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Kiøbenhafn, Melchiore Martzan, (1647-) 1648. 4to. (19,2x14,5 cm.). Senere helldrbd. med rig rygforgyldning (fra ca 1850). Med en krakelering i midten af ryggen der er repareret, ligesom kapitæler og false. Kobberstukket portræt af Paulli (efter Karel van Mander), kobberstukket titelblad afbildende gudinden Flora siddende i en portal hvorigennem der er udsigt til byens tårne (disse to kobbere tæt beskåret i ene margin og opklæbet). De 4 deltitelblade med de såkaldte årstidkobbere mangler. (36),(786 (= fol 1-393)),(94) pp. samt 376 helsides træsnit af planter på 188 blade. De 4 deltitelblade som hører til billeddelen er tilstede.Til slut kolofonbladet med Plantin's helsides træskårne bogtrykkermærke. Billeddelen har tilskrifter i gl. hånd med danske navne og undertiden anføres deres brug. Marginalnoterne er her tæt beskåret ved ombindingen. Trykt på svært papir, eksemplaret er i god stand med kun lette brugsspor. Registerbladene (94) omfatter 4 registre, 3 sprogregistre (latin, tysk, dansk) og et "sygdomsregister". Den sjældne originaludgave af det første danske Herbarium, der som titelbladet angiver både skulle tjene som en botanik, men også som en lægebog. Bogen er et af 16oo-tallets finest udstyrede danske værker. I et brev dateret 1645 opfordrer Christian IV Collegium Medicum til at forfatte et værk, som skulle indeholde allehånde råd mod sygdomme, og oplysning om, hvor folk kunne finde urterne således at de uden de store omkostninger kunne kurere sig selv når sygdom opstod. Kollegiet overdrog opgaven hermed til Simon Paulli. En af grundene til, at bogen kom i et så fint udstyr er, at forlæggeren Balthasar Moret fra Plantin-trykkeriet i Antwerpen overlod de af ham ejede botaniske træsnit, som tidligere havde været anvendt i Tabermontanus' værker, til bogens illustrationsdel. Da teksten i vid udstrækning bygger på Dodonæus' værk, er kun 224 af de 380 arter som beskrives, danske. - Nissen BBI: 1497. - Birkelund: 50. - Bibl. Danica II:188.

Kiøbenhavn, 1781. 4to. Senere slidt halvlæder (ca. 1850). Ryggen med længere revne. Blokken løs. 956 s. + 33 kobberstukne plancher (komplet) Nogle plancher flossede i marginer. Enkelte tæt beskåret. En planche med lang revne ind i stikket, men uden tab af billede. En planche afrevet, men uden billedtab. Øvrige plancher velbevarede, enkelte dog med få brune pletter og nogle med marginale revner eller slid. Pp 937-944 (registeret) med længere revne, men intet tab. Originaltrykket.

Kiøbenhavn, A.H. Godiche, 1764. 4to. Samtidigt hldrbd. med rig rygforgyldning. Stempler på titelblad. XVI,(6),462 pp. samt alle 75 kobberstuke plancher, heriblandt de 3 store foldekortkort: Generalkortet over Sjælland, Kortet over Nordsjælland samt kortet over Samsø samt den store prospekt- planche over København og Københavns Grundtegning. Tekst og plancher trykt på skrivepapir i ren og fin tilstand. Originaltrykket af bind 2 af Danske Atlas. Bindet omfatter: Kiøbenhavns Amt, Københavns offentlige Bygninfger, Hirsholms Amt, Cronborg Amt, Frederiksborgs- og Jægerspriis-Amter, Roskilde-Amt, Holbeks og Dragsholms Amter, Kalundborgs of Sæbygaards Amter.

