), 133, (19) pp. + 1 frontispiece, 26 maps and 1 plate. Fifth edition of this geographical manual including a treatise about the art of navigation. Jacques Robbe (1643–1721) was a French engineer and geographer. He also wrote plays under the pseudonym Barquebois. Life Born in Soissons, Robbe was educated as a lawyer. He became royal geographer,

Randers, Elmenhoff, 1842. 12mo. Nydeligt senere hldrbd.i gl.stil. En af perlerne i vor litteratur, her i et velbevaret eksemplar af den sjældne originaludgave.

Paris, Leonard, 1676. 12mo. Uniformly bound in two contemporary full calf bindings with four raised bands and richly gilt spine. Scratches to boards, spine-ends chipped. Lower part of front hinge on vol. 2 split. Previous owner's name to title-pages in contemporary hand, otherwise internally nice and clean. (30), 266, (20) pp.; (8), 318, (32) pp. The rare first edition Houssaie’s popular and controversial analysis of the Venetian government in which he presented various arguments and causes for the decadence Venice had fallen into in the 17th century. The work was printed by the king's printer and dedicated to Louvois, which suggests that the French government did not disapprove of it. It appeared in March 1676 and the Venetian ambassador, Marcantonio Giustinian, later the doge of Venice, immediately protested. Houssaie was sent to the Bastille, where he remained for six weeks. In 1677 a second edition with an additional supplement was published. It immediately sparked new objections and the edition was subsequently suppressed. This act of persecution brought such widespread attention to the book that it underwent twenty-two editions within a span of just three years. It was translated into several languages. Notably, an English translation was done by Lord Falconbridge who was the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. This first edition is not often found in the trade.

Torino, Bocca, 1887. Large 8vo. Cont. half vellum binding with gilt leather title-label to spine. Old library-mark rather crudely removed from back. Inner front hinge a bit weak. A bit of brownspotting. Library-stamp to title-page. XII, 334, (2) pp. The rare first edition of the work in which Peano introduces the basic elements of geometric calculus and gives new definitions for the length of an arc and for the area of a curved surface.The famous Italian mathematician, logical philosopher, pioneer of symbolic logic, and a founder of mathematical logic and set theory, Giuseppe Peano (1858 -1932), studied mathematics at the University of Turin, where he was employed just after graduating (1880), and where he stayed almost all of his life, devoting his life to mathematics. After having graduated with honours, he was employed to assist first Enrico D'Ovidio, and then the renowned Angelo Genocchi, who possessed the chair of Infinitesimal calculus. In 1890 Peano became extraordinary professor, and in 1895 ordinary professor, of infinitesimal calculus at the Unversity of Turin. His important work "Geometrical Applications of Infinitesimal Calculus" is based on Peano's lectures on infinitesimal calculus and its application to geometry from 1885. In the important work he introduced his geometrical calculus and presented several new geometrical discoveries."The treatise "Applicazioni geometriche del calcolo infinitesimal" (1887) was based on a course Peano began teaching at the University of Turin in 1885 and contains the beginnings of his "geometrical calculus" (here still influenced by Bellavitis' method of equipolences), new forms of remainders in quadrature formulas, new definitions of length of an arc of a curve and of area of a surface, the notion of a figure tangent to a curve, a determination of the error term in Simpson's formula, and the notion of the limit of a variable figure. There is also a discussion of the measure of a point set, of additive functions of sets, and of integration applied to sets. Peano here generalized the notion of measure that he had introduced in 1883." (D.S.B. X:443).

