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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").

Berlin, 1833-36. 8vo. Three contemporary uniform brown half calf bindings with gilt title- and tome-labels. Professional restorations to capitals and hinges. Elegant library-stamp to inside of front boards of the first two volumes. Vol. 2 with a few pencil-underlinings, and vol. 3 with pencil-annotations to last leaf. A bit of occasional brownspotting. With all three title-pages for "Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe", vol. 13-15, facing the title-pages for the "Vorlesungen". XX, 418, (1, -errata); VI, 586; VIII, 692 pp. First edition of Hegel's seminal "Lectures on the History of Philosophy", which was published posthumously by Michelet. The work comprises Hegel's nine lectures on the history of philosophy, given in Jena in the winter of 1805-6, Heidelberg in the winters of 1816-17 and 1817-18, Berlin in the summer of 1819 and the winters of 1820-21, 1823-23, 1825-26, 1827-28 and 1829-30. Just before his death, in November 1931, Hegel had begun his tenth lecture course on the history of philosophy, but only get two give the first two hours of it. The work is based on Hegel's own lecture manuscript from Jena, which is stilized throughout and written in full ("er wagte damals noch nichts dem freien mündlichen Vorträge zu überlassen", -Michelet, Preface, p. VI), his shorter draft written in Heidelberg meant for further development at the lectures as well as number of later endorsements and additions written in the margins of the two manuscripts and on loose leaves ("Diese Blätter sind von unschätzbarem Werthe, weil sie die höchst reichen Zusätze aller Vorlesungen spätere Jahre durch seine eigene Handschrift dokumentieren", Michelet, Preface, p. VI). Besides this, a number of lecture notes from learned students, including those of Michelet and the other "Freunde des Verewigten", have been used to establish the text as correctly as possible. These highly influential lectures, which attracted philosophers from all over Europe, make up a cornerstone in the philosophy of Hegel, and his view on the history of philosophy is something that understreams all of his thought. These lectures, and not least the publication of them after his death, have seminally influenced later philosophy, and the following fifty years after Hegel's death were philosophically, culturally and historically much indebted to them. It is the Hegelianism that also springs from Hegel's lectures on the history of philosophy that carries historicism, the conception of cultural and social relations as products of history, through the 19th century.

München, Piper & Co, 1912. Small 4to. Original illustrated full cloth (stating Dritte Auflage - i.e. third issue). Binding brownspotted and with tear to lower capital. Internally a bit of occasional brownspotting. Owner's signature to title-page (Fjeltofte). (8), 104 pp. + 8 plates + 3 unnumbered leaves of tables (Tabelle I-III) + advertisement leaf. Illustrated with original woodcuts in the text, 10 in all. The scarce first edition, first printing of Kandinsky’s landmark theoretical work of art, ”A seminal text in the history of modern art” (Guggenheim), curiously bound in the third issue binding. The first issue is easily distinguishable from the second and third that also appeared in 1912, as they are both expanded and have 124 pp., whereas the first has 104. The present copy has small remains of stitching towards the inner margins, so perhaps someone had this first issue printing inserted into the third issue binding, which is sturdy as opposed to the wrappers of the first issue. “In Concerning the Spiritual in Art Wassily Kandinsky, one of the most famous abstract painters of all time, urges the reader to free themselves from art's traditional bonds to material reality. In this radical theoretical work, he calls for a spiritual revolution in painting, arguing that artists, much like musicians, should be allowed to express their own inner lives in abstract, non-material terms. Investigating form and colour, spirituality and tradition, Kandinsky explores art's resonance with the soul, its purpose and nature, and its power to inspire us, to stir our emotions and to help us see beyond the limits of our world. A significant contribution to the understanding of non-objectivism in art, this book serves as an important landmark in modern art history and is necessary reading for every artist and art-lover.” (From the Penguin Classics edition). “In this remarkable book, anticipating “the spiritual turning-point” Kandinsky reflects on his understanding of progress in this direction. This is not a process that would happen automatically. It requires a lot of work and implies a great responsibility of both artist and viewer. The task of the artist is to find “the principle of the innermost necessity” that he or she can use through expressive means to achieve the goal, “vibration of the human soul.” Using captivating analogies, Kandinsky dwells at length on the artistic means: the psychology of color, the compositional interrelation of forms, etc. However, the main goal of an artist still remains to find that very innermost necessity”, that is based on the spiritual foundations of the individual. In his or her turn, the work of the viewer is to find within him- or herself the purity of perception, which, at this level, does not relate to the beauty of nature. The ideal imitation of nature as the summit point of artistic mastery has remained in the past. The impressions of impressionists, the emotions of expressionists, the experiments of cubists - all these stages have long been passed, and now the task of the viewer is to see the beauty of pure color and pure shape. Kandinsky anticipates the emergence of abstract art as the purest form of influence on the human soul, and views the future optimistically, foretelling the upcoming emergences of the epoch of great spirituality.” (from Sadler’s English translation)

