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London, Richard Phillips, 1806. 8vo. Uncut in contemporary (original?) blank wrappers. Previous owner's name to title-page and a few tears to wrapper, otherwise a very fine and unsophisticated copy. (4)XXIII, (1), 270 pp. + Frontispiece titled "The Graphic Muse" by William Blake after Joshua Reynolds. Rare first edition of this work on the cultivation and state of the art of design in England.

(Paris, Crochard, 1825). Extracted from "Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Par MM. Gay-Lussac et Arago.", tome 29 a. 30. Ampère's papers: pp. 381-404 a. 1 folded engraved plate (tome 29) + Suite pp. 29-41 (tome 30) + "Lettre à Gerhardi": pp. 373-381 (tome 29). With both halftitlepages to vol. 29 a. 30. Scattered brownspots. First appearance of this famous memoir, in which Ampère presented his collected results on electrodynamics to the French Academy, creating the foundation of 19th century developments in electricity and magnetism. In the words of James Clark Maxwell, "We can scarcely believe that Ampère really discovered the law of action by means of the experiments which he describes. We are led to suspect, what, indeed, he tells us himself, that he discovered the law by some process which he has not shown us, and that when he had afterwards built up a pefect demonstration he removed all traces of the scaffolding by which he raised it."The offered memoir was published BEFORE the famous "Theorie mathématique des phénomènes électro-dynamiques uniquement déduite de L'expérience", which did not appear until 1827. That 1827-Memoire incorporates, together with a new presentation of Ampère's results from 1820, 1822, 1823, the offered memoir (1825). (Horblit: 100 - Dibner: 62)."From 1814 until 1820 Ampére did not perform the kind of research that would have made it into the annals of the histrory of science, but on September 11, 1820 when he heard Francois Arago speak about Oersted's work, he got fresh inspiration and started the work that made him famous. Arago related how Oersted had found that a steady electric current influences the orientation of a compass needle. After a weak Ampère had determined experimentally that that two straight, parallel, and current-carrying, wires execute a force on each other. The magnitude of the force is inversely proportional to the distance between the wires and proportional to the strenghts of the current..... During the following years he continued his researches, both experimentally and theoretically. he built an instrument for measuring electricity that later was developed into the galvanometer. Finally in 1825 he presented his collected results to the Academy IN ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED MEMOIRS IN THE HISTORY OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY (The paper offered)." (Citizen's Compendium, p. 2). - Norman No 47.

Paris, Crochard, 1821. Contemp. hcloth. Gilt lettering to spine. Weak crack in fronthinge (but still firm). In: "Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Redigées par MM. Gay-Lussac et Arago". 448 pp., 1 folded plate. Some browning to htitle, title-page and last leaf, otherwise clean. Fresnel's papers: pp. 102-111, 167-196, 312-315 a. 393-403. Biot, Arago, Ampee: pp. 80-102, 225-258 a. 258-273. First printing of these milestone papers in which Fresnel finally established the transversal nature of lightwaves. The volume also having the notable rapports and notes by Arago, Biot, Ampere exhibiting the famous controversy over the subject."This concept of transverse waves met with the greatest hostility from the scientists of the day, who could not imagine an extremely fluid and rarified ether which at the same time possessed the mechanical properties of a rigid body. Even Arago admitted that he could not follow the exuberant engineer in his ideas. But Fresnel was convinced that at last he had the key to many mysteries, and with his model of waves he gave a full clarification of the phenomena of polarization. With insuperable precision he explained a long series of extremely complicated experiments, such as those of chromatic polarization that Arago himself had discovered by chance in 1811, and which the followers of Newton could not explain in spite of all their efforts. Following this line Fresnel reached the synthesis which is his masterpiece....we must recall the final interpretation that he gave of the famous phenomenon of partial reflection by transparent surfaces, that simple phenomenon which until then had puzzled Grimaldi, Newton, and Huygens, and which in Malus's experiments had unexpectedly acquired a special importencee as it had been compared to the great mystery of double refraction."(Ronchi "The Nature of Light", p. 255 ff.).

London, Richard Lowndes, 1649. 8vo. In contemporary full calf. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Wear to extremities, parts of leather on front board worn off. Top of spine with tear. Inner hinges split, but bookblock firmly attached. Internally with light marginal miscolouring, but generally nice and clean. (6), 474 pp. Cartwright's rare work containing 36 of his sermons. Christopher Cartwright (1602–1658) was an English clergyman, also known as a Hebraist.