Paris, 1963. 8vo. Issues 209 & 210 of "Les Temps Modernes" in the original printed red and black wrappers. Minor sunning to spines and edges, but otherwise in near mint condition. No 210 slightly bigger than no 209. (No. 209:) pp. 577 + (no. 210): pp. 769-834. [Entire issues: pp. (577) - 768 (+ 8 pp. of advertisements) + pp. (769) - 959 + (1 p, "Note de la Rédaction), (8 pp. of advertisements) + 2 photographic plates in the text. The rarely seen true first printing of Sartre's monumental biographical work, which counts as one of his major achievements and which was immediately hailed as a literary success. In the work, which describes his youth and analyzes his literary development, Sartre distances himself from writing and bids his adieu to literature.The major part of the work was written in 1954 and was rewritten and altered in early 1963, which accounts for the many chronological contradictions, the point of reference being sometimes 1953, sometimes 1963.The second printing of the work is that from Gallimard, 1964, which is usually described as the first edition of the work, but which is in fact merely the first edition in book form. This first printing from 1963 constitutes the work in its entirety, and the 1964-version only differs very slightly from it. On 28th of November 1963 an extract of the work appeared in "L'Express". In November of 1964 (when the work first appeared in book form), he refused the Nobel Prize for Literature awarded for his work, described as "rich in ideas and filled with the spirit of freedom and the quest for truth, has exerted a far-reaching influence on our age."Contat & Rybalka 63/383 a). See also this reference for more on the work and extracts from interviews with Sartre about it (pp. (385)-87).

Verviers, Chez M. -R. Beaufays, 1828. 8vo. Bound in two nice contemporary uniform half calf bindings with black leather title-label with gilt lettering and green leather tome-label. Ex-libris pasted on to pasted down front free end-paper and small stamp of previous owner (same as ex-libris) to verso of title-page. Front hindge on vol. 1 a bit. A very fine and clean set. (2), 254 pp. (4), 281, (1), 23 [supplement], (4) pp. First edition of Courtois' important and early work on statistics, predating Quetelets groundbreaking work (Sur l'Homme..., 1842) by almost 15 years. In the present work, Courtois assembled date on various subjects such a climate, agriculture, geology and flora and fauna. There is no direct reference to pure statistical methods but this is a fine example on the usage of statistics in its early period. Courois quickly found himself in the center of the debate between Quetelets and Say's debate on the usefullness of statistical research, a debate which Courtois contributed to with the present work. Richard Courtois (1806-1835) received his doctorate in medicine in 1825 and at the same time, functioned as the deputy director of the Botanical Garden of the University of Liège.

Kjøbenhavn, Høst & Søn, 1876. 8vo. Nice contemporary half leather binding - originally green leather, but spine and corners evenly faded into brown, leaving only traces of the green colour to the leather parts of the boards. Three raised bands with ornametal gilding and gilt title to spine. An excellent, clean, fresh, and almost spotless copy. (8), 142, (4) pp. Scarce first edition of the first Danish translation of Machiavelli's monumental "The Prince". "The publication of "The Prince" by Machiavelli had immense and widespread effect throughout Europe and it soon reached the distant Scandinavia, where the work was probably circulating form the first decades of the sixteenth century... "The Prince was not to be translated in Scandinavia until more than two centuries later, partly because in the meantime it could be read in Latin..., but also because at that time a work which established, among other things, the superiority of the Reason State to moral values was unacceptable, at least formally." (de Pol, pp. 248-49). The first Scandinavian translation of the work is the now exceedingly scarce first Swedish translation by Klingenberg from 1757. "Klingenberg's work, however, remained an isolated facxt for more than a century. Actually "The Prince", as a separate work, was translated [into Swedish] only in 1867... By that time the debate over Machiavelli had been settled, and the value of "The Prince" finally acknowledged... The explicit revaluation of "The Prince" in Scandinavia had already taken place during the Romantic Age, thanks to the Danish historian Caspar Peter Paludan-Müller (1805-1882), and particularly to his essay "Undersögelse om Machiavelli som Skribent, især med Hensyn til Bogen om Fyrsten. Et Forsøg i den høiere historiske Kritik." The first Danish translation of the whole work dates back to only 1876 ("Fyrsten. Oversat fra Italiensk ved J.C. Barth. Med en indledende Afhandling af Macaulay" - also important because in the volume it is preceded by a renowned essay 1827 by the English historian Thomas Macauley, from whom, possibly, Paludan-Müller himself partly drew his inspiration." (de Pol, p. 249). In the preface to this first Danish translation, the translator J. C. Barth thanks Casper Paludan-Müller (the author of the first and most significant work about Machiavelli Danish, 1824) for having put at his disposition the explanatory notes that follow the translation. Roberto de Pol: The First Translations of Machiavelli's Prince, 2010).