Paris, January 1927. 8vo. Entire issue present, in the original printed wrappers, uncut. Wrappers a bit soiled, and first leaves of the entire issue with a few tears, far from affecting text, and a brown spot to first few leaves. Otherwise internally fine. Inner hinge weak. Pp. 26 - 39. [Entire volume: 70, (8), (1, -colophon) pp.]. The extremely scarce first printing, in German, of Sartre's third publication, "The Theory of State in modern French Thought". The work appeared simultaneously in German, French, and English, and all three publications are of the greatest scarcity. Contat and Rybalka were unable to find the French edition for the bibliography of Sartre's works and had to do with the English version. They state that the "Revue universitaire internationale" is not to be found anywhere, in no French libraries: "Il nous a été impossible de retrouver l'édition francaise de cette revue qui était publiée à Paris par la Fédération universitaire internationale simultanément en francais, anglais et allemand. Le titre de l'édition francaise est: "Revue universitaire internationale". Elle ne figure au catalogue d'aucune bibliothèque de France." (Contat & Rybalka).The present article is a brilliant and well founded essay of state theory by the 22 year old Sartre, published 16 years before his philosophical breakthrough, "L'Etre et le Néant" from 1943. Sartre was urged by his fellow opinionator Daniel Lagache to write the article. Lagache was the editor of the "Revue Universitaire Internationale", in which the article appeared. "Il s'agit d'une étude brillante et solidement documentée où Sartre, déployant la virtuosité intellectuelle d'un normalien bien entraîné, examine le philosophie du droit de quelques théoriciens francais du droit international, en particulier de Hauriou, de Davy et de Léon Duguit." (Contat & Rybalka).Contat & Rybalka 27/3.

Amsterdam, George Gallet, 1700. 8vo. Three volumes uniformly bound in two contemporary full calf bindings with three raised bands. Spine miscoloured and with a few small holes. Ex-libris pasted on to pasted down front end-paper. Worm-tract affecting vol. 1. Occassionally closely trimmed, with a bit of loss to margins. Text-leaves brownspotted, plates fine and clean. (10), 238, (2) pp. + frontispiece, engraved half-title and 79 plates (on 64 leaves); (2), 254, (2) pp. engraved half title and 51 plates (on 42 leaves). (2), 270, (2) pp. Engraved half-title and 22 plates. First French translation of Goegaert’s early work on entomology being the first to write on the insects of the Netherlands and Europe, based on his own observations and experiments. For the first time, insects are represented using the intaglio technique. He carefully observed of all phases of insect growth, from larva to adult through the stage of metamorphosiscontaining detailed illustrations of insects at various stages of their life cycles, along with descriptions of their behavior and habitats: "The first basic work on entomolgy (…) The insects depicted were given characteristic and often witty names by Goedaert." (Landwehr S. 93). Johannes Goedaert, also known as Jan Goedaert, was a Dutch Golden Age painter and naturalist, born around 1617 in Middelburg, Netherlands, and died around 1668. He is primarily remembered for his work in the field of natural history, particularly his illustrations of insects. Goedaert was one of the first naturalists to study and depict insects in their natural habitats. His most famous work is "Metamorphosis Naturalis," published posthumously in 1662. This book contained detailed illustrations of insects at various stages of their life cycles, along with descriptions of their behavior and habitats. His observations were made without the aid of a microscope, which was a remarkable feat for the time. Goedaert's contributions to the study of insects helped lay the foundation for future research in entomology. Although he was not widely recognized during his lifetime and his work has gained appreciation in later centuries for its scientific accuracy and artistic merit. Three variants of this French translation appeared in 1700; One stating Amsterdam, one stating La Haye and one without year - no priority has been established. Nissen 1604Brunet II, 1642

Baltimore, The William & Wilkind Company, 1934 - 2002. Royal8vo. Volume 1-21 + 32 in green half cloth, volume 33-36 in beige half cloth, volume 49-57 in orange half cloth, volume 58-65 in blue full cloth, volume 66-69 in white cloth. All volumes with gilt lettering to spine and small paper label pasted on to back board. Small stamp to title pages. A fine set which consists of the following volumes: 1-21, 32, 32-69. 59 volumes in total. Since its inception in 1934, Philosophy of Science, along with its sponsoring society, the Philosophy of Science Association, has been dedicated to the furthering of studies and free discussion from diverse standpoints in the philosophy of science.

Kiøbenhavn (Copenhagen), C.F. Holm, 1786. 8vo. In contemporary full calf with five raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Double line gilt boarders of boards. Light wear to extremities, scratches to boards and light miscolouring to spine. Light occassional marginal brownspotting. Deaccession-stamp to title page. Overall a nice copy. XVI, 414 pp. + 7 folded engraved plates. First edition of Mohr’s important work on the economy and natural history of Iceland. “In 1780, the Faeroese naturalist, Nicolai Mohr (1742-90) was sent to Iceland specifically to investigate some of Olavius’ discoveries, such as graphite in Siglufjördur in the North which, it was believed, might be of economic significance. Mohr spent two summers in Iceland and travelled around the northern and eastern parts. He later wrote a book (the present) about his travels. MPhr concentrates on the economy and natural history of Iceland, but his book is written in the form of a travelogue, and his observations on all that he saw helped to build up a picture of conditions in Iceland at the time” (Caseldine, Iceland – Modern Processes and past Environments).