Berlin, Haude et Spener, 1758. 4to. No wrappers, as issued in "Mémoires de l'Academie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres", 1756, tome XII. Pp. 105-121. With titlepage to the volume, printed in red/blac and with engraved titlevignette. Also having the parttitlepage. Titlepage with 2 small wormtracts. First appearance of a milestone paper in the history of electricity as Aepinus here found that a heated tourmaline attracted and repelled light bodies. He decided, that the effect was electrical and that its ends was carrying charges of opposite sign, much as soft iron is magnetized by a lodestone. This paper is a forerunner of his "Tentamen Theoriae electricitatis et magnetismi", - published 1759, and one of the most original and important books in the history of electricity. It is the first reasoned, fruitful exposition of electrical phenomena based on action-at-a-distance."Aepinus’ first reseraches on the thermoelectric properties of this stone (Tourmalin) which was then of extreme rarity, were fundamental. He recognized the electrical nature of the attractive power of a warmed tourmaline and attempted not altogether successfully, to reduce its apparent capriciousness to rule. He was particularly struck by the formal similarity between the tourmaline and the magnet in regard to polarity which inspired him to reconsider the possibility, then occasionally discussed, that electricity and magnetism were basically analogous. This thought became the This thought became the theme for his masterwork, Tentamen theoriae electricitatis et magnetismi (1759)."(DSB)."Aepinus is known in the history of electricity for his attempt to develop the one fluid theory of Franklin. His theory was for a while generally adopted, but was gradually displaced by the two fluid theory, in consequence chiefly of the necessity of ascribing to uncharged matter repulsions of the same force as those which were ascribed to electrical charges. His theory exhibits interesting similarities to the present theory of the constitution of matter"(Magie "A Source Book in Physics", pp.406-8).Ronalds p. 4.

Paris, Bachelier, 1820-26. 4to a. folio (51 x 34 cm.) Textvolumes: 3 contemp. hcalf. Gilt spines. Gilt lettering. Light scratching to spines. XV,(1),280;VIII,(2),274 - XVI,280;VI,(2),284 - XXXII,290;VIII,292 pp. - Atlas-Volumes: 3 contemp. hcalf. Gilt spines. Gilt lettering. With 3 title-pages and 36 engraved plates (10 + 11 + 15). Text clean and fine. Plates occassionally light browning. Poggendorff I,628.

London, William Innys, 1731. Contemp. full calf. 5 raised bands. Richly gilt compartments. Titlelabel with lettering. Gilt borders on covers with gilt cornerpieces. Edges of covers gilt. Wear to upper joint, joint starting. Small stamp on title-page. (4),XLIII,94 pp., 2 pp. of publisher's announcement. Textdiagrams, 1 folded engraved plate. Internally clean and fine, printed on good, thick paper. Scarce first edition. Importent mathematical treatise on ballistics, treating the subject in an axiomatic way and with a long historical preface.Riling, 223.

Bonn, Friedrich Cohen, 1929. Lex 8vo. Uncut and largely unopened in the orig. printed wrappers. A bit of loss to spine, a crease, some tears, and a bit of (ink?) spotting to front wrapper. XII, 236 pp. First edition, presentation-copy, of one of Heidegger's most important works, which was originally planned to constitute the second part of "Sein und Zeit". With an original handwritten presentation-inscription to title-page: "Mit freundlichem Grüss/ ...[?] Verf." "Kant und das Problem der Metaphysik" is not only one of, if not the, most important readings of Kant's "Critik der Reinen Vernunft" from the 20th century, it is also one of Heidegger's main works and an indispensible work for anyone interested in Heidegger's thought as well as 20th century philosophy in general. Whereas the Neo-Kantian philosophers had understood Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" as an epistemology, Heidegger here presents this all-time main work of philosophy as a foundation of metaphysics. Heidegger understands this metaphysics in its more original form as that fundamental ontology which is the metaphysics of Dasein in "Being and Time"; as such, "Kant and the Problem of Metahysics" is also to be viewed as an inevitable contribution to the understanding of the main work of 20th century continental philosophy, Heidegger's own "Sein und Zeit". "Heidegger's interpretation of Kant remains a challenging way to address the issues that both Kant and Heidegger saw as crucial...In reading ["Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics"] we can struggle with some basic issues of human existence in the company of two great minds" (International Philosophical Quarterly).