Amsterdam, M.M.Rey, 1758. 8vo. Beautiful contemporary full mottled calf with five raised bands and gilt red leather title-label to richly gilt spine. All edges Minor loss to lower capital, but apart from that an absolutely beautiful copy, internally as well as externally. Very nice, clan and fresh. Printed on good paper, with good margins. Engraved title-vignette. XVIII, 264, (8) pp. The rare first edition of this important work, which inaugurated one of the most significant intellectual debates of the 18th century.The letter is Rousseau's answer to the article on the city of Geneva, which his friend d'Alembert had written for the French "Encyclopédie". In the article, d'Alembert had suggested that the citizens of Geneva establish a theatre which - so d'Alembert - would lead to a refinement of the mores and ways of the Genevans, not to mention adding a bit of sparkle to a city which he described as dreary and sad. The response by Rousseau opened up what was one of the most important intellectual polemics of the 18th century.Rousseau, a citizen of Geneva by birth, uses the article by d'Alembert as a springboard for a reflection on the place of culture in society. He relates the institution of the theatre to the question of political morality and attempts to define boundaries between the morally innocuous and corruptive forms of entertainment. The letter is permeated by a pronounced Platonism. The arguments which Rousseau advances against the theatre closely recall those advanced by Plato in the Republic against the poets. As Plato, Rousseau focuses his attention on the artificial nature of the theatrical spectacle, which leads the mind astray, away from the concerns of an industrious and fulfilled life. For anybody with an interest in the work and life of Rousseau, the "Lettre à d'Alembert" is an invaluable document. Not only does it connect Rousseau's earlier writings - the Discourse on the Arts and Sciences (1750) and the Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality among Men (1754) - to his later major work; it also offers an insight into the differences of opinion that would lead Rousseau to break with the circle around the encyclopaedists. The present edition is unknown to Dufour and Tchmerzine, but recent research has determined that this is the actual first printing (see for instance: Azers, "Histoire de l'Impression et la publication de la "Lettre à d'Alembert"", Sénelier).

Lübeck, 1780. 8vo. In contemporary half calf with four raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Old paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Vague damp-stain to upper margin, otherwise a nice and clean copy printed on good paper. (4), 220, 192 pp. Exceedingly rare German translation, published the same year as the first German translation (Berlin, 1780) and published the year after the original French (La Vie de mon Père), of Bretonne’s – according to himself - most valuable work he ever produced. It stands out as one of the most vivid and faithful portrayals of peasant life on the eve of the French Revolution. This biography of Edmé Restif (1692–1764), a Burgundian ploughman and the author's father, offers a rare and detailed glimpse into rural France in the eighteenth century. "This work, the most esteemed of mine and the one that has had the most general success, was inspired to me all of a sudden, while finishing the printing of the 'Nouvel Abeilard', on which I had been working tirelessly, I put pen to paper with ardor and wrote it all at once, for I was occupied with nothing else, as long as the printing lasted." (Bretonne, Mes ouvrages, p. 149).

Randers, Elmenhoff, 1842. Nydeligt senere hldrbd. m. rygforgyldn. og blindtrykte bordurer på permer (Anker Kyster). Fint og rent ekspl. Med super ex-libris i guld på inderside af forperm (A.I.P.). Den sjældne originaludgave af dette enestående værk i dansk litteratur, den digteriske novelle, der er skrevet i jydsk dialekttale.