Kjøbenhavn, J. H. Schubothe, 1880. 8vo. Indbundet i et smukt samtidigt halvlæderbind med rygforgyldning og forgyldt rygtitelfelt. Fire ophøjede bind på ryg. Små rifter i ryg, samt en smule slid ved kapitæler og kanter. Hjørner stødte. Bogblok en smule skæv. Med egenhændig dedikation fra Bang til på smudstitelbladet: "Tante Jette / fra / Herman / d: 27.11.80." Ren indvendig. 601,(1) pp. Nydeligt eksemplar af den særdeles sjældne originaludgave af Bangs hovedværk, her med dedikation til 'Tante Jette'. Tante Jette, Henriette Mynster (1823-1894), var gift med Frederik Joachim Mynster, søn af biskop J. P. Mynster. Eksemplaret er sendt til 'Jette' på udgivelsesdagen, 27. november 1880. Kort derefter blev romanen beslaglagt: "Det hed, at Straffelovens § 184 blev anvendt paa "en Roman, der vel ikke kunde siges at være skreven med et utugtigt Formaal for Øje, men dog indeholdt en uforblommet Fremstilling af Handlinger, sigtende til sandselig Attraas Opvækkelse og Tilfredsstillelse." (Iversen, p. 31).

Paris, Michel Lévy Frères, 1863. Royal 8vo. Bound in a very nice contemporary red half calf with five raised bands to spine, blindstamped borders to compartments and gilt title. Light occassional brownspotting, but overall a very nice, clean and tight copy, in- as well as externally. With the half-title present ("Histoire des Origines du Christianisme. Livre premier"). (4), LIX, (1), 462 pp. + (1) leaf (colophon). True first edition of this seminal classic on the life of Jesus, which caused an immediate scandal when it appeared - Renan's masterpiece, which constitudes the first attempt to write a biography of Jesus the man and strongly puts forth the notion that the Bible too can be subject to historical investigation and critical scrutiny. The work enraged the Roman Catholic Church but was an immediate success in most of Europe. "In six months sixty thousand copies of the French edition had been sold and edition succeeded edition. Renan regarded the book as the first of a series on the "Origins of Christianity", which he continued with "The Apostles" (1866), "Saint Paul" (1869), "The Anti-Christ" (1873), "The Gospels" (1877), "The Christian Church" (1879) and "Marcus Aurelius" (1881) but none of these emulated the success of the "Life of Jesus"... Immediate success was partly a "succès de scandale" but this would not have kept the book alive. It is Renan's approach to the subject and his beautiful prose that gave it lasting eminence." (PMM 352). This groundbreaking work analyses the personality of the man Jesus, -a figure created by Renan out of his mind but based on historical sources. "It is a pastoral idyll with the central figure a gentle, albeit oracular visionary, his power to work miracles a part of his unique personality -the son of man, but not the Son of God... In this great work it seems clear that the audience he has found was the one he sought: the general reading public rather than the limited coterie of scholars; and there is no doubt of the fact or the degree of his success." (PMM 352). "C'est le livre plus célèbre d'Ernest Renan (1823-1892) et le premier volume de l'Hisoire des origines du Christianisme"... on peut considérer cette "Vie de Jésus" comme une oeuvre de vulgarisation: l'auteur cherche à déterminer ce qui, au point de vue "scientifique", est de créance dans la vie du Nazaréen?" (Laffont-Bompiani IV:681). Apart from causing a world-wide scandal, the work was also a world-wide success, and no matter how many harsh words can be said about the historical and religious contents of the work, there is no doubt about the fact that it influenced the destiny of Catholocism decisively and that it is a masterpiece of 19th century French literature. It is very elegantly written and is renowned for its description of the historical setting, charming descriptions of sceneries, its penetrating psychological analysis and its overall style and class. "Il faut ajouter que la "Vie de Jésus" compte au nombre des livres les mieux écrits de son temps; le charme de la peinture des paysages, le pittoresque géneralement exact des évocations historiques, l'analyse pénétrante de l'âme des personnages, des seductions du style enfin, n'ont pas été pour rien dans le succès universel de cette oeuvre." (Laffont-Bompiani IV:681). Ernest Renan (1823-1892) was a French philologist, philosopher and historian. His father died when he was aged five, and his mother wanted him to become a priest. Until he was about 16 years old, he was trained by the Church, but due to his investigative and truth-seeking nature as well as his studies (e.g. Hebrew), he was in doubt as to the historical truth of the Scriptures, and with the help of his sister he chose his own path in life. "He studied intensively the languages of the Bible and filled a number of minor academic positions, frequently encountering difficulties because of the heterodoxy and outspokenness of his religious opinions." (Printing and the Mind of Man 352). In 1840 he began studying philosophy and later philology, in 1847 he took his degree as Agrégé de Philosophie and became master at the Lycée of Vendome. After having returned from a mission to Italy in the year 1850 where he gathered material for his historical-philosophical masterpiece, "Averroës et l'Averroisme", he was offered employment at the "Bibliothèque Nationale" (at the manuscript department). In 1861 he was chosen to become professor of Hebrew at the Collège de France, but because the emperor refused to ratify the appointment (inspired by the Clerical party), he was not established in the chair untill 1870. In 1878 he was elected for the Academy. Renan is considered a scolar of the greatest excellence and an impressive writer.

Hamburg, Johann Nan(u)mann, und Stockholm, Gottfried Liebezeit, 1678 u. 1676. 4to. Contemp. full calf. Raised bands. Richly gilt spine. Titlelabel with small tears, gilt lettering. Top of spine neatly repaired. Light wear to foot of spine. Slightly rubbed. Stamps on title-page. (8),236,(64) pp., 1 engraved map (Northpole). Some copies have a map of Nova Zembla in woodcut - it is not in this copy. Catalog der Commerz-Bibliothek in Hamburg mentions only 1 map, likewise Sabin, as here. A bit of lower right corner of title-page, gone. Title-page repaired for a few small holes on verso, loosing a few letters. Light browning, some scattered brownspots. Second edition of Capel's "Vorstellungen des Norden, oder Bericht von einigen Nordländern...", 1675. It deals with - among other things and previous voyages - the possibility of reaching the East Indies by a north passage.Lauridsen II,43 - Sabin, 10736.