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1831. Contemp. hcalf, raised bands, gilt spine with gilt lettering. A few scratches to binding. In "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg.von Poggendorff", Bd. 21. VIII,630,22 pp. and 6 engraved plates. (The entire volume offered). Small stamps to verso of titlepage and plates. Liebig's paper: pp. 1-42. Internally fine and clean. First printing of Liebig's milestone work describing the methods for analyzing organic compounds by the "combustion method for determining carbon and hydrogen in organic compounds, a method still in use. The paper was first published in "Annalen" in 1831 (the paper offered). His insistence that chemistry could be applied to agriculture marks the beginning of the practical applications of chemistry which dominated his life."(Dibner "Heralds of Science" No 46). - He notably introduced a method for determining the amount of urea in a solution. This substance is found in blood and urine of mammalss, and was the first organic compound to be sunthetized, that is to be built up from inorganic substances.The work is more often referred to under the title "Anleitung zur Analyse organischer Körper", published 6 years later in 1837, this is the case for both Dibner and Horblit. Horblit in "Milestones of Science" No. 67, adds that it "Appeared earlier in "Annalen der Physik und Chemie, vol. 31..(the paper offered) He calls it "Importent publication of the constitution of organic compounds, with descriptions in detail of the modern method of chemical analysis"."Organic compounds generally had molecules of far more complicated structure than those of inorganic ones, and methods for analyzing the former quantiiavily lagged. Gay-Lussac and Thénard had worked out a way of burning organic compounds and measuring the quantity of carbon dioxide and water that was formed. By 1831 Liebig had taken this technique in hand and perfected it to a point where, from the figures on carbon dioxide and water formed, accurate measurements of the carbon and hydrogen in the original compound could be obtained."(Asimov).Dibner No 46 - Horblitt No 67.The volume contains other importent papers Sefström "Ueber das Vanadium..." (discovery of Vanadium), August von Strombeck, H. Hess, Humboldt, Sérullas, 2 more by Liebig, Liebig & Wöhler "vermischte Bemerkungen...", Gay-Lussac (transl. into German), A. Fresnel "Auszug aus einer Abhandlung über ...Doppelbrechung...", August von Seebeck, Hansteen, Rose, Brewster etc.

Franckfurt & Gotha, Boetius, 1687. 8vo. In a contemporary full calf with four raised bands and richly gilt spine. Light wear to extremities, three small worm hole to back board and leather missing on upper part of back hinge. Small paper label pasted on to upper part of spine, indicating the inventory number in an estate library. Upper part of book block close trimmed, with slight loss of text to title-page, otherwise fine and clean. (14), 490, (20) pp. + frontispiece. The exceedingly rare first edition of Nehring's early handbook for notaries. The work was reprinted well into the 18th century.

Paris, Claude Barbin, 1669. 8vo. In contemporary full calf with five raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Wear to extremities. Boards with scratches and a few stains. Parts of gilting on spine worn off. Upper part of spine with loss of leather. Small stain to upper outer corner. 291, (1) pp. The rare, presumbly, first edition of Mere’s dialog between Marechal de Clerambault and Chevalier de Mere. Brunet list this 1669-edition asthe first.Tchemerzine mention an edition from 1668 but notes that he has not seen it: “nous n'avons pas vu d'exemplaire de cette édition, inconnue jusqu'à la vente de Rochebilière” (Tchemerzine VIII, p. 219). Chevalier de Méré (1607-1684), whose real name was Antoine Gombaud, was a French writer and thinker. De Méré was known for his contributions to literature, particularly in the of moral philosophy and social commentary. He is perhaps best remembered for his participation in the intellectual circles of his time, where he engaged in discussions and correspondences of which this work is a fine testimony. De Méré's writings, especially the present, offer insights into the social and cultural milieu of 17th-century France. We have only been able to trace one copy at auction.OCLC list no copies (of both the 1669-edition and the presumed 1668-edition). Tchemerzine VIII, p. 219 Brunet III, 1648.