(London, Harrison and Sons, 1898). 4to. No wrappers as extracted from "Philosophical Transactions", Volume 184, Section B + Volume 190 - Series B. - Pp. 641-763, textillustrations and 11 plates (10 photographic) and pp. 45-186, textillustr. a. 4 plates. Clean and fine. First appearance of these groundbreaking papers in modern neurophysiology by "the most important neurophysiologist Britain has produced, and perhaps the most remarkable neuroscientist ever to have lived." (Grolier Club "One Hundred Books famous in Medicine", p. 326). - "The experiments on reflex action carried out by Pavlov and by Sherrington provided a foundation for the objective treatment of human psychological problems, in particular the theory of behaviourism."(PMM: 397, listing Sherrington's book from 1906). "The data, terms, and concepts that he introduced have become such a fundamental part of the neuroscience that it is perhaps not surprising their authorship is often forgotten: such terms as proprioceptive, nociceptive, recruitment, fractionation, occulusion, myotatic, neuron pool, motoneuron, and synapse, and such concepts as the final common path, the motor unit, the neuron threshold, central excitatory and inhibityory states, proprioception, reciprocal innervation, and the integrative action of the nervous system."(DSB)."His first steps (in investigation of the nervous system) were to concentrate upon the reflex functions of the cord rather than on the more complex field of the brain; to choose an appropriate experimental animal, the monkey; and to make parallel control and comparison experiments on lower forms to establish the necessary points of anatomical knowledge... Sherrington's basic method was to study simple motor acts which could be made to occur in isolation, correlating his exacting analyses of input-output relations of reflex responses with anatomical and histological data... The effects of decerebration had been partially described by many earlier workers, such as Magendie, Bernard, and Flourens, but it was Sherrington who named decerebrate rigidity and, in a fundamental paper of 1898 (the paper offered) and later publications, established it as a phenomenon in its own right and as a major tool for examining the reflex functions of the spinal cord, particularly the nature of inhibition... He first used the term "reciprocal innervation" (in the paper offered), read before the Royal Society on 21 January 1897; the term he explained, denoted the "particular form of correlation" in which one muscle of an antagonistic couple is relaxed as its mechanical opponent actively contracts... Four months later, as the Royal Society's Croonian lecturer, he proposed his classic definition of riciprocal innervation as that form of of coordination in which "inhibito-motor spinal reflexes occur quite habitually and concurrently with many of the excito-motor." (DSB XII, pp. 402-3). - This lecture is printed as part IV of the second paper offered.Sir Charles Scott Sherrington's research, spanning more than 50 years, laid the foundations for modern neurophysiology. He maintained that the most important function of the nervous system in higher animals is the coordination of the various parts of the organism. Although best known for his long series of studies on spinal reflexes, he made equally great strides in the physiology of perception, reaction, and behaviour. He was the first to adequately study the synapse and originated the term. He also introduced the term exterioceptor, proprioceptor and viscerocepter. In 1932 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Edgar Douglas Adrian.

Paris, Gauthier-Villars et Cie, 1926. 8vo. Bound with orig. printed wrappers in contemp. hcloth. Spine gilt with gilt lettering. A small part of lower spine with a bit of discolouring after a papelabel. A punched stamp on top of title-page. Light wear along edges of boards.VI,133,(1) pp. and (2) pp. of announcements. Textfigs. Internally clean. First edition. In this work De Broglie set forth the idea that electrons, as was previously regarded as particles, also have wave-quaracters, as well as light has. The idea was tested and confirmed by Davisson and Germer the year after in 1927. Also Schrödinger took up the idea and formulated his wave-equation, explaning the stationary states of the electron of Niels Bohr, by applying De Broglie's concept of electrons as waves to the hydrogen atom. "Thus the duality of both light and matter had been established, and physicists had to come to terms with fundamental particles which defied simple theories and demanded two sets of 'complementary' descriptions, each applicable under certain circumstances, but imcompatible with one another." (PMM: 417).

Berlin, Julius Springer, 1929. 8vo. Contemp. hcloth. Some wear to edges and spine. A stamp on title-page. In "Zeitschrift für Physik", vol. 53. The whole volume offered. VII,(1),889,(1) pp. Szilard's paper: pp. 840-856. First edition of the important paper in which Szilard solved the puzzle of Maxwell's demon and discovered a theoretical model that serves both as a heat engine and an information engine, establishing the connection between entropy and information.Szilard was the first to stress that any manipulator of molecules would have to rely on measurement and memory. If one assumed that the demon could perform such operations without causing any changes in the system, one would by that very assumption deny the second law of thermodynamics, which requires equivalent compensations for all decreases in entropy. Szilard therefore proposed that whatever negative entropy Maxwell's demon might be able to create should be considered as compensated by an equal entropy increase due to the measurements the demon had to make. In essence, Szilard made Maxwell's doorkeeper mortal - no longer granting this tiny intelligence the ability to 'see' molecules without actually seeing them, i.e., without the sensory exchanges of energy that all other existences require. Szilard took this step for the sake of a grander vision, the dream that the adoption of his principle would lead to the discovery of a more general law of entropy in which there would be a completely universal relation for all measurements. Information theory has brought that vision to reality.