[Circa 1870-1880]. A series of 17 unsigned photographs of ancient Greek monuments, temples and artworks, most measuring 25 x 17 cm, some slightly smaller, some slightly larger, all mounted on leaves measuring 30x42 cm. and bound in an exquisite near contemporary (ab. 1900) oblong black half morocco binding with four raised bands, gilt spines, boards with elaborately gilt corners, gilt border and to the middle of front board a gilt vignette, gilt title ("Grekland" i.e. Norwegian for Greece). Housed in an equally elegant half morocco boxes with with gilt spines, marbled edges, and with middle of boards corresponding to those of the binding. The box are also from ab. 1900. The box have a few traces of wear, but all in all, the set is in splendid condition. A fine collection of photographs from Greek, fortraying Greek monuments, temples and artworks.

Leipzig und Bresslau, Michael Hubert, 1715. 4to. Cont. hcalf. Richly gilt back. Titlelabel in leather. Top of spine repaired. Lightly rubbed. Corners a bit bumped. Titlepage in red/black. 862 pp and some woodcut illustrations in the text. Leaves with browning, due to the rather poor paperquality. Scarce German edition of this collection of Glaubers main works in chemistry, alchymy etc. He was certainly one of the most remarkable chemists of the seventeenth century. "Glaubers interest in the transmutation of metals and in industrial chemistry (e.g. his Glauber-salt) distinguished him from Paracelsus and other iatrochemists, who were more narrowly concerned with the preparation of chemical medicine. In the most general sense Glauber sought to perfect nature for the enchancement of human life - to render useless things useful through the release of their hidden virtues. Such changes were effected in his laboratory primarely through the "ripening" powers of salt...Glauber prepared his "Most secret salt" by combining ammonia and salpeter, made from excrements and urine" (DSB). - Ferguson I:p. 328.

Paris, L'Imprimerie Royale, 1732 a. 1733. 4to. Without wrappers. Extracted from "Mémoires de l'Academie des Sciences. Année 1730 and 1731". Pp. 452-507 a. pp. 250-296 and 1 folded engraved plate. With engraved frontispiece and titlepage to Année 1730/1732. Clean and fine. First appearance of these importent paper in which Reaumur reveled how he constructed his invention of the thermometer scale, the scale which bears his name. The construction of the thermometer was based on alchohol, and the scaling bases on 0 degree for the freezing point of water and 80 degree for the boiling point of water.Parkinson "Breakthroughs" 1730.