Munster, Perrenon, 1769. 8vo. Bound in a very nice contemporary half calf binding with four raised bands and richlty gilt spine. Center and corners of boards with gilt flower ornamentation. Small paper-label to upper part of spine. Traces from label (ex-libris?) having been removed from verso of front board. A nice and clean copy. 143 pp. The exceedingly rare second edition of Brument’s attempt at a sequel to Rousseau's "La Nouvelle Héloïse" with the story revolving around Henriette, the daughter of Julie de Wolmar, a central character in Rousseau's novel. The first edition was published in Geneve in 1768 – both editions are of the utmost scarcity and are rarely found in the trade. “Henriette de Wolmar” is part of a broader trend in the 18th century where Rousseau's “La Nouvelle Héloïse” inspired numerous derivative works, including sequels, parodies, and adaptations – all early examples of fan-fiction. The success of Rousseau's novel sparked a wave of creative responses, as readers and writers sought to expand, reinterpret or critique the original story. In Rousseau's original work, “La Nouvelle Héloïse”, Julie is portrayed as a virtuous woman who navigates the complexities of love, duty, and social expectations. Brument's sequel, however, shifts the narrative focus to Julie's role as a mother, particularly highlighting her possessiveness and jealousy towards her daughter. This jealousy serves as the central conflict of the story illustrating the psychological and emotional turmoil that can be within family relationships. Provenance: Valdemar's Castle.

London, Printed by T. Wright, for T. Cadell and P. Elmsly, 1772. 8vo. Contemporary full mottled calf with gilt line-borders to boards, gilt lines and gilt title-label to spine. Spine and corners worn, and hinges weak. Somewhat worn. A bit of brownspotting. Book plate of James Barlow to inside of front board. Engraved title-vignette, large engraved weapon to dedication-leaf, woodcut vignettes, large engraved vignette at beginning of text, 3 engraved plates (two of which folded), large engraved end-vignette. Alphabetic character-illustrations in the text. (4), IX, (1), 126, (1 - Hymn to Isis) pp. Scarce first edition of this interesting work on the origin of the alphabet, in which Davy proposes important and original theories that are still considered interesting and useful today. Davy proposes the so-called "articulatory iconicity" as the approach to the explanation of the origin and development of the alphabet and tries to prove how a system of "visible speech" can be at the root of it all, along the lines of William Jones, who never made the practical suggestions of explanation that Davy did. The illustrations for Davy's account of the articulatory formation of the alphabetic characters are used in other works pertaining to the same subject and are considered a noteworthy attempt to explain this frequent subject for research and speculation.The plates depict Greek, Hebrew, Samaritan, Syriac, Persian, Arabic, Coptic, Egyptian letters in comparison.

Hannover, Förster, 1728. 4to. In contemporary wrapper with red and gold ornamentation. Wrappers with a few nicks and tears. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. First leaves with a few small worm tracts, otherwise internally fine. (8), 144 pp. + Frontispiece and 4 folded plates plus numerous illustrations in text. First edition of this rare work describing and illustrating English coronation processes with focus on King Georg II.

Copenhagen. 1850. 4to. Uncut and unopened. No wrappers. Plates loose. Very nice and clean. Pp. (121) - 188 + four plates. First edition of these absolutely fundamental papers, by the (co-)discoverer of the principle of Conservation of Energy, prove Colding's assumption of "the imperishability of nature" and present for the first time in printing his elaborate experiments on the subject, contributing significantly to the cementation of his version of the principle of Conservation of Energy. Ludvig August Colding (1815 - 1888) was a famous Danish engineer and physicist. He was originally educated as a carpenter but graduated as mechanical engineer in 1841. In 1845 he became water-inspector in Copenhagen and in 1847 he was also given the responsibility of the gas- and waterworks. Together with the famous chemist Julius Thomsen, he proved that the cholera spread throughout Copenhagen through the drinking water (1853) - a most significant discovery. After this he was responsible replacing much of the sewer-system of Copenhagen. In 1857 he became state engineer. During this period he overhauled the desperately inadequate water and sanitation system. He articulated the principle of conservation of energy contemporaneously with, and independently of, James Prescott Joule and Julius Robert von Mayer though his contribution was largely overlooked and neglected.His work on the power of water-stem in the steam engine is considered one of his most significant.The principle of Conservation of Energy was discovered and proven independently and practically simultaneously by Colding, Meyer, Joule, and Helmholtz. As the other three, Colding had discovered the principle in the early 1840'ies, but up until 1843 (where he publishes his first breakthrough article on the subject), Colding's experiments had suggested that no force seems to be disappearing but merely undergoes a transformation, whereupon it becomes effective in other forms. On H.C. Oersted's recommendation (Colding was Oersted's assistent in their experiments with the heating of compressed water), however, Colding carried out a more elaborate version of his experiments, which made him able to verify his assumption that led to his principle of Conservation of Energy with much greater certainty. These new results were reported at the 1847 meeting of Scandinavian Scientists and published in 1850 as the two first papers present here.Mayer's famous "Bemerkungen über das mechanische Aequivalent der Wärme" was published a year after Colding's papers, 1851.

