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Wien, 1837-39. 4to-oblong. Bound in 2 later hfabrikoid. With 6 orig. printed wrappers (from where the titles are taken). Containing 100 steel-engraved plans, all with positions handcoloured and each plate with textleaves. On one of the wrappers is stated that "Wöchenlich erscheint ein Plan; der ganze Atlas wird aus 100 Schlachtplänen bestehen", so the offered volumes seem to be complete. 2 maps with a small hole, 1 leaf with a small hole. Internally clean.

Halle, Wäysenhauses, 1729. 4to. Bound in a very nice contemporary Cambridge-style mirror binding with four raised bands and richly gilt spine. All edges of boards with blindstamped ornamentation. All edges of book block marbled. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Spine-ends with a wear, boards with a few scratches, internally very fine, fresh and clean - a very fine and well kept copy. (10), 24, (8), 95, (17), 384, (24), 352, (16) pp. Beautiful copy in essentially unread condition of Breithaupt’s famous religious work focusing on the duties and responsibilities of Christian teachers and their congregations, inspired by the biblical verse Matthew 5:13, where Jesus refers to his followers as "the salt of the earth."This present 1729-edition being the third and final edition expanded with numerous ordination sermons from both Halle and Magdeburg and with an index, not present in the first and second edition. The print and the size (4to) makes this essentially a luxury edition as opposed to the much more modest print of the second edition from 1726 in 8vo. OCLC list none of the alleged first edition from 1725. Just one copy of the second edition from 1726 and five copies of this present third expanded edition. "Das Saltz der Erden": This phrase means "The Salt of the Earth," which is a reference to Matthew 5:13, a verse from the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus says, "You are the salt of the earth." The metaphor suggests that Christians, like salt, are meant to have a preserving, purifying, and flavorful influence on the world. The book discusses the mutual responsibilities of those who teach the Christian faith and those who listen, being the congregation or followers. Joachim Justus Breithaupt (1658 – 1732) was a German Lutheran theologian and hymn writer. Born in Northeim to Superintendent Christian Breithaupt he began his studies in Helmstedt in 1676 and became vice-principal in Wolfenbüttel in 1680. Following a plague, he continued his theological studies under Christian Kortholt the Elder at the University of Kiel and later lectured in Frankfurt am Main. He progressed when he became court preacher and consistory councilor in Meiningen in 1685 and later pastor at the Predigerkirche in Erfurt, senior of the spiritual ministry, and professor of theology at the University of Erfurt in 1687. In 1705 he was appointed General Superintendent of the Duchy of Magdeburg and in 1709, became abbot of the Magdeburg Foundation and the Monastery of Berge.

Berlin, Fred. Dümmler's, 1850. 4to. In contemporary marbled paper covered boards. Spine loose and light wear to extremties, internally fine and clean. 86 pp. First edition of Grimm's important work which he considered one of the very earliest to introduce cremation to the modern western world. Here Grimm traces cremation through the history of Western civilization and illustrated its aesthetic and ennobling benefits with a host of examples from various cultures, which to him, represented "stages in the refinement of humankind". "While he described cremation as "progress in the mental education of the people". He dedicated the bulk of his speech to funerary rituals among ancient Greeks and Romans, whom he revered. Grimm focused on ethnological descriptions of cremation practices, but he also mentioned practical advantages, like improvising hygiene, saving space, and making the transport of remains easier. To preempt potential objections about the Christian belief in resurrection, he assured his audience that the physical product of incineration and decomposition were identical." (Ameskamp, On Fire - Cremation in Germany).Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm (1785 - 1863), German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, his Deutsche Mythologie and more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy Tales

Paris, Maradan. Seconde Anné de la Republique, (1794). 2 cont. hcalf. Richly gilt backs, tome-and titlelabels in red leather. A little weakness at top of hinge, otherwise a very attractive copy. With the 2 half-title and 2 titles. (4),412;XVI,375 pp., 2 folded plates (1 in letterpress and 1 engraved). Light yellowing to leaves and a few scattered brownspots. First edition. It is Lamarck's first larger work in Chemistry, and published before his well-known statement of evolution. His conceptions of chemical processes as propounded here, may well provide a basis for understanding his theory of evolution, which he presented in 1800."In this work Lamarck sets forth his views on the immutability of species and attacks the theory of spontaneous origin of life. The book is interesting in the history of Chemistry because Lamarck attacs Lavoisier's anti-phlogistic theory." (Duveen p. 334).