Boston, etc., Houghton Mifflin, 1950. 4to. Original reddish-brown full cloth with black lettering to spine and front board. A bit of wear to extremities. Several pencil-underlinings in the text (presuambly Postman's). XII, (2), 235, (1), (6, -index) pp. Richly illustrated throughout. With presentation-insription to front free end-paper, as well as Leo Postman's ownership signature. Excellent presentation-copy of the first edition of the most important work on perception since Helmholtz, Gibson's seminal classic, in which he rejected the theory of behaviorism and pioneered the idea that animals "sampled" information from the "ambient" outside world. Inscribed to Gibson's close friend, professor of psychology Leo Postman, one of the most dominant theoreticians of human memory: "To Leo Postman/ You know all this already/ Jim Gibson". American psychologist James Jerome Gibson (1904 -1979) is considered one of the most important 20th century psychologists in the field of visual perception. His classic work from 1950, "The Perception of the Visual World", Revolutionized the way of understanding visual perception and was responsible for the turn away from the otherwise dominating behaviorism. It is in this, his pioneering main work, that he presents his revolutionizing idea of animals "sampling" information from the outside world that surrounds them.Gibson is also famous for coining the term "affordance", which is the quality of an object or an environment that allows for an individual to perform an action (- a for the time unusually Aristotelian way of viewing objects, an example would be a tie which "affords" tying, or a knob that "affords" twisting). As Gibson's theories in psychology in general, the concept of "affordance" has been extremely influential in a large variety of fields: perceptual psychology, cognitive psychology, environmental psychology, industrial design, human-computer interaction (HCI), interaction design, instructional design and artificial intelligence."The principal subject of this book is the visual perception of space. The essential question to be asked is this: How do we see the world around us? The question is at once a theoretical one, a factual one, and a practical one. The theories to be considered have to do with the history of philosophy and psychology. The applications extend to art, aviation, photography, and mountain-climbing. This book, however, is not a historical survey of the problem, nor a record of existing facts, nor a discussion of the applications. The intention is to formulate a consistent approach to the problem - a way of getting new facts and making new applications. [...] The writer has elected to study psychophysics rather than psychophysiologybecause he believes that it offers the more promising approach in the present state of our knowledge. [...] A psychophysics may sound to some readers like a contradiction in terms. This book undertakes, however, to justify and make possible such a science. " (Gibson, in the Preface, pp. (vii)-viii). As is seen from Gibson's own preface, he himself viewed the work as revolutionary, which Hochberg also notes in is piece on Gibson: "I believe [the] book was the most important work on perception since that of Helmholtz's volume three of Physiological Optics, approximately a century earlier. It was a comprehensive approach to the perception of surfaces, things, and movement through the environment, promarily the outcome of his observations and thoughts about the visual task involved in flying and landing aircraft. [...] The book was clearly intended to initiate a revolutionary moment. I believe that intention has, just as clearly, been successful. Some forty years after its publication, the book is still widely cited and controversial, the direct source of substantial current experimental research, and the starting point for more extreme departures from what had been the established way of thinking about perception." (Julian Hochberg, "James Jerome Gibson", in: National Academy of Sciences Biographical memoirs 63, 1994, pp. 155-6). "LEO JOSEPH POSTMAN, professor emeritus of psychology and a dominant figure in the study of human memory, died on April 22, 2004, of heart failure at his home in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He was 85.Postman was "a major theoretician in the development of the theory of forgetting," said friend and colleague Donald Riley, professor emeritus of psychology. "His contributions were monumental." Postman was listed in a 2002 article in the Review of General Psychology as one of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the last century. "Within the field of human memory, the range of his contributions has been vast," wrote one of his former students, Geoffrey Keppel, professor emeritus of psychology, in recommending Postman for the Berkeley Citation. Postman received the award, the highest honor given to University of California, Berkeley faculty and staff, upon his retirement in 1987.In 1961, Postman founded the Institute of Human Learning at Berkeley, which lives on today as the Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, a center devoted to an interdisciplinary study of the mind and the brain.Postman primarily studied perception, learning, and memory. He participated in the beginnings of the "new look" school of perception that emphasized the role of cognitive factors such as emotions and expectations in determining what people perceive.His main interest, however, was forgetting. Based on studies he began in 1958, he became known as the principal spokesman for and architect of modern interference theory, the only comprehensive account of forgetting that exists today. The theory, Keppel wrote, holds that forgetting is the result of interference from a variety of sources, including past memories, various aspects of the current memory, and new memories acquired subsequently-that is, a dynamic interaction of the entire memory system, past and present. Postman was sensitive to the weaknesses of the theory, and spent the last part of his career investigating the mechanisms that conserve memory in the face of interference. Much of this research was conducted at the institute he founded and directed until 1977.Postman, who served as chair of the Department of Psychology for several years in the late 1950s, had a reputation for excellence in teaching, emphasizing clarity and organization.Born June 7, 1918, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Postman moved at an early age to New York City, obtaining his B.S. from the College of the City of New York in 1943 and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1946. He taught at Harvard from 1946 until 1950, interrupted by one year at Indiana University, and joined the Berkeley faculty in 1950.In his first years at Berkeley, Postman was recognized nationally as a major figure in the field of perception and the role of motivation in perception. His research shifted, however, and he embarked on a long series of studies on learning with and without the intent to learn (the latter being what is referred to as incidental learning). He later switched to the study of forgetting, which he pursued until his retirement.A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Psychological Association, he also served in 1968 as president of the Western Psychological Association, and in 1974 received the Warren Medal of the Society of Experimental Psychologists for outstanding achievement in experimental psychology." (Robert Sanders, "In Memoriam. Leo Postman").

Lancaster, American Institute of Physics, 1948. Royal8vo. Royal8vo. In the original green printed wrappers. In "The Physical Review", Volume 74, Second Series, Number 10, November 10. With cloth back-strip. Wrappers bound 1 mm lower than book-block, otherwise a fine and clean copy. Pp. 1430-1438. [Entire volume: Pp. (1271)-1567]. First edition of Feynman's very first paper on quantum electrodynamics (QED), being one of Feynman's most important publications which pre-dates his work on Feynman diagrams by a year. Feynman, Schwinger and Tomonago shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, with deep ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles".

No Place, No Date, Probably Wien, Prag,Trieste, 1759-6o. Folio-oblong. 7 parts, all with the original marbled wrappers. Handwritten titlelabels to each part, numbered 1-7, and "Geschichte des Polÿb". With 131 fine engraved plates, with views, battlescenes, fortifications, sieges of towns, maps, war-machinery etc., some in 4to, but mostly engraved on folioleaves. All plates with engraved text under image, in French and German.