Wien, J.B. Degenschen Buchhandlung, 1811. Small 8vo. Contemp. blue boards., titlelabel with gilt lettering. A small nick to top of spine. 118,(2) pp. and 1 folded engraved plate. A few marginal brownspots, otherwise fine and clean. First German edition (the original French was published in 1810) of this highly influential book, in which the first modern process of preserving food is presented for the first time, years before Pasteur presents his method of pasteurization. Appert's method consisted in placing the food to be preserved in bottles closed with the best corks obtainable. The bottles were placed in boiling water for considerable periods. Appert claimed that the most perishable foodstuff could be preserved by this method and his claims were completely substantiated. Gay-Lussac believed that the keeping qualities of Appert's preserves were due to the expulsion of the air during the heating process. In this way fermentation and putrescence was avoided."La Maison Appert (English: The House of Appert), in the town of Massy, near Paris, became the first food bottling factory in the world, nearly 100 years before Louis Pasteur proved that heat killed bacteria. Appert patented his invention and established a business to preserve a variety of food in sealed bottles. Appert's method was to fill thick, large-mouthed glass bottles with produce of every description, ranging from beef, fowl, eggs, milk, and prepared dishes (according to sources). His greatest success for publicity was an entire sheep. He left air space at the top of the bottle, and the cork would then be sealed firmly in the jar by using a vise. The bottle was then wrapped in canvas to protect it, while it was dunked into boiling water and then boiled for as much time as Appert deemed appropriate for cooking the contents thoroughly.In honour of Appert, canning is sometimes called "appertisation", but should be distinguished from pasteurization. Appert's early attempts at food preservation by boiling involved cooking the food to a temperature far in excess of what is used in pasteurization (70 °C (158 °F)), and can destroy some of the flavour of the preserved food." (Wikipedia).Parkinson "Breakthroughs" 1810 C.

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1825. Contemp. hcalf. 5 raised bands, gilt spine and gilt lettering to spine. A few scratches to spine. Small stamp on verso and on titlepage. A tear to right margin of titlepage repaired. In: "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg. von J.C. Poggendorff", Poggendorff Bd. 4. (10),476 pp., 4 large folded tables, 6 engraved plates, some folding. Small stamp on verso of plates. Ohm's paper: pp.79-88. Internally fine and clean. First appearance of a paper of outmost importence in the history of electricity, - it is Ohm's first scientific paper, and it contains the report on the different original experiments (sending a current through a variety of test wires) that was the foundation for his famous law, Ohm's Law. The paper contains the original research material that was to immortalize his name, for the mathematical formulation of the law two years later in the well-known work "Die galvanische Kette, mathematisch bearbeitet" (1827). - This paper was at the same time published in Schweiggers Journal."Ohm's first scientific paper was "Vorläufige Anzeige des Gesetzes..." (the paper offered). In it he sought a functional relationship between the decrease in the electromagnetic force excerted by a current-carrying wire and the lenght of the wire...Fromthe zinc and copper poles of a voltaic pile he ran two wires, A and B, the free ends of which terminated in small mercury-filled cups, M and N; between M and another cup, O, he ran a third wire, C. Together A,B, and C formed what he called the "invariable conductor", to distinguish it from one of the seven wires of different lenghts that, when placed in a circuit between O and N, constituted the "variable conductor". Among the latter was one "veru thick" wire, four inches long, and six thinner ones, 0.3 line (.025") in diameter, ranging in lenght from one foot to seventy-five feet. Finally, over wire C hung the magnetic needle of a Coulomb torsion balance, which served to measure the electromagnetic force exerted when one of the variable conductors completed the circuit....(He then found that) the loss in force was equal to the difference between the normal force and the lesser force occasioned by one of the other wires, divided by the normal force. Tabulating these value against the lenghts of the wires, he found that his data were well represented by the formula v=0.41 log (1+x), where v is the loss in force and x is the lenght of the wire in feet...."(DSB X, p.187). - This expression is the preliminary formula for his famous relations between voltage, amperage and resistance, R=V/I.Parkinson "Breakthrough" 1825 P. - Ronald's Library p. 376.The volume contains other importent papers in the history of chemistry and physics, Berzelius, F. Wöhler, F.E. Neumann, Heinrich Rose, Chr. Hansteen, Fresnel etc.