Kjøbenhavn, 1824. Small 8vo. Original paper covered boards. Remains of gilt title-plabel to spine. Spine worn and corners bumped. Internally brownspotted. (4), VIII, 117; (1) pp. Magnificent presentation-copy - for Grundtvig - of the scarce first edition of Howitz' most important philosophical work. With his first work of 1824, "Om Afsindighed og Tilregnelse..." Howitz initiated the seminal 19th century Danish discussion on free will, known as the "Howitz-dispute". Inscribed to front free end-paper: "Til / Hr. Pastor N. F. S. Grundtvig / Ærbødigst / fra / Forfatteren" (i.e. "For / Mr. Pastor N. F. S. Grundtvig / most respectfully / from / the author". The Danish pastor Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783-1872) is arguably, together with Kierkegaard (and perhaps Hans Christian Andersen) the most influential Danish author of all time. He holds a unique position in Danish cultural history, profoundly forming Danish society, the national spirit of which is still widely Grundtvigian. Danish national institutions are widely based on Grundtivg's ideals, and the new form of nationalism that his ideas gave rise to in the last half of the 19th century still permeates Danish society and Danish national understanding. In this foundational work "On Madness and Ascribing Responsibility:", Howitz claimed that those learned in the law (at that time led by Oersted) did not understand the relationship between the normal rational state of man and the mad state, and he thus initiated a discussion about the legal term of imputability, behind which he saw Kant's notion of liberty. With the thoughts of Hume, Howitz sets out to refute Kant's notion of human free will. He equals the relationship between motivation and act with the relationship between cause and effect, and thus, according to Howits, there can be no human act without cause. Like Hume, Howitz did not understand this natural necessity as being in opposition to freedom."The so-called “Howitz-dispute,” which arose in Copenhagen in the second half of the 1820s, represents a sort of tear in a monotonous and uniform ideological fabric, whose consequences are destined to last until the middle of the century and ideally join together with the strongest continental currents. The dispute takes its name from the Danish professor of forensic medicine, Frantz Gotthard Howitz (1789-1826), who wrote in 1824 the treatise On Madness and Ascribing Responsibility: A Contribution on Psychology and Jurisprudence, in which he considered a problem to which the entire post-revolutionary civil society was looking for a fair solution, namely, the problematic relationship between madness and the ascription of responsibility. The treatise immediately evoked a number of critical reactions, since the author “accused” the Danish law of the time of being based on Kant’s view of morality. Howitz’s treatise has the merit of originality not only because, from a chronological point of view, it comes before many of the most important writings on the theme of madness and imputability (and its author is thoroughly acquainted with the inter-national scientific literature on mental illnesses), but also because it shows how at the root of the Danish clinical and legal reasoning of the time, there was the Kantian moral doctrine." (Ingrid Basso: On Madness and Free Will: a Kantian Debate in Denmark in the First Half of 19th Century).

Paris, Florentin Delaulne, 1709. 8vo. Bound in one contemporary full calf binding with four raised bands and richly gilt spine. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Previous owner's name to front free end-paper in contemporary hand. Light wear to extremities, but overall a nice and clean copy. XXI, (3), 454, (2), 563 pp. Rare first edition of Dubos’ history on The War of the League of Cambrai also known as the War of the Holy League, fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war were France, the Papal States, and the Republic of Venice, they were joined at various times by nearly every significant power in Western Europe. “(The present work) was a clear and engaging history of the alliance, including France, assembled by Pope Julius II to wage war against the Venetian Republic between 1508 and 1516. The book was praised by, among others, Voltaire.” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Jean-Baptiste Du Bos (b. 1670, d. 1742) was a French antiquarian, historian, diplomat, polymath, and aesthetician. He participated in the Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, wrote on numismatics, delved into a variety of historical questions, and had an enduring love of the fine arts. Barbier II, 700.