1926. Royal8vo. Author's presentation offprint with the printed presentation statement on top of frontwrapper "Überreicht von den Verfassern" [i.e. "Given by the authors"]. Original printed wrappers. Front wrapper loose, but fully intact. "Chilpp 202" and "Recdese 160" written in hand to top of front wrapper. A very fine and clean copy. Pp. 334-351. First edition, in the scarce author's presentation offprint issue, of this important paper, which contains Einstein's theories on wave-particle duality and German physicist Rupp's work on the same subject, seemingly to corroborating Einstein's theories. Rupp's experimental results later turned out to have been falsifications, and today he is mainly known as the protagonist in one of the biggest scandals in physics in the 20th century.Rupp published a number of papers on the interference properties of light emitted by canal ray sources. These articles, particularly the present that came into being in close collaboration with Albert Einstein, attracted quite a lot of attention, as they probed the wave versus particle nature of light. They also significantly propelled Rupp's career, even though they were considered highly controversial to begin with.In April 1926, Albert Einstein proposed to Emil Rupp to carry out two experiments that were to prove the wave nature of light versus the particle nature of light: the so-called 'Wire Grid Experiment' and the 'Rotated Mirror Experiment', experiments that Einstein had worked on theoretically and now would like to gain confirmation of through experiments. Rupp, at the time regarded as one of the most important and most competent experimental physicists, gladly took up the challenge. Rupp's observations - though highly controversial - confirmed Einstein's theory. Due to the surprising outcome of the experiments, Einstein was interested in exactly how it they were conducted, as Rupp's initial descriptions did not convince him that the results were feasible."Rupp stood by his observations and suggested yet other circumstances that might explain them. Did Einstein now realize that there was something rather dubious about Rupp's work? He had seen him change his data repeatedly-and each time in better accordance with his own criticism, and on one occasion in no less than two days. He had had to accept that Rupp claimed to earlier have "unknowingly" or "unconsciously" rotated a mirror, and he will likely have seen that Rupp's work was highly controversial amongst experimentalists, leading to very public criticism in Die Naturwissenschaften. He himself was now also convinced that, in fact, Rupp's results were incomprehensible. So, did Einstein choose to suspend the publication of Rupp's piece, so that an additional round of checks and balances could take place? The answer is no: Rupp's paper was presented by Einstein to the Prussian Academy in a session on 21 October 1926, and it appeared in print in the Academy's proceedings in November of 1926-the articles by Einstein and Rupp came out back to back, and reprints circulated with both papers bound together, with a joint cover page that displayed both titles. Einstein referred in his article to Rupp's claims and he had even written the abstract of Rupp's paper" (Dongen: "Emil Rupp, Albert Einstein and the Canal Ray Experiments on Wave-Particle").The first clear indication that Rupp's work was impossible to recreate came in 1930 in a paper published by Staub - nothing was wrong with Einstein's theory but Rupp's work was simply impossible: "Rupp immediately set out to respond to Straub's publication. On 12 July 1930 he sent a first draft to Einstein, to whom he also announced his intention of redoing his canal ray experiments-Straub was dismissed as a clumsy graduate student with a lousy apparatus. Einstein suggested inviting Straub once Rupp had his experiment up and running again, but cautioned him not to engage the polemic in too sharp a tone". Rupp managed to convince the physics society and continued to publish the new few years. In 1934 various different physicians pointed out that Rupp's work was impossible to recreate, and in 1935 the final blow to Rupp's career came about, when the German Physical Society's decided not to allow any citations of Rupp's work. This seems to have had very severe consequences, as today it is almost impossible to find any quotations - or even mentioning of Rupp in general, let alone his fraud - in any historical studies of either quantum theory or of Einstein.Despite the unquestionable fraud by Rupp, his experiments and collaboration with Einstein might have had a positive influence on the further progression to quantum mechanics. The two present papers became of seminal importance in the discussions between Bohr and Heisenberg, which eventually in 1927 resulted in Heisenberg publishing his landmark thesis on the uncertainty principle. When Max Born received the Nobel Prize in physics he stated that: "An idea of Einstein gave me the lead [From the present paper]. He had tried to make the duality of particles-light quanta or photons-and waves comprehensible by interpreting the square of the optical wave amplitudes as probability density for the occurrence of photons."Boni 160; Weil 153.

Hannover, Zu finden bey Nicolai Försters und Sohns sel. Erben, 1735. 8vo. Cont.full vellum w. author and title in old hand on back. Bdg. a bit soiled. Internally a bit of brownspotting., title-page w. professionally repaired tear. Inner front-hinge starting to crack, but bdg. and bookblock tight. Overall a good and fairly well preserved copy. With engr. portrait, woodcut vignettes and one folded engr. plate depicting an early calculating machine. (28), 64, 1030 pp. Rare third German edition. Last Richter-edition. First published in French in 1710. It is the only larger philosophical work, Leibnitz himself published and it is a work of immense importance to philosophy, theology and mathematics. In this work Leibniz represents his excellent calculating machine, which has served as the basis for what we now call a computer, as he presents the binary arithmetic, "Rechnen mit Null und Eins" ("calculating with zero and one") in the Beylage (p. 926), which forms the basis for the much later developed computer science (see PMM 177). This work contains "Anmerkungen" by Richter and "Lebens=Beschreibung" by Fontenelle, followed by "Beylage". In these "Beylage" we find the method of converting numbers into the binary system, which here is said to be "etwas recht neues, welches der Herr Leibnitz zu Hanover erfunden" ("something brand new, which Mr. Leibnitz von Hanover has discovered") as well as "Eine Schrift. In welcher klar gezeiget wird/ dass nicht Herr Neuton,sondern der Herr von Leibnitz Erfinder des CALCULI DIFFERENTIALIS sey." (A Treatise. In which it is clearly shown/ that Mr. Leibniz and not Mr. Newton is the inventor of the CALCULI DIFFERENTIALIS").All early editions of the Theodicee are rare. See D.S.B.: VIII, pp. 161-166.

Wien, Prag und Triest, Trattnern, 1759-60. 4to. Bound in 6 contemp. fine uniform full calf, richly blindtooled covers, Cambridge-style bindings. Raised bands. Richly gilt compartments. Tome-and titlelabels with gilt lettering. Some spineends with a little wear and one torn. S Stamps on title-pages. Engraved portrait as frontispiece, Engraved titlevignettes, fine engraved vignettes in the text and 145 (of 146 - one in xerox-copy) engraved plates (mainly double-page and folded). The 3 engraved maps missing. Internally clean and fine, printed on good paper. All 6 volumes have exceptionally fine endpapers with handcoloured flowers. Graesse V,396 - Rumpf:237.