Carksruhe, J. Veith, (1862). Folio-oblong. (51,5 x 71 cm.). Contemp. hcalf. Titlelabel with gilt lettering on upper cover. Stamp on foot of printed title-page. Spine slightly rubbed. With 60 lithographed folio-plates.

Kiøbenhaffn, Peter Hake for Jørgen Holst, 1657. 4to. I et nyere halvlæderbind med hvidt titieletikette på ryg. Titelblad opklæbet og første fem blade med reperation i øverste margin. Med svage gennemgående vandskjolder. (4), 93, (21) pp. Den ikke almindelige første norske kirkeordinans. Indtil da havde den danske kirkeordinans fra 1537 været gældende i Norge. Thesaurus 425.

(London), 1960. Folio. Loose leaves in original cloth portfolio and slipcase. Gilt lettering to spine. Mimeographed typescript, printed on one side only. Ca. 400 unnumbered leaves. The catalogue is very scarce, as apparently only a small number was issued. It comprises a checklist of the library and manuscript archives of Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Owen Willans Richardson, as offered for sale by Peter Eaton. Especially strong in electron theory and manuscript materials, the catalogue is also a useful reference for ephemeral material relating to pre-World War II atomic science. The collection was purchased by Texas University.

Leipzig, Breitkop, 1744. (+) Leipzig, Breitkop, 1745. (+) Halle, Hemmerde, 1745. 8vo. Bound in one contemp. hcalf. raised bands. A paperlabel pasted on top of spine. Stamps on the first title-page. An old name erased from title-page leaving a small hole, no loss of letters. (32),168 pp. - (28),164 pp. and 7 (numb. I-VII, the first 3 belongs to the first work, 4 to the second) folded engraved plates, referring to both works !) - 62 pp. a. 1 engraved plate. Internally clean, printed on good paper. Both works by Winkler first editions. In the first Winkler for the first time shows that the electrical spark ignates alcohol. He also presents his invention of electrical machines. - The work treats "Properties, effects and causes of electricity; two new frictional machines, pp. 10 , 18; size of leather cushion, p. 21; velocity of electrical transmission, p.70, effect of magnet on electrical sparks, p. 63." (Wheeler Gift, No 313).The second work also contains descriptions of the invented electrical machines and in which for the first time a leather cushion is used, which is pressed against the glass globes by a spring. (Wheeler Gift, No 323, lacking the plates).Kratzenstein's work is a PIONEERWORK IN ELECTROTHERAPHY. He was the first to use electricity for therapeutical purposes. He details a method of treatment which consists of seating the patient on a wooden stool, electrifying him by means of a large revolving frictional glass globe and then drawing sparks from him through the affected body parts. (Not in Wheeler Gift).

Berlin, G. Reimer, 1818. Contemp. hcalf. Gilt spine. Titlelabel gone. A paperlaberl pasted on lower part of spine. Stamps on title-page. XII,233,(2) pp., textillustrations and 12 large handcoloured folded engraved plates with many figures. Explanatory leaf to each plate. Faint scattered brownspots. Scarce first edition. - Not in Chris Philip.