(Stuttgart, W. Kohlhammer, 1954). 8vo. Stapled with paper backstrip. Recto of f.1 with stamp: "Sonderdruck aus Archiv für Philosophie Band "5" (in hand-writing) Heft "2" (in handwriting)" and with a four-line presentation-inscription from the author, signed "Theodor Adorno" and dated "Frankfurth, Sept. 1954." Pp. 130-169. First edition, off-print, presentation-copy, of Adorno's "Critique of the Logical Absolutism", constituting his foundational critique of Husserls' theory of logical validity and its assistance on the absolute separartion between logical validity and subjective thought process, for which Adorno introduced the them "logical absolutism". The present critique of Husserl's logical absolutism profoundly influenced 20th century continental philosophy. The important and influential German philosopher and sociologist, Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno (1903 - 1969), was a leading member of the Frankfurt School, together with e.g. Horkheimer, Benjamin, and Habermas. He taught philosophy at the university of Frankfurt, but as a Jew, his teaching position was taken from him in 1933. He went to Oxford to teach, and in 1938 he emigrated to America, where he was the leader of several sociological projects in both New York and Los Angeles. Together with Horkheimer he wrote the theoretical manifest of the Frankfurt School, the "Dialektik der Aufklärung". In 1949 he returned to Frankfurt, where he became professor of philosophy and sociology. "Theodor W. Adorno was one of the most important philosophers and social critics in Germany after World War II. Although less well known among anglophone philosophers than his contemporary Hans-Georg Gadamer, Adorno had even greater influence on scholars and intellectuals in postwar Germany. In the 1960s he was the most prominent challenger to both Sir Karl Popper's philosophy of science and Martin Heidegger's philosophy of existence. Jürgen Habermas, Germany's foremost social philosopher after 1970, was Adorno's student and assistant. The scope of Adorno's influence stems from the interdisciplinary character of his research and of the Frankfurt School to which he belonged. It also stems from the thoroughness with which he examined Western philosophical traditions, especially from Kant onward, and the radicalness to his critique of contemporary Western society. He was a seminal social philosopher and a leading member of the first generation of Critical Theory." (SEP).

(Paris, 1927). 4to. Bound uncut with in fine hcalf, 5 raised bands, wide back and large corners. Compartment richly gilt, top edges gilt (Flammarion). No 37 of 140 "sur Velin d'Arches", a total of 177. With 46 fine coloured woodengravings in collaboration with Pierre Bouchet and many fine coloured initials in Art Deco.

(No date, no place, (1693). Very large engraved seechart, measuring 60,5 x 85,5 cm. in original outline colouring with inset view of the River Dee at Chester. The chart showing the whole of Ireland and the Westcoast of England from Cornwall to Cuningham in the north. A fine impression on good thick paper, bearing the watermark: BYCOLUMBIER. Folded down the center. The "Neptune Francois" was published in 1693, and its charts are larger and more lavishly decorated then those of any preceding book of its kind.This cart is without year, place and "par ordre du Roi", pointing to a later print, but issued from the original copperplate. It is also without "Imprimerie Royale" belonging to the most recent impression from 1792. Koeman IV,425:10.

(Paris, Gauthier-Villars), 1908, 1909, 1911. 4to. No wrappers. In: "Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences", Tome 146, No 19. Pp. (951-) 1002. Tome 147, Nos 10, 12 a. 14. Pp. (467-) 482, (507-) 546 a. (579-) 610. Tome 149, Nos 10 a. 13. Pp. (473-) 492 a. (541-) 556. Tome 152, Nos 18 a. 21. Pp. (1133-) 1196 a. (1361-) 1432. (8 entire issues offered). Perrin's papers. pp. 967-70, 477-479, 549-51, 475-476, 530-32, 594-596, 477-479, 549-551, 1165-1168 a. 1380-82. Clean and fine. First appearance of these 8 papers constituting Perrin's major work on the Brownian motion and establishing THE REALITY OF THE MOLECULAR-KINETIC VIEW OF MATTER. Perrin's experimental verification of molecular reality and his 'classical' verification of the statistical method was of great importece to the subsequent rise of the quantum revolution with the introduction of quantum mechanics. Perrin's experiments helped to confirm Einstein's analysis of the Brownian movements (1905), and calculated a value for Avogadro's numbers and thereby the size of atoms and molecules.Perrin was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, 1926 "for his work on discontinuity in the structure of matter, and in particular for his discovery of the equilibrium of sedimentation" "The work for which Perrin is best known is his investigation of Brownian motion, the erratic movements performed by microscopic particles in suspension in a fluid, now interpreted as being caused by the continous, irregular bombardment of the particles by the molecules of the surrounding medium. Perrin thought that collodially suspended particles undergoing Brownian motion would distribute themselves vertically in a definite way at equilibrium. By counting small particles of gum resin suspended in water, Perrin found that their number decreased exponentially with increasing height. He proved that this variation follows from kinetic theory and that from it he could calculate a value for Avogadro's number. Since the size of a water molecule appeared in the equation for the vertical distribution of the brownian motion particles, for the first time the sizes of atoms and molecules could be calculated from actual observations. As henri Poincaré wrote: "The brilliant determination of the number of atom (in a mole) made by Perrin has completed the triumph of atomism.... The atom of the chemists is now a reality.' " (Weber "Pioneers of Science. Nobel Prize Winners in Physics", pp. 80 ff).Parkinson "Breakthroughs", 1908 C a. 1908 P.