Paris, Ph.-D. Pierres, 1779. 4to. Nice recent vellum, titlelabel with gilt lettering on spine. (4),XXVIII,471 pp. Wide-margined, clean and fine. First edition of Bezout's main work - a fundamental contribution to algebraic geometry - in which he prooved the so called ´Bezout's theorem. The theorem was essentially stated by Isaac Newton in his proof of lemma 28 of volume 1 of his Principia, where he claims that two curves have a number of intersection points given by the product of their degrees.Bézout's theorem is a statement in algebraic geometry concerning the number of common points, or intersection points, of two plane algebraic curves. The theorem claims that the number of common points of two such curves X and Y is equal to the product of their degrees. The work stimulated many investigations in the modern theory of elimination, including Cauchy’s refinements of elimination procedure and Sylvester’s work on resultants and inertia forms. Bezout’s theorem is crucial to the study of the intersection of manifolds in algebraic geometry."It was not until 1779 that Bezout published his Théorie des équations algébriques, his major work on elimination theory. Its best-known achievement is the statement and proof of Bezout’s theorem: "The degree of the final equation resulting from any number of complete equations in the same number of unknowns, and of any degrees, is equal to the product of the degrees of the equations." Bezout, following Euler, defined a complete polynomial as one that contains each possible combination of the unknowns whose degree is no more than the degree of the polynomial. Bezout also computed that the degree of the resultant equation is less than the product of the degrees for various systems of incomplete equations. Here we shall consider only the complete case.The proof makes one marvel at the ingenuity of Bezout, who, like Euler, not only could manipulate formulas but also had the ability to choose those manipulations that would be fruitful. He was compelled to justify his nth-order results by a naive "induction" from the observed truth of the statements for 1, 2, 3 ···. Also, numbered subscripts had not yet come into use, and the notations available were clumsy."(DSB).

Paris, Apud Michaëlum de Roigny, 1569. Small 8vo. Very nice recent half calf with five raised bands and gilt title to spine. Old owner's name to title-page (discreet). A nice and clean copy with only minor, very light soiling. Nice woodcut initials. 51 ff. Very rare first edition of this work on the freedom and immortality of the soul, by the father of the famous physicist and anatomist, Jean Riolan the Younger. Jean Riolan the Elder (1539-1605) was also himself a noted French anatomist and a leading member of the medical faculty of Paris. He fought against the novelties that entered the faculty due to Paracelsus and authored a number of works attacking the most famous of the scientists who were in favour of chemical means. Works by him are of great scarcity.The work, which is divided into three parts attacks the theories on the soul of Pomponazzi, Portius, Sepulveda, and Cardano, and as such it is an important document in the seminal controversy about the immortality odf the soul which dominated most philosohical thought of the Renaissance.We have been unable to find the work in any bibliographies.

Paris, Ambrose & Drouart, 1606. Folio (350 x 240 mm). 2 volumes uniformly bound in contemporary full vellum with tome-number in contemporary hand to spines. Bindings lightly soiled. Vol. 1 with oblong spot to upper two compartments of spine. Front free end-paper in vol. 1 closely annotated in contemporary hand. A few occassional marginal annotation in contemporary hand throughout. A fine wide-margined copy. (16) including the engraved title-page, 739, (37) pp.; (4), 670, (38) pp. Rare second folio edition, third overall, of Thou’s famous ‘History’ – a work that, uncommon for the period, was universal rather than national in scope and famously impartial in judgement. It kept being read intensively studied throughout the 17th and 18th century. “De Thou’s pride in the appearance of his library (…) extended, naturally enough, to his own works. Since the second edition of 1604 had been hurriedly printed in octavo, de Thou now brought out the first part of his ‘History’ in the properly elegant folio form again. He always had some copies printed on especially fine paper, partly for royal gifts. Thus, the almost silmultaneous appearance of the second and third edition editions, along with the reprint of the first part in folio form, may be due not so much to commercial demand as to the fact that the two editions were destined to different readers, the second to assiduous but penurious scholars, the third [the present] to that of aristocracy which prided itself on a show of learning” (Kinser, The Works of Jacques-Auguste de Thou). Kinser 3-I, 3-II

Heidelberg, Muhr und Zimmer, 1807. 8vo. Uniformly bound in three recent card-board bindings with gilt lettering to spine. Spines with sunning. Ex-libris (Philosopher Carl Henrik Koch) pasted on to pasted down front front end-paper. Verso and recto of front and back free end-paper in vol. 1 closely annotated in contemporary hand. With light occassional brownspotting throughout, a nice set.(2), L, 347 pp.; 327 pp.; 392 pp. The very rare first edition of Fries seminal work on psychology. “In his earliest writings, Fries generally referred to the science of psychology as “empirical psychology”. However, by 1807, in Neue Kritik der Vernunft, he preferred to call his own psychology “philosophical anthropology” and in 1820, under the influence of G. E. Schulze, he changed the title of his psychology to “psychic anthropology”. In the second edition of Neue Kritik der Vernunft (1828-31), in which he again used the title of “psychic anthropology”, Fries explained why he had avoided the use of the term “psychology”: “Although this science is usually called psychology we will deviate from this terminology for several reasons. The word «psyche» (or soul) has been used in philosophy to designat the metaphysical, persisting, simple, and immortal essence of the spirit, and its use therefore''implies certain assumptions which we cannot now entertain. We are only concerned with developing a doctrine of the nature of the human soul based upon "inner experience”. Thus we will deal only with inner anthropology. In thus narrowing our scope to the human spirit, we arrive at the topic of empirical psychology, or psychic anthropology. But our present task differs from empirical psychology, which is an experimental physics of inner life (eine innere Experimentalphysik) which remains forever fragmentary. We will not be satisfied with such a science. We want to achieve a [unified theory of inner life, a doctrine of inner nature, which will provide for [the study of] our inner psychic nature what 'the philosophy of nature now provides for physics. This part of psychic anthropology we want to call philosophical anthropology (From the introduction to Vol. 1, p. 36). “Thus, Fries called his psychology “psychic anthropology” both to avoid the metaphysical assumptions of the old rational psychology and to indicate his dissatisfaction with the current « fragmentary » and mechanical empirical psychology. On the first account, in rejecting the old metaphysics of the soul, Fries accepted Kant's critique of rational psychology; on the second, in rejecting the merely empirical status of psychology, he disagreed with Kant's evaluation of the limited epistemological possibilities of psychology. Instead he maintained that psychology need not be “merely empirical”, that it can attain the true status of a science, and, in other words, that its phenomena can be rationally organized according to metaphysical criteria. Kant (1786; trans., 1970) had denied this possibility, claiming that the metaphysical principles of natural science were not applicable to psychology. Fries agreed that the principles which Kant referred to as “the metaphysical principles of natural science” could not be used in psychology, but he pointed out that these principles were really « metaphysical principles of outer nature », not natural science per se, and that another set of metaphysical criteria was possible.” (Leary, T he Psychology of Jakob Friedrich Fries (1773-1843): Its Context, Nature, and Historical Significance, p. 231)