Amsterdam, J. Lindenberg, (1705 ?). Folio. Contemp. (original ?) full blindtooled vellum. Frontcover detached from spine. Spine gone. Covers with wear along edges. (8),12,168,92,66 pp., 4 large engraved vignettes, handcoloured and hightened with gold, 2 engraved titlepages, handcoloured and hightened with gold. Many engraved vignettes. 84 engraved plates (each with 2 illustr.) by R. de Hooghe. 2 double-page engraved maps (World-map: Orbis per Creationem Institutus and De Middelandse... In de welke Christi eerste Sendelingen geprecht hebben), 2 engraved double-page plans (Temple de Jerusalem (tear in folding) and Hierusalem). Some brownspots in the text and some offsetting from plates. Halftitle loose. The first few leaves a bit frayed in right margins. The first engraved title-page: De Historien van het Onde en Nieuwe Testament in konst prenten afgebeeld door den Herr en mr. R. de Hooge. Signed RHooghe sc. The second title-age: Het Nieuwe Testament., Signed R. de Hooghe s. et inv. 1702. Halftitle reads: 'T Groot Waerelds Tafereel, In Konst-prenten en Uitleggingen verbeeld. Met Octroy Van Haar Ed: Groot Mog: de Heeren Staten van Holland en West-Vriesland. Romeyn de Hooghe was perhaps the most significant Dutch book illustrator of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In fine engravings he here illustrates the Old and New Testament.

Stuttgart, E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagshandlung, 1850-56. Folio. Unbound and not sewn. 123 pp. and 124 lithographed plates (1 in colour). Title-page brownspotted and with tears in margins all aroun. Part of orig. printed frontwrapper preserved. Most of the plates partly brownspotted, some with minor dampstains in corners and margins. A few plates (most heavely the first and last) with tears reaching the illustrations. BMC I: 256. Pritzel 1178. This is only the atlasvolume to Bronn's great work. "The first attempt at a Chronological Succession of fossil organisms is to be found in H.G. Bronn's Lethaea Geognostica. This work is a masterpiece of scholarship; it summarises all that was previously known abot Stratigraphy and Paleontology. The most importent fossils types of all geological formation are shown ion the folio plates..." (Zittel p. 364 ff.).

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1854. No wrappers in "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg. von J.C. Poggendorff", Bd. 93, No 12 (entire issue offered). Titlepage to vol. 93. Pp. 481-632. Clausius's paper pp. 481-506. 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.

(Antwerpen ca. 1580). 32 x 41 cm. Kobberstukket Danmarkskort i original håndkolorereing. Med Skåne, Halland og Blekinge samt den nordlige del af Tyskland.Foldningen fint forstærket på bagsiden med japanpapir. Et af de tidligste danmarkskort med Marcus Jordan og Cornelis Anthoniszoon som forlæg. Kortet har ingen tekst på bagsiden, men stammer fra Ortelius' berømte atlas "Theatrum orbis terrarum", som udkom i 19 udgaver, alle før 1584. I de senere udgaver af atlasset blev kortet revideret og opdelt i to mindre dele.Bramsen p. 56.

Kbh., 1748. Stor4to. Lidt senere hellæderbind i flammet kalv med ophøjede bind på ryg. På skrivepapir. (14), 368 pp. Kobberstukket frontispiece, samt 109 kobberstukne plancher. tekst på dansk, fransk og tysk. Thurahs monumentale Københavnsbeskrivelse i originaltrykket.

Dresden, Waltherischen Hofbuchhandlung., 1780-81. 4to. 2 cont. hcalf with gilt spines. Tapestrip in upper compartment of backs on both volumes. Spines with 2 paperlabels pasted on. Loss of a part of coverpaper. Internally fine. 2 large engraved titlevignettes. (24),274,(12),350,(2) pp and 62 mostly double-page folded engraved plates (a few larger). Numb. 1-34 (27 a. 28 made of 4 plates a+b) and A-D + 1-26, all called for. 1 plate slightly stained in lower margin. First German edition. Scarce.