Nürnberg, Christoph Riegels, 1697. Folio. Bound in a nice (a bit later, ca. 1740) full calf. Raised bands. Richly gilt compartments. Titlelabel with gilt lettering. Gilt borders on covers. Covers richly blindtooled with a curved decoration of rococco-stamps. Large goldstamped cornerpieces. Edges of covers gilt. a stamp on htitle and title-page.(10),734,(66) pp. Having 1 engraved portrait (Carolus XI), many engraved vignettes. Fine and clean, but WITHOUT THE PLATES. Scarce first German edition of Pufendorf's "De rebus a Carolo Gustavo gestis commentario..Nürnberg, 1696." The writing of this official history of the Swedish wars with Poland and Denmark from 1655 to 1660 was enthrusted by the King Charles XI to Samuel Pufendorf, a German historian and expert on international law.Swedish Books No 38 - Warmholtz: 4840.

Antwerp, Beller, 1620. Folio (320 x 215 mm). In contemporary full calf with six raised bands and double ruled fillets to boards. Small paper-label to upper part of spine. Edges of boards gilt. Title-page with marginal soiling and with traces from having been folded vertically. Light wear to extremities, but generally a nice and clean copy. Text in two collums within single line framed boarder. (8), 1079, (48) pp. Rare later edition (Possibly second, the first being from 1619) of this extensive bible commentary by Jesuit Pineda. Pineda entered the Society of Jesus in 1572. He taught philosophy and theology in Seville and Cordova and functioned as consultor to the Spanish Inquisition and, in this capacity, visited numerous libraries in Spain which culminated with his publication “Index Librorum Prohibitorum” (1612)”.

Havniæ, (Arnamagnæani), 1817. 4to. Smukt nyere hldrbd. i brun oaseged. Ophøjede bind på ryg. Forgyldt skindtitel. Rygforgyldning. Også med ekstra titelblad med kobberstukket vignet. (4),LX,XII,550,138,(2) pp., 4 kobberstukne plancher. Aldeles frisk eksemplar, trykt på svært papir. Oldnordisk-dansk paralelltekst samt latinske kommentarer. The first edition. Edited and translated by Grimur Thorkelin. - Fiske I,336. - Klose,1399.

Lyon, Seb. Gryphim, 1535. 4to. Bound in a later full calf pastiche-binding in Cambridge-style, with elegant 'mirrors' to boards and blindstamped borders and decorations, spine with five raised bands, forming six compartments. Leather title-label with title in gilt lettering to spine. Spine miscoloured and several stains to boards. Stamp to front free end-paper and title-page. Annotation in contemporary hand to title-page and last leaf with woodcut-device depicting a griffin. Waterstain to inner margin, affecting lower part of first 10 and last 15 leaves. a-z8, A-Z8, AA-BB8, CC10, aa-mm8, nn10. Rare second edition of this Latin Bible Concordance (the first being from 1529) from the printer Sebastian Gryphius. The present work being one of the first to use the griffin mark.