(London, W.Nicol, 1826). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from "Philosophical Transactions" 1826 - Part III. Pp. 250-265 and 4 engraved plates. Some faint dampstains to plates. One plate with a small tear, no loss. the same plate some creasing at upper part, verso of plate somewhat soiled. Page 261 with some marginal brownspots and some soiling. The other leaves clean and fine. First appearance of a main paper in the history of Computing Science in which Babbage set forth some of the basic principles that guide modern computers."Babbage's first publication of his system of mechanical notation that enabled him to describe the logic and operation of his machiness on paper as they would be fabricated in metal. Babbage later stated that: "Without the aid of this language I could not have invented the Analytical Engine; nor do I belive that any machinery of equal complexity can ever be contrived without the assistance of that or of some other equivalent language. The Difference Engine No.2...is entirely described by its aid." .Babbage considered his mechanical notation system to be one of his finest inventions, and thought it should be widely implemented. It was a source of frustartion to him, that no other machine designerr adopted it (probably because no ther engineer during Babbage's time attermpted to build machines as logically and mechanically complex as Babbage's. More than one hundred years later, in the 1930s, when development in logic were applied to switching systems in the earliest efforts to devwelop electromechanical calculators. Ckaude Shannon demonstrated that Boolean algebra could be applied to the same types of problems for which Babbage had designed his mechanical notation system."(Hook & Norman No. 37).Together with Babbage's paper comes a paper by J.F.W. Herschel "On the parallax of the fixed stars", pp. 266-280.

Stockholm, (Henrich Käyser), 1635. 4to. In a nice later green half calf binding with richt gilt ornamentation to spine. Both title-pages printed in red and black within ornamental frame. Occasional marginal annotations in contemporary hand. Marginal repairs to a few leaves. 200, (40), 184, (40) pp. Second printing (the first being from 1634) of Sweden's Carl IX's state law. Collijn Sweden's bibliography 1600s: 483.Rudbeck 13

(London, W. Bulmer and Co., 1808). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from "Philosophical Transactions" 1808 - Part I. Pp. 1-44. First printing of this importent historical paper in chemistry, in which Davy shows that electricity is capable of decomposing some alkalies, isolating two new substances and discovering potassium and sodium. Neville in his Historical Chemical Library vol. I, p.340, writes about this paper "ONE OF THE GREAT CLASSIC RESEARCHES IN CHEMISTRY, in which Davy announced in this, his second Bakterian lecture, the isloation of metallic potassium and sodium by the electrolytic decomposition of their fused oxides.""He (Davy) began his own electrical experiments...The results were spectacular. On October 6, 1807, the current passing through molten potash liberated a metal, which Davy called potassium. The little globules of shining metal tore the water molecule apart as it eagerly recombined with oxygen and the liberated hydrogen burst into lavender flame. Davy danced about in a delirium of joy. A week later he isolated sodium from soda."(Asimow). The paper offered here describes these discoveries."Humphry Davy was one of the most brilliant chemists of the early nineteenth century. His early study of nitrous oxide brought him his first reputation, but his later and most importent investigations were devoted to electrochemistry. Following Galvani's experiments and the discovery of the voltaic pile, interest in galvanic electricity had become widespread. The first electrolysis by means of the pile was carried out in 1800 by Nicholson and Carisle, who obtained oxygen and hydrogen from water. Davy began to examine the chemical effects of electricity in 1800, and his numerous discoveries were presented in his Bakerian lecture to the Royal Society on November 20, 1806.(A Source Book in Chemistry p. 243). - Wheeler Gift: 2514.

Otthiniæ (Odense), Christian Schröder, 1698. Folio. Velbevaret samtidigt helldrbd. i flammet kalv. Ryg med 4 ophøjede bind og de 5 titelfelter rigt blindtrykte. Ganske små reparationer på bindet. (42), 688 pp. samt Hubert Schatens store kobberstukne portræt af Bering. Kobberstukne vignetter og talrige figurlige kobberstukne initialer, som er specielt lavet til denne udgivelse. Trykt på godt papir og ren, nogle få svage skjolder i slutmarginer. Originaludgaven af Berings latinske Danmarkshistorie frem til 1448. Trykt på Thomas Kingos foranledning i hans, i 1682 oprettede trykkeri i Odense. "Værket har en meget monumental Karakter og er et imponerende Vidnesbyrd om, hvad et forholdsvis beskedent Provinstrykkeri har kunnet Yde..." (Birkelund Nr. 70). - Dette eksemplar har tidligere tklhørt bogsamleren Einar Christiansen og har hans exlibris indsat.