Königsberg, Nicolovius, 1798. 8vo. In contemporary marbled paper covered boards with gilt lettering to spine. Previous owner's names in contemporary hand to pasted down front end-paper and front free end-paper. First leaves slightly browned, a nice copy. XIV, 334 pp. First edition of Kant's major contribution to empirical psychology, in which he attempted a classification of mental diseases. It was developed from lecture notes for a number of successful classes taught by Kant from 1772 to 1796 at the Albertus Universität in then Königsberg, Germany. Scholars Victor L. Dowdell and Hans H. Rudnick, for example, have argued that Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View constitutes the best way for layperson readers to begin learning Kant's philosophy 'To some extent the division of subjects in this book helped inadvertently to establish the three-fold classification of mental experiences, namely, knowing, feeling and willing, in place of the traditional two-fold classification, namely, cognition and appetition' (Wolf). The present work was the subject of Michel Foucault's doctoral dissertation. Garrison & Morton 4969Norman 1201Warda 195Wellcome II, 378

Franckfurt, Georg Müllers, 1657. 8vo. In a nice contemporary Cambridge-style mirror binding with four raised bands and richly gilt spine. All edges marbled. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Margin of front board faded. Ex-libris (Carl Juel, Danish statesman and owner of Valdemar's Castle) pasted on to pasted down front end-paper. First 20 ff. with damp stain in upper outer corner, otherwise a nice and clean copy. (34), 1266, (26) pp. + frontispiece. The rare first complete German translation of Tacitus. Tacitus’ texts had a profound influence in Germany, more so than most other classical works. Tacitus’ works influenced German identity and nationalism by providing a romanticized view of ancient Germans, contributing to the development of a distinct cultural identity. Tacitus’s description of ancient Germanic tribes in Germania was idealized by many German intellectuals as depicting noble and pure ancestors. It created a romanticized image of Germanic virtues like bravery, simplicity, and freedom. From the 16th century onward, particularly during the Renaissance and the Romantic era, Germania was used to foster a sense of national pride and distinct identity. It played a role in the rise of German nationalism, especially in the 19th century leading up to the unification of Germany in 1871. In the 20th century - particularly under Nazi rule – ‘Germania’ was misinterpreted and misused to promote ideas of racial purity and Aryan superiority, contributing to the ideology that justified many of the regime's atrocities. “The first printed translation of Tacitus’ texts sees the light in 1535 in Mainz and offer a German version of A.[De vita Iulii Agricolae], the H.[Historiae], and the G.[De origine et situ Germanorum], by Jacob Micyllus. Although German inaugurates the European movements of translations of Tacitus, the initial momentum ceases immidialtely. We must wait until 1612 before a new version of A. and the H. are worked on by Ludwig Kepler. German readers do not gain access to the entirety of the works of Tacitus (without the D.[Dialogus de oratoribus]) until 1657 [the present], thanks to the translation of Carl Melchior Gronitz von Grodnau. For the first time, also the Ag. is translated in this language.” (The Tacitus Encyclopedia). During the 16th and 17th centuries, the works of the Latin historian Caius Cornelius Tacitus, who wrote in the irst century AD, became bestsellers in Europe. From Italy to France, and in England, the Netherlands, the German Empire, and the Spanish monarchy, Tacitus’s Annals, Histories, Life of Agricola, Germania, and even the Dialogue on Orators – which in that period was not consistently attributed to him – became privileged objects of reading. Soon, a wide array of derivative works appeared. Commentaries on the text, discourses based on selected passages, aphorisms, judgments or notes, and virtually any kind of book related to Tacitus’s texts in any possible form found a printer and readers” (Bermejo, Translating Tacitus).