Stockholm, Olof Grahn, 1814-15. 8vo. Bound in one lovely, contemporary brown half calf binding with gilt and blindstamped ornamentation to spine. A bit of wear to spine and extremities, but overall an excellent copy, also internally. The errata-leaf has been strengthened at the top, blank margin. Bound with both half-titles, which are not always present. (16), 303, (1); (4), 327, (1, - errata) pp. Scarce first edition of the first complete Swedish translation of The Iliad, Marcus Wallenberg's famous magnum opus, which constitutes the first full Scandinavian translation of any Homeric work and which in many ways introduced Homer to the Swedish public. The work exercised great impact upon the reading public of Sweden and came to be highly influential. It was both highly praised and the source of much controversy, over metrics and translation-principles in general. "The first volume of Marcus Wallenberg's translation of the Iliad-which was going to be the first complete Swedish translation of the Homeric epics-appeared 1814… The reviewer in Stockholms Posten began by exclaiming "A Swedish translation of Homer in metric verse!!" He argued that the translation was a major achievement for Swedish literature and noteworthy for two reasons. Firstly, because of the source text. He describes Homer as the oldest and greatest poet in Greece and the world but says that he suspects that readers would be surprised by this description. This indicates that Homer was moving towards the top of the epic genre hierarchy and was overtaking Virgil, but that his position there was not quite uncontested yet. Secondly, because of the method of translating. The reviewer commends Wallenberg for choosing to make a faithful translation" (Goldwyn, edt.: "The Trojan Wars and the Making of the Modern World: Classical Reception Since Antiquity", p. 161). At the turn of the 19th century, as Swedish translators of the classics began to question the old conventions governing translation, the Iliad became a locus of aesthetic contestation, and Wallennberg's great achievement became the centre of attention. But the translation not only played a central part in academic descussions about Homer, the classics, and translation-principles, it paved the way for an understanding of the Homeric epics in Sweden and placed Homer among the canonical authors that had otherwise been neglected. "When the second volume of Wallenberg's Iliad appeared (1815), the whole Iliad was reviewed by Lorenzo Hammarsköld in Swensk Literatur-Tidning. Hammarsköld began by welcoming the translation and detailing the difficulties facing a Swedish translator of the Iliad, the main one being lack of interest and understanding for the Homeric epics among the Swedish readership. What Swedes of his time knew of Homer was, according to Hammarsköld, not much more than that Homer was sublime, majestic, and bold beyond description, but at times prosaic and unpolished, and that he, since he did not know of literary societies, could fall so far below epic grandeur, that he likened a king to a bull and a charming prince to a fly. Further, the Swedish public lacked in the education needed to properly appreciate the Homeric narrative and the beauty of his unaffected and unsentimental style. Therefore, Hammarsköld feared that "a translation in the genuine and grand style" would not be appreciated and that readers were likely to feel deceived, suspecting that a garrulous storyteller has been passed off as Homer and not know what to think of the translation at hand" (ibid. pp. 171-72) The translation did in fact prove to be very popular indeed and he gave to the general Swedish public the opportunity of reading one of the greatest world classics in their own language. "Marcus Wallenberg, lecturer in Greek in Linköping gymnasium and later bishop in the diocese of Linköping, was the author of the first complete Swedish translation of the Iliad (1814-1815) and the Odyssey (1819-1821). The preface to the first volume of the Iliad gives readers to understand that Wallenberg had been observing the translations of Homer with great interest. These, he says, had made him hope that it would appear soon in a complete Swedish hexametric translation, a translation so faithful that it would preserve the spirit of the original and reproduce the effect of the Greek verse.48 When no Swedish Iliad appeared, he started working on a translation of that sort, even though he had no intention of publishing it." (ibid. p. 169)