Paris, Jean de Nully, 1715 4to. In a nice contemporary Cambridge-style mirror binding with five raised bands and richly gilt spine. Blindtooled ornamentation to boards and edges of boards, gilt line to boarders of boards. Super ex-libris to front board. Light wear to extremities, boards with scratches and with small hole. Ex-libris pasted on to pasted down front end-paper. Tear to free front end-paper. Second title-page with repair to lower outer corner, with loss of text. Last 8 ff. with dampstain, otheriwse a nice copy. (8), 272, (24), 207 pp. Later edition, unrecorded by any of the major bibliographies, of this influential work on the Mongol Empire. It was first published in 4 volumes in 12mo, then in 1725 in 4to. This copy, however, has a title-page dated 1715, and the map is dated 1725. In 2015 Christies sold a copy with an identical imprint (Auction 4035, lot 88, Maurice Burrus). Catrou’s work became very popular and it went through several translation and edition. Catrou based much of his information on the Venetian traveller Niccolao Manucci who spent almost his entire life in India. Manucci would send home the manuscript for "Storia do Mogor" which was lent to Catrou in 1707. To Manucci's displeasure Catrou published his own embellished version, this present work. Manucci’s original emerged in Berlin in 1915 and was quickly translated into three languages. (Brunet VI, 28172 - other editions).

Kbh. (Copenhagen), Sebastian Popp, 1796 - 99. 8vo. Bound in six cont. uniform hcalfs w. gilt title- and tome-labels on backs, backs w. gilt lines. Backs and corners w. traces of use, but a fine and clean copy on good paper (skrivepapir). XXX, 336; (8), 346; 368; 372; 352; XXVI, 324 pp. Rare first edition of the first Danish translation of Rousseau's monumental work (Emilius, or an Essay on Education), being one of the absolutely most important and influential works on education. Virtually no work has had as great an impact on paedagogics as this one. Being one of the most influential thinkers of the 18th century, Rousseau is considered one of the indirect causes of the French Revolution. In Rousseau one certainly finds one of the most influential spokesmen for 18th century thought, and it is primarily the thoughts of him and Voltaire that are put into action with the Revolution. Not only in France can the effects of his philosophy and thoughts on upbringing and education be clearly seen; -his ideas were of decisive character to the generation of artists, writers, poets, philosophers etc. in the beginning to middle of the 19th century, which seminally affects Danish thought, as it is in this period that our most important and famous cultural personas are being influenced (e.g. H.C. Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard); thus this first Danish translation is of great importance and interest. In Danish literature there is talk about the Rousseauan spirit, and it is in this spirit that the entire literary production of H.C. Andersen can be viewed, -directly or indirectly. Rousseau's three main thoughts in Émile - on the childlike, on the natural and on simple religious faith - fits like a glove on the main messages and morals of H.C. Andersen's works.Søren Kierkegaard is known to have owned a copy of Rousseau's Émile in French as well as a copy of this first Danish translation (see "Auktionsprotokol over Søren Kierkegaards Bogsamling" no. 941-43). As opposed to H.C.A., though, the philosophy and educational program of Rousseau does not correspond with the Christianity of Kierkegaard, who, however, quotes and comments on R. and his writings on several occasions in his diaries.In Émile, Rousseau poses an entirely new approach to education and the upbringing of children. His thoughts were exceedingly controversial, the work was burnt by the executioner immediately after its first appearance and Rousseau had to flee the country due to a warrant for his arrest. There is no need to say that these new thoughts were also widely influential on Danish thought, and this especially after the appearance of the Danish translation (34-37 years after the French original). Not only Kierkegaard and H.C.A. were influenced by this great thinker, so were the likes of Ingemann, one of our greatest poets."The first and last of these (i.e. Héloise and Émile), with their sentimental expression of deism, gave much offence, and Rousseau, like Voltaire, was forced to flee to Prussia. Restless and locally unpopular, he fled again to England, where he had a great welcome. Hume, who had offered him asylum, looked after him patiently..." (PMM 207, Printing and the Mind of Man). Bibliotheca Danica IV:1004.