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1828. Without wrappers as issued in "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg.von Poggendorff", Bd. 14, Zweites Stück. (=Jahrgang 1828, zehntes Stück). Pp. 191-306 a. 3 engraved plates. (the entire issue offered (Heft 2) together with the titlepage to 14. Band). Brown's paper: pp. 294-313. Clean and fine. Small stamp on verso of titlepage. First appearance in German of this monumental paper in atomic theory and kinematics, as it was the first evidence for atomism that was an observation rather than a deduction from abstract principles."In 1827 as he was viewing a suspension of pollen in Water under the microscope, he noted that the individual grains were moving about irregularly. This, he thought, was the result of the life hidden within the pollen grains. However, when he studied dye particles (indubitably nin-livin) suspended in water, he found the same erratic motion. This has been called "Brownian motion" ever since and Brown could merely report on the observation. He had no explanation for it. Nor had anyone else until the development of the kinetic theory of gases by men such as Maxwell a generation later. It seemed plain. after Maxwell and especially after the work of Einstein and Perrin a half century after Maxwell, that the Brownian Motion was actually a visible effect of the fact that water was composed of particles. It was the first evidence for atomism that was an observation rather than a deduction." (Asimov).The issue contains other importent papers by C.. Naumann, G. Magnus, Th. Saussure "Kohlensäuregas in der Atmosphäre" andothers.PMM: 290 (the English paper from 1828) - Sparrow, Milestones of Science No 31. - Magie "A Source Book in Physics p. 251-255. - Dibner, Heralds of Science No 156.

Berlin, Decker, 1801. - Augsburg, Will, 1777. 4to. Bound in one contemp. hcalf. Gilt spine, titlelabel with gilt lettering. A paperlabel pasted on upper part of spine. Stamps on first title-page. VIII,28 pp. and 6 fine engraved and handcoloured folded folioplates. Boch: 36 pp. + 31 pp. and 13 enraved folded folioplates. A few minor brownspots to Gilly's work. First edition of Gilly's work. - Ornament-Kat. Berlin, 2191.

Venice, Zan. Zanetti, 5422 (=1606). Small 4to. Later marbled paper over earlier blue paper-covered boards, paper spine over earlier cloth spine. Binding somewhat worn. Woodcut title-page and woodcut vignette at end, depicting two lions under a tree. Old owner's stamp to title-page and to second and last leaf ("D.L.W. - David Weissappel). Some marginal annotations in old Hebrew script. Last half of leaves turned brown, otherwise a bit brownspotted. Top-corner torn off last leaf, but this corner is present, and there is no loss of text. Fairly well preserved and complete copy of this early Hebrew book. (51 ff.) First edition of this fourth book of responsa by Joseph Ben David Ibn Lev.Joseph Ibn Lev (1505-1580) was a Turkish Rabbi who moved to Constantinople in 1550. He reacted against Pope Paul IV due to his cruelty against the Jews. He is called "The Great Jurist" and is known to have written the four books of Responsa, which were highly thought of. This is the fourth of the four books of Responsa that he wrote. The three first were printed in Constantinople around 1560-1573, and this fourth was printed in Venice in 1606. Other editions appeared later on, but every one of these four books in the first edition rare and only few copies are registered.