Uppsala, 1941. 8vo. Original printed wrappers. Minor loss to upper and lower capital (ab. 1,5 cm to top and 4mm to bottom), and a tear, no loss, to back hinge. All in all a very fine copy of this fragile publication. No markings or soiling. Uncut and internally very fresh and clean. Old owner's name to front wrapper. (2), 83 pp. The very scarce first edition, off-print (Ur: Språvetenskapliga Sällskapets i Uppsala Förhandlingar 1940-1942.), of Jakobson's monumental work, "Child Language, Aphasia and Phonological Universals", in which the seminal linguist and founder of the Prague School presents a revolutionary theory about the underlying uniform structure of the world's languages. Roman Osipovich Jakobson (1896 - 1982) was a famous Russian linguist and literary critic, who became one of the most influential linguists of the 20th century. He is probably most famous as the pioneer of structural analysis of language and as the co-founder of structuralism.Jakobson was born into a Russian Jewish family. He early on showed a great interest in the theory of language, and already as a student he became a leading figure of the Moscow Linguistic Circle. He was very much influenced by Husserl's phenomenology and the work of Saussure, and he developed a deep interest in the question of how language, the human speech, functions and is possible.Due to political troubles in Russia, in 1920 Jakobsen moved to Prague, where he was to become even more influential. Here, in 1926, he co-founded the Prague School of linguistic theory, together with the Copenhagen School the most influential school of linguistics of its time and of decades to come. It is here that Jakobson develops his seminal ideas of phonology as well as the term structuralism and the contents of it.When the Second World War broke out, Jakobson moved to Scandinavia, where he met the Copenhagen School of linguistics and its main figure, Louis Hjelmslev. It is during his time in Scandinavia that he writes (in German) and published (in Uppsala, Sweden) his influential "Kindersprache...". Later he fled to America, where he met Claude Lévi-Strauss, Quine, Bloomfeld and many other important thinkers within the field of language theory.Jakobson's structuralist theories of language differentiate much from other parts of the structuralist movement in that he constantly bases them on knowledge from other sciences, from mathematics, philosophy, psychology etc.In the present work, Jakobson sets out to prove that child language and aphasia must be considered within comparative linguistics, because rules that govern these are the same as those that govern all human world languages. ""Die einzige Gelegenheit, die wir haben, die menschliche Sprache in statu nascendi zu beobachten bietet das Kind." So schrieb vor kurzem Karl Bühler, und man könnte dementsprechend fortsetzen: "Die einzige Gelegenheit, die wir haben, die menschliche Sprache im Abbau zu beobachten, bieten die pathologischen Sprachstörungen zentraler Natur." Für den Linguisten, der sich mit dem Enfaltetsein des Sprachgebildes befasst, muss auch seine GEBURT und ABSTERBEN viel lehrreiches bieten. Diese drei Teilformen des sprachlichen Geschehens wurden trotzdem noch nicht einer systematischen vergleichenden Analyse unterzogen." (p. (1)-2). (""The only opportunity we have to observe the human language in statu nascendi is offered by the child." So Karl Bühler wrote not long ago, and one could continue in the same manner: "The only opportunity we have to observe the human language in disintegration is offered by the pathological language disturbances of central nature." For the linguist, who is occupied with the turning out of the language formation, its BIRTH and DEATH must also contribute with something instructive. In spite of this, these three parts of the happening of language have not yet been subjected to a systematic comparative analysis." -Own translation). Jakobson now formulated specific hypotheses about the order in which children acquire their native language and about the nature of language dissolution, creating an entirely new approach to the study of the world's languages. By linking observations about language typology, language acquisition and language pathology, Jakobson here presents an original, revolutionizing theory about the structure of the sound inventories that underlie the world languages. This approach to the study of the structure of sound and language was clearly ahead of its time, and phonology still did not have the sufficient empirical evidence or the sufficient instruments to properly verify it. Thus, only much later has Jakobsen's theories on the rise and fall of language been fully appreciated.

New York: Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1949. 8vo. The entire April issue in original printed wrappers offered. Spine strips with some wear. Small rubberstamp on front wrapper. Otherwise fine. First edition. The first comprehensive report to describe the transistor - one of the most important inventions of the 20th Century. The invention of the transistor was first announced in three short letters by Bardeen, Brattain, Shockley, and Pearson, in The Physical Review (Number 2 Volume 74, 1948). The following year Bardeen and Brattain published the more comprehensive report "Physical Principles Involved in Transistor Action" [as offered here]. This paper was simultaneously published, the same month, in The Physical Review (Number 8 volume 75). In 1956 Bardeen and Brattain shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with William Shockley "for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect". In 1972 Bardeen again received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his part in the development of the theory of superconductivity (BCS-theory), and thus became the only person, until this day, to receive the Nobel Prize more than once in the same field. Hook & Norman: Origins of Cyberspace, No. 450.