Stockholm, 1845. Uncut in the original printed yeallow wrappers. A very fresh, clean and bright copy. The rare first Swedish edition of Romeo and Juliet. The book also contains a cast-list for the first performance of the play in Stockholm, for which the translation was made. OCLC lists merely four copies outside of Sweden.

Odense, Trykt paa forfatterens Forlag i S. Hempels Officin, 1837. 8vo. In contemporary half calf with gilt lettering and blindstamped ornamentation to spine. Light wear to extremities, corners bumped. Paper label pasted on to pasted down front front end-paper "Skjænket fra Kongens Haandbibliotek" (i.e. English: "Donated from the Kings private library"). Stamp, "FGP", (i.e. Fredericia Garnisions Bibliotek). to title-page. Title-page slightly browned but overwise a nice and clean copy. (6), XV, (1), 468, (1) pp. The rare first edition – here with a most interesting Royal provenance - of Cohen’s seminal work, being the first comprehensive work on the history of Jews in Denmark.The book examines the impact of legal enactments on their emancipation, tracing their status from being permitted to settle in Denmark in 1684 to gaining full Danish citizenship in 1814. From the stamp on the title-page we know this copy has been part of Fredericia's Garrison Library. Prince Frederik, Later King Frederik VII was banished by his farther-in-law, King Frederik VI to Fredericia because of his scandalous behaviour towards his wife, princess Vilhemine, the youngest daughter of the King. The Prince must have kept the book, which later with his return to Copenhagen, went into the Royal Private Library (Kongens Haandbibliotek). Asser Daniel Cohen (1794–1863), a Jewish theologian and author, became a royal catechist for Jews in Funen and Lolland-Falster. He documented Jewish history in Denmark and wrote on the First Schleswig War. In 1855, he was appointed catechist in Schleswig, living in Frederiksstad until his death.

Copenhagen, Levin & Munksgaard, 1933. + Berlin, Springer 1931. + Lancaster, American Physical Society, 1950. First paper: Published as no. 8 of vol. 12 in 'Kgl. Dankse Vid. Selsk. Math.-Fys. Medd.'. 8vo. Original printed wrappers. With the ownership signature of Danish physicist Mogens Pihl (Prof. of physics at Copenhagen University 1957-77). 65,(1) pp. Second paper: Published in 'Zeitschrift für Physik', vol. 69, pp.56-69. The entire volume in contemporary half cloth offered here.Third paper: Published in 'The Physical Review', vol. 78, no. 6, pp.794-798. The entire issue in original printed wrappers offered here. With rubber stamp of Danish physicist Christian Møller (Author of "The Theory of Relativity, 1952"). First editions of these fundamental papers in the development of quantum field theory. The process of measuring electromagnetic fields involves the observation of charged test bodies in those fields. Therefore the theory of electrodynamics is an inseparable extension of mechanics. A quantum theory of fields thus inherits, in some form, the limitations of measurement which lie at the foundation of quantum mechanics. In 1931 Landau and Peierls published a critical analysis of the consequences of such limitations in a relativistic quantum theory of fields (second paper offered). Landau and Peierls came to the negative conclusion that in several cases, the concept of momentum was without physical meaning and quantities such as the strength of a field was un-measurable. In their famous paper from 1933 Bohr and Rosenfeld (first paper offered) carefully reviewed the arguments of Landau and Peierls and showed, through the use of particular measuring arrangements, that a consistent quantum theory of fields is possible without further limitations than the ones which secure the consistency of quantum mechanics. The BR-paper is often credited with having laid the foundation for quantum electrodynamics. Bohr continued his work in this field, and in 1937 he completed a manuscript entitled "Field and Charge Measurement in Quantum Theory", but this was never published. When, in the late 1940s the important work on QED by Tomonaga, Schwinger, Dyson, and Feynman appeared in The Physical Review, Bohr and Rosenfeld again joined and published the essentials of the 1937 manuscript in the same journal (third paper offered).See Abraham Pais: Bohr's Times, pp.358-364. Mehra & Rechenberg: The Historical Development of Quantum Theory, vol. 6, pp.697-703. Collected Works of Niels Bohr, vol. 7, pp.3-33.