London, Harrison and Sons, 1895. 4to. Orig. full cloth. Gilt lettering to spine. Blindtooled covers. First corner a bit bumped. In "Philosophical Transactions", Vol. 186 - I, Series A. XIV,(2),602,(4) pp. (Entire volume offered). The paper: p. 187-241 a. 8 textillustrations (apparatus). The title-page with faint brownspots. Otherwise internally clean and fine. First printing of this importent paper in the history of chemistry, Lord Rayleigh's most famous discovery, announcing the discovery of this new gas, the first finding of one of the rare gases (inert gases) having unusual properties, and forming a distinct group in the periodic table, and all with zero valency."The original paper in the "Philosophical Transactions" will undoubtly rank as a classic, the investigation having been a particularly brilliant ine." (Ernst von Meyer in History of Chemistry). For this discovery Lord Rayleigh and W. Ramsay received the Nobel Prize (1904). The volume also contains WILLIAM CROOKES "On the Spectra of Argon", OSBORNE REYNOLD "On the Dynamical Theory of Incompressible Viscous Fluids and the determination of the Criterion", KARL PEARSON "Contributions to the Mathematical Theory of Evolution. - II. Skew Variations in Homogenous Materials" etc.After having made several measuring of the densities of gases, "Rayleigh came across a curious puzzle. With oxygen, he always obtained the same density, regardless of how the oxygen might be produced, whether from one particular compound, from a second compound, or from the air. The situation was different with nitrogen. The nitrogen he obtained from air constantly showed a slightly higher density than the nitrogen he obtained from any of various compounds. Rayleigh could think of several ways in which the nitrogen obtained from air might be contaminated but none of the possibilities checked out experimentally. He was so frustrated that he went so far as to write to the journal "Nature" asking for suggestions. Ramsay, a brilliant Scottish chemist, asked permission to tackle the problem and received it. The upshot was that a new gas, somewhat denser that nitrogen, was discovered to exist in the atmosphere. It was named argon and it was the first of a series of rare gases of unusual properties whose existence had never been suspected."(Asimow).Dibner, Heralds of Science No. 50 - Neville, Historical Chemical Library vol. II, p.358.

Paris, chez le Sr Desnos, (ca 1783). 46,5x64,5 cm. Engraved map of Africa with the Mediterranean Sea at north. Contemporary handcoloured. Cartouche uncoloured. A few tears showing in right grade-scale, no loss. Jaillots fine impressive map of the continent of Africa from 1695 in Brion de la Tours revision from 1783 giving much new information and details of this continent.

Nürnberg, Monath, 1765. 4to. Cont. hvellum. Titlelabel with gilt lettering. Stamps on first title-page. Engraved frontispiece, 3 title-pages. (14),432;(8),48;(12),176 pp. and 62 large folded engraved plates (30+20+12). Clean and fine. The last edition of this esteemed work on instruments. - Poggendorff I:194.

Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1896. 4to. Bound in contemporary half cloth with marbled boards. "Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences", Tome 122 (Entire volume offered). Two title labels with gilt lettering to spine. Minor wear to extremities, upper title label with a few nicks. Library stamp to title page, otherwise a fine and clean copy. Pp. 420-421; Pp. 501-502; Pp. 559-564; Pp. 689-694; Pp. 762-767; Pp. 1086-1088. First appearance of the six landmark papers in which Becquerel documents his discovery of Radio-activity, PROMPTING THE NUCLEAR AGE.Becquerel was an expert in fluorescence and phosphorescence, continuing the work of his father and grandfather. Follwing the discovery of X-rays by Röntgen, Bexquerel investigated fluorescent materials to see if they also emitted X-rays. He exposed a fluorescent uranium salt, pechblende, to light and then placed it on a wrapped photographic plate.He found that a faint image was left on the plate, which he believed was due to the pichblende emitting the light it had absorbed as a more penetrating radiation.. However, by chace, he left a sample that had not been exposed to light on top of a photographic plate in a drawer. he noticed that the photographic plate also had a a faint image of the pechblende. After several chemical tests he concluded that these "Becquerel rays" were a property of atoms. He had, by chace, discovered radio-activity and prompted thee beginning of the nuclear age. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 with Marie and Pierre Curie. The "Becquerel Rays" were later discovered to be a composite of three forms of emanation, distinguished by Rutherford as alpha, beta and gamma rays.Dibner: 163 (the later Mémoire from 1903) - PMM: 393 (1903- Mémoire) - Garrison & Morton: 2001 (only the first paper). - Magie "A Source Book in Physics" p. 610 ff. - Norman:157.

(Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1837). Without wrappers. In "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg. von J.C. Poggendorff", Band 41 No. 5 (= Erstes Stück). 224 pp.(entire issue offered). Schwann's paper: pp. 184-193. Clean and fine. First printing of Schwann's milestone paper on fermentation and putrefaction in which he shows that is is not air as such that brings about putrefaction in a meat extract but something in the air, which could be destroyed by heat. The "substances " present in air is germs or seeds of moulds and infusoria, and he explains putrefaction as the action of these germs on access to organic material. He further demonstrates that it is the living nature of the agent that creates fermentation, and he presents new evidence for the nature of fermentation. "Schwann was lead to the idea that alcoholic fermentation was related to the metabolism of yeast by his conception that putrefaction was related to the metabolism of live organisms."(DSB XII, p. 242)."(Schwann) concluded that the processes of putrefaction and fermentation were probably similar in their essence and were due to live agents which obtaineed their sustenance from the fermentible or putrescible materials. It was in the course of these experiments that Schwann discovered and gave an accurate acoount of the yeast plant and its mode of reproducing by budding. In his paper (the paper offered) he anticipated Pasteur's work when he asserted that fermentation of sugar was a chemical decomposition brought about by yeast attacking the sugar and some nitrogen containing substance necessary for its life whereby the elements not used by yeast itself unite to form alcohol. This classical research by him was described by him as 'preliminary' (vorläufige) and at the end of it he promised to return to it. This he did, to a certain extent in his "Mikroskopische Untersuchungen" (1839 - PMM 307 b), and he added new experiments to confirm his view that alcoholic fermentation is due to the activity of the yeast plant."(Bulloch "The History of Bacteriology", pp. 86-87).Schwann gives the "proof that putrefaction is produced by living bodies. Independently of Cagniard-Latour, Schwann discovered the yeast cell. He is regarded as the founder of the germ theory of putrefaction and fermentation."(Garrison & Morton No. 674).

Argentorati (Strassburg), Conradus Scher, 1608 - (Strassburg), Raab, 1612. - (Strassburg, Raab, 1612 Small 8vo. 3 works bound in one contemp. full vellum. Covers blindtooled in panels with floral cornerpieces. Old handwritten title on spine. Light wear. An: 1. (24),449,(7) pp. First edition. (Thesaurus II,338) - 2. (208) pp. - 3. (24),261,(16 of 24 ?) pp. Lacking the last leaves in the Index. 7 leaves with lower corners torn of which 2 have some loss of letters. Light browning an yellowing to leaves. "Bartholin’s fame is due not to his originality, but to his learning and reputation as a teacher; as a strict Aristotelian he clarified the essential points in the doctrines of his time, eliminating obsolete and superfluous theories. As a theologian his personal life was marked by piety and Lutheran orthodoxy. His anatomical manual Institutiones, well arranged and handy but without illustrations, was reprinted five times. It became still more famous when his son Thomas brought out an enlarged and illustrated edition."(DSB).

Breslau, Korn, 1755-72. 4to. Bound in 6 nice contemp. hcalf. raised bands. richly gilt spines. Title- and tomelabels with gilt lettering. Stamp on title-pages. Ca. 2000 pp., 4 tables, 22 engraved plates (1 in xerox-copy). A fine copy. Gröben large collection with translations of the most importent works by different authors on military tactics. - Sloos. Warfare and the Age of Printing, 3066 (only 9 parts).