Dresden und Leipzig, Johann Christoph Miethen, 1705. Folio (215 x 340 mm). In recent half calf with gilt lettering to spine. Stamp to pasted down front end-paper, verso of frontiespiece and to lower part of title-page. Two first leaves missing small part of part in outer margin, far from affecting text. Light browning throughout, otherwise a good copy. 192 pp. +32 folded plates and 1 folded frontiespiece. Second edition of this major German baroque work on artillery. It deals with all aspects of the construction of cannons, all kinds of explosives and how to use them. The first part deals with the construction of large cannons, part two with smaller cannons, three deals with shells, mortars and similar explosives, four explains how to use cannons in the most effective way. The detailled and informative plates are engraved by Gerard de Groos after designs by the author. Jähns II, 1219Rumpf, 1300.

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1854. No wrappers as extracted from: "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg. von J.C. Poggendorff", Vierte Reihe Bd. 3, (= Poggendorff Bd. 93, No. 12). Pp. 481-506. Clean and fine. First printing of this milestone paper in thermodynamics, which together with his paper from 1850, established the second law of thermodynamics. In the offered paper Clausius introduces the symbol T for the universal function of temperature (a + 1) and he introduces the concept of "entropy" (the greek word for 'transformation'), but without using the word (Clausius introduced the word later in 1865), he calls this new theorem "the principle of the equivalence of transformations". This principle paints a dramatic picture of the end of the world, the so-called "heath-death of the universe"."Entropy, on the other hand, of the complementary experience of water seeking its own level, of hot bodies cooling, of springs untensing, of magnetism wearing off and electrical charges leaking away, of a destiny suchThat no life lives forever; - That dead men rise up never; that even the weariest river Winds somewhere safe to sea: a world getting old and running down."(Gillespie in "The edge of Objectivity" p. 400-01.)."Clausius discovered that if he took the ratio of the heat content of a system and its absolute temperature, this ration would always increase in any process taken place in a closed system. (A closed system is one that loses no energy to the outside world and gains no energy from it.) With perfect efficiency, which is never realized in the real world, of course, the ratio would remain constant, but i would never, under any circumstances, decrease."(Asimov). - Parkinson: Breakthroughs 1854 C.

Paris, Félix Alcan, 1912. 8vo. Completely uncut and unopened, in the fragile original printed green wrappers. Remains of a paper label to front wrapper, otherwise an exceptionally fine, clean, and fresh copy. Light minor brownspotting due to the quality of the paper. Housed in a custom-made green cloth box with gilt red laetaher title-label to spine. (4), 647 pp + folded map + publisher's catalogue (38, (2) pp). Scarce first edition - especially in this condition - of what is generally regarded as Durkheim's magnum opus, his groundbreaking study of totemism among the Australian aborigines, which led him to the foundational conclusion that religion is social, that the primary purpose of religion is to bind people together. Showing that society is the soul of religion, that society is the foundation of all religious belief, and that religion is what allows for a society to express its social unity "The Elementary forms of religious Life" furthermore explains the enduring relevance of religion throughout history. In this milestone work of sociology, Durkheim sets out to discover the enduring source of human social identity. To that aim, he investigates totemism among the Australian Aborigines, acknowledging that all religion has its origin in totemism. Totems are collective symbols that represent both a god and society. The collective thought, of which totemism is an early expression, is the basis of all religious thought and as such also of philosophy and modern science.The work came to have a profound effect on not only sociology and religion, but also on philosophy, psychology, and history of science, documenting how collective thought, through totemism and religious expression, enabled mankind to enter into a world of concepts and correspondence and to identity causes and relations. All philosophy and science ultimately rests on this collective thought, which allowed mankind to enter into a conceptual realm. "The Elementary Forms has been applauded and debated by sociologists, anthropologists, ethnographers, philosophers, and theologians, and continues to speak to new generations about the intriguing origin and nature of religion and society." (from the English langiuage translation)."The general conclusion of the book which the reader has before him is that religion is something eminently social. Religious representations are collective representations which express collective realities; the rites are a manner of acting which take rise in the midst of assembled groups and which are destined to excite, maintain, or recreate certain mental states in these groups. So if the categories are of religious origin, they ought to participate in this nature common to all religious facts; they should be social affairs and the product of collective thought. At least -- for in the actual condition of our knowledge of these matters, one should be careful to avoid all radical and exclusive statements -- it is allowable to suppose that they are rich in social elements." (From "The Elementary forms of religious Life").