London, Edwardi Story, 1654. 12mo. In contemporary full vellum. Binding slightly twisted. Front board with large stain. Annotations in contemporary hand to pasted down front end-paper and free front end-paper. Small marks with annotations pasted in margin. Internally fine and clean. (10), 302, 72 pp. with many diagrams and illustrations in text. Rare first edition of George Fournier's work on Euclid's Element. “Some of the benefits of the smaller format adopted by Clavius’s edition were negated by the length of the text, and the next phase of Euclidean publication during the seventeenth century saw the rapid adoption of smaller formats, culminating in a number of tiny duodecimo issues such as the 1644 Paris edition of Georges Fournier, later reprinted in Cambridge. (In note:) Issued as a duodecimo in Paris in 1644 and 1654, and in London in 1654 and 1665.” (Anja-Silvia Goeing, Early Modern Universities: Networks of Higher Learning). Georges Fournier, a French Jesuit priest, geographer and mathematician, served as a naval military chaplain on a ship of the line, and acquired a strong knowledge of technical and naval matters. In 1642, he published the treaty Hydrographie, where he attempted to provide a scientific foundation to the design of ships. He also authored a Treaty of fortifications or military architecture, drawn from the most estimated places of our times, for fortifications, whose original edition was published in Paris in 1649 by Jean Hénault at the Salle Dauphine of l'ange gardien. Another edition was published in 1668 in Mayence by Louis Bourgeat. His works on Euclidean geometry (Paris, 1644 and 1654) were translated into English, and gave rise to three successive editions.Georges Fournier taught René Descartes.Steck IV, p. 100.

(London, The Television Press), 1928. 8vo. Original illustrated coloured wrappers depicting a distinguished couple enjoying the opera transmitted on television, with the actual opera in the background. Richly illustrated throughout. A bit of minor spotting to front wrapper; all in all a very nice, fully intact, copy. 52 pp + one loose leaf: "Supplement to Television, No. 1 - March, 1928" (containing the article "Seeing Across the Atlantic!"). The first printing of the uncommon (especially in wrappers) first volume, first number of the world's first television journal, which contains many very important articles in the history of the development of television and which came to highly influence the use and spreading of the television as a broadcast medium.The journal "Television", "The first periodical publication devoted to television, began publication in 1928, the year that marked the beginning of television's transformation from scientific curiosity to commercially viable broadcast medium." (Hook & Norman, p. 205).The most important year for television as we know it today must be said to be 1928, the year in which it became certain that television could be more than a scientific curiosity, the same year that the "Television" journal, aimed at both amateurs and professionals and filled with commercials connected to television, appeared. "In 1927 television was belived to be just around the corner. This imminence became a fact in 1928..." (Shiers, p. 132)."Television" served as the official journal of the Television Society, "a combination which met the needs and interests of amateurs as well as professionals." (Shiers, p. 132). "Of all scientific subjects, perhaps the one which is creating the most interest in the public mind at the present time is television. It is, howevera subject upon which almost no literature or authentic information has been available, either to the interested amateur or to the scientist. It is the object of this, the first journal of its kind in the world, to fill this want, and to supply an organ the sole object of which will be to keep interested members of the public supplied with up-to-date and authentic information upon this new branch of science, which bids fair in time to rival wireless broadcasting in importance and popularity." (beginning of the Editorial, by Dinsdale).Hook and Norman, Originas of Cyberspace, nr. 203, (1) ("A monthly magazine devoted to the interests and progress of the science of seeing by wire and wireless" - the front wrapper of vol. 1, no. 1 depicted). Shiers, Early Television, a Bibliographic Guide, nr. 1152 ("Greetings to the World's first Television Journal"), 1153 ("The Bith of the Television Society"), 1154 ("Technical Notes"), 1155 ("Technical Notes"), 1156 ("Commercial Televsion. When may we expect it?"), 1157 ("Join the Television Society"), 1158 ("How to make a Simple Televisor"), 1159 ("Television on the Continent"), 1160 ("Noctovision. Seeing in total Darkness by Television"), 1161 ("Seeing Across the Atlantic", being the account of Baird's transmission from London to New York).