Paris, Arthur Bertrand, 1837. Bound in 2 contemp hcalf, but not in the right order. Richly gilt spines. Containing importent printed source material relating to the discovery of America.Vol. 1. Federman, Nicolas. Narration du premier Voyage... 1557. 227 pp.Vol. 2. Magalhanes de gandavo. Histoire de la Province de sancta-Cruz... Brasil. 1576. 162 pp.Vol. 3. Staden de Homberg. Véritable Histoire et Déscription d'un pays habité par des Hommes sauvages... nimmé Amérique. 1557. 335 pp.Vol. 4. Xérés, F. relation véridique de la Conquête de Pérou... 1547. 198 pp.Vol. 5. Schmidel de Straubing. Histoire véritable d'un Voyage curieux dans l'Amerique et le nouveau Monde... 1534-1554. 264 pp.Vol. 6. Nunez Cabeca de Vaca. Commentaires... 1555. 507 pp. Sabin, 94856, but also with separate numbers as they were published separately.

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1856. Conemp. hcalf. 5 raised bands, gilt spine and gilt lettering to spine. A few scratches to spine. Small stamp on verso of first -and general- titlepage and small stamps to verso of plates. In: "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg. von J.C. Poggendorff", Vierte Reihe Bd. 7, (=Poggendorff Bd. 97). (2),X,644 pp. a. 5 folded engraved plates. (Entire volume offered). Internally clean and fine. Clausius paper (in 2 parts): pp. 441-476 a. pp. 513-558. Clean and fine. First appearance of this groundbreaking paper in which Clausius applied the second law of thermodynamics to the working of the steem-engine and stated, what he called the "second fundamental theorem in the mechanical theory of heat", the concept of "equivalent-value", which is the precursory formulation of the concept of "entropy". He showed especially that the heat of the steem could be negative as well as positive, thereby laying the foundation of modern technological thermodynamics. The volume contains other notable papers:THOMSON, W. (Lord Kelvin) & J.P. JOULE: "Ueber die Wärmewirkung bewegter Flüssigkeiten" (On the Thermal Effects of Fluids in Motion" (1853). Pp. 576-414.This is the first German edition of a classic paper on thermodynamics, in which Thomson and Joule announced the so-called JOULE-THOMSON EFFECT (or Joule-Kelvin Effect), describing the increase or decrease in temperature of a real gas or liquid when allowed to expand freely through a valve or other throtting device while kept insulated so that heat is transferred to or from the fluid, and no external mechanical work is extracted from the fluid.R. KOHLRAUSCH: "Ueber die elektrischen Vorgänge bei der Elektrolyse." Pp. 397-414 a. 559-575 (in 2 parts).Frst printing of this importent paper, stating the fundamental facts of electrolyses and describing the theory of the "TANGENT GALVANOMETER", which Kohlrausch and Weber used to determine the electromagnetic value of the discharge current when a Leyden jar is discharged through the galvanometer. The ratio of the measured speed and the speed of light, led Kirchhoff to state in 1857 that an electric disturbance was propagated along a perfectly conducting wire at the velocity of light.Wheeler Gift No. 3002.

Halle, Rengerschen Buchhandlung, 1811, 1811, 1812. Without wrappers as published in "Annalen der Physik. Herausgegeben von Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert", Bd. 37, Drittes u. Viertes Stück + Bd. 38, Sechtes Stück + Bd. 40, Zweites u. Drittes Stück. The entire issues offered (5 issues). With titlepage to vol. 37, 38 a. 40. Pp. 233-480 a. 3 engraved plates., pp. 121-236 a. 2 engraved plates., pp. 117-348 a. 1 engraved plate. Berzelius's papers: pp. 249-337 a. 415-472.- Pp. 161-226. - Pp. 162-208 a. 235-330.. The papers represents one of the first announcements of Berzelius' discovery of the fixed chemical proportions, determining the weights and valencies of the various constituent elements in inorganic compounds. The papers were published at the same time in German (both here in Annalen and in Schweiger's Journal), and in French. By running many hundreds of analysis of chemical compounds he gave so many examples of the law of definite proportions that the world of chemistry could no longer doubt its validity, and in so doing he gave experimental evidence to the atomic theory. He hereby laid a solid fundation for the further development of chemistry.According to Söderbaum (Jac. Berzelius, 2, p.12) "It was a giant work, one of the most importent in the history of chemistry, which was here presented. One is even more impressed when one remembers that it was a pioneer undertaking in every sense of the term. Analytic and synthetic methods existed before Berzelius' time, to be sure, but there were no precise methods of the sort which he required. They all had to be elaborated at the cost of time and labour."(J. Erik Jorpes "Jac. Berzelius", p.45)."In general Berzelius's efforts were directed toward the consolidation and extension of the atomic theory. He improved chemical analysis and determined the composition of a large number of compounds, thus verifying the laws of constant and multiple proportions and furnishing the most accurate equivalent weights then available. By ingenious methods he arrived at the correct atomic composition of most common substances, and thus was enabled to draw up (in 1826) a table of atomic weights very nearly identical with the modern one."(Leicester & Klicktein "A Source Book in Chemistry", p. 258).Parkinson "Breakthroughs", 1810-20 C.