Paris, Victor Masson, Imprimerie de Bachelier, 1848. 8vo. Contemp. hcalf, raised bands, gilt spine. Very light wear along edges. Small stamps on verso of titlepage and on verso of plate. In "Annales de Chimie et de Physique", 3me Series - Tome XXIII. 512 pp. a. 4 plates. (The entire volume offered). Pasteur's papers: pp. 267-294 a. pp. 294-295, 1 double-page folded engraved plate. A few marginal brownspots to P.'s paper. Otherwise fine and clean. First full exposition of Pasteur's first revolutionary paper on the discovery of "molecular assymetry" - also constituting his first published scientific paper. In order to secure priority, Pasteur announced his discoveries first in its preliminary form in a short paper of 4 pages in "Recherches sur le dimorphisme", Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l' Académie des Sciences, 20 mars 1848, XXVI, pp. 353-355. In the offered form it is the first full treatment of his discoveries."Pasteur came to the conclusion, on one hand, that all tartrates could be regarded as mutually isomorphic, but at the same time - based on Mitscherlich's work - that the sodium ammonium salts of both the tartaric and racemic acids also crystallized isomorphically, which in turn suggested that all racemic and tartaric salts would crystallice identically. An they do crystallice identically, albeit in a very special way Half the crystals of the racemic salts are characterized by a mirror-inverted form."(Hans-Werner Schütt in "Eilhard Mitscherlich")."Another discovery of great importence was made by Pasteur. In 1844 Mitscherlich had stated that the crystals of sodium ammonium tartrate and sodium ammonium racemate were identical, although solutions of the former were found to be active but those of the latter were inactive. Since this statement was contrary to his views on the relation between crystalline form and optical activity, Pasteur examined these salts and found, it is true, that the crystals of the tartrate resembled the other tartrates which he had examined i possessing hemihedral faces arranges in a similar manner. The crystals which was obtained from a solution of the inactive racemate, at the ordinary temperature, were also found, contrary to expectation, to have hmihedral faces...."(Alexander Findley in "A Hundred years of Chemistry", p.59-60).It is related that Pasteur, on making this discovery, rushed from his laboratory and, meeting the lecture assistant in physicss, embraced him, exclaming: "I have just made a great discovery! I have separated the sodium ammonium paratartrate into two salts of opposite action on the plane polarisation of light. The dextro-salt is in all rspects identical with the dextro-tartrate. I am so happy and overcome by suchnervous excitement that I am unable to place my eye again to the polariization apparatus.".Among other importent chemical papers the volume contains Gay-Lussac: Mémoire sur L'Eau Régale. Pp. 203-229.

Bruxelles, Fr. Foppens, 1699. Small 8vo (12mo). Bound in a beautiful later full calf (ca. 1800) w. five raised bands on back. Gilt back and blindstamped ornamental borders on boards. All edges of boards gilt, and gilt borders on inside of boards. Hinges cracked and boards loosening, inner hinges crudely repaired. A bit of brownspotting, but internally a very nice copy. The very rare Bruxelles-edition, published same year as the first edition (Paris, Barbin). Fénelon's main work, written when he was a tutor to the Duke of Burgundy in order to hold up Ulysses as an example for the young prince. Fénelon was a leader of the Quetism heresy, and in 1699, the year Télemaque appeared, Pope Innocent XII condemned his writings. The true first edition of Fénélon's Télemaque appeared in one volume in 1699 under the title "Suite du quatrième livre de l'Odyssée d'Homère, ou les Aventures de Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse", and containing only half of what we consider Télémaque today. According to Brunet, the first edition was suppressed, and Moetjens printed a pirate-edition (called the second edition) in Haag with the same year and date (June), and a bit later the same year, the second part appeared. Several editions appeared the same year, and Brunet mentions one without printer or Place (but Paris), and the Liége- and Bruxelles-editions. "Dans les différentes éditions que nous venons de décrire dans lesquelles il le soit sont celles de LIÉGE, 1699, et de BRUXELLES, FR. FOPPENS, même date, l'une et l'autre impr. en France, en 2 vol. in-12, et en dix livres." (Brunet II:1212). Foppens also printed an edition in Bruxelles 1700, but that is divided into 16 books. All early editions of this work are scarce, and the first edition is almost impossible to get a hold of. This main work of French literature has been printed numerous times after the author's death (1715), and editions printed before his death, are a great rarity. The later editions were corrected and divided into numerous books, not intended in the original manuscript."Une autre circonstance allait aggrever la situation de l'archevêque de Cambray. Peu de temps après sa condemnation, parut le livre qui l'a rendu le plus populaire et qui, après la "Bible" et l'"Imitation de Jésus-Christ", est un de ceux qui ont eu plus d'éditions: "Les Aventures de Télémaque". (N.B.G. 17:328). The controversial but highly popular work was, among other things, accused of satirically portraying Louis XIV, and thereby publicly humiliating him, -this was probably not the intention, but there is no doubt that the work was critical towards the reigning regime, and put forth many ideas not previously heard of. In true utopian political manner, Fénélon warns against overgrowth of the metropolis and preaches groundbreaking doctrines like free trade, international arbitration etc. He actually foresees the French Revolution as a result of the flourishing despotism so visible in France at the time. Lamartine (in his