Leipzig und Heidelberg, C.F. Winter'sche Verlagshandlung, 1858. 8vo. Later hcloth. Spine with gilt lettering. In: "Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie. hrsg. von Friedrich Wöhler, justus Liebig und hermann Kopp", Band CVI. With both titlepages. (8),392 pp. a. 1 litographed plate (shaved in outer margin, ut not belonging to Kekule's paper). (Entire volume offered). Kekule's paper: pp. 129-159. Internally clean. First appearance of this milestone paper in organic chemistry in which he demonstrated the mutual linking together of carbon atoms, developed the idea of affinity units, later called "valence bonds", and thus making it possible to explain the formation of organic compounds containing large numbers of carbon atoms. This was "the final step in the development of modern structural formulas for organic compounds..." (Leicester & Klickstein, p. 417)"It was not till 1858 that a satisfactory theory of molecular constitution was advanced, simultaneously and independently, by thwo young chemists, Friedrich August Kekulé and Archibald Scott Couper. The theory of molecular constitution put foreward....by Couper and Kekulé rested on two main postulates, the quadriivalency of carbon,....and the capacity of the carbon atom for mutual linking or combining together to form a carbon "chain". By this hypothesis of the mutual linking together of carbon atoms - which waslater confirmed by experiment - it was possible to explain the formation of organic compounds containing a large number of carbon atoms. On the foundation of their postulates two postulates, moreover, (they) showed how the molecular constitution or mutual linking together of the atoms of a compound could be represented diagrammatically and the relstions between different compounds made readily intelligible. In his classic paper "On a New Chemical Theory" (the paper offered here in its first appearance) advanced beyond Kekulé by representing the constitutions of the compounds by means of GRAPHIC FORMULA in which, as at the present day, the valencies pf the atoms are represented by lines....his formulae are similar to those at present in use..."(Findlay pp. 34 ff)"The theory of Kekulé and Couper gave the chemists the means of solving the problems of chemical constitution; and by means of the graphic or constitutional formulae it became possible to represent the molecular constitution of known compounds and to foresee the possible existence of isomeric compounds."(Findlay).Parkinson "Breakthroughs" 1858 C. - Ostwald's Klassiker No. 183. - Leicester & Klickstein "A Source Book in Chemistry", pp. 417-425. - Exhibition of First Editions of Epochal Achievements in the History of Science, Berkeley 1934. No 57.

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1828. Without wrappers as issued in "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg.von Poggendorff", Bd. 12, Zweites Stück. Pp. 161-336 (the entire issue offered (Heft 2) together with the titlepage to 12. Band). Wöhler's paper: pp. 253-256. Clean and fine, printed on good paper. First appearance of this milestone paper, marking the beginnings of organic chemistry, in which Wöhler describes how he managed to synthezise urea from cyanate of ammonia. This broke down the old distinction between organic and inorganic substances. "This was the first synthesis of an organic compound, and this accomplishment is generally regarded as the beginning of organic chemistry."(Sparrow "Milestones of Science", p.37). The discovery destroyed the vitalistic theory which held that organic compounds could be produced only by living organisms, and led eventually to the brilliant results that have been achieved in attempts to synthesize other organic compounds.Dibner: Heralds of Science, no. 45. - Sparrow: Milestones of Science, no. 197. - Garrison & Morton, no. 671. See also DSB XIV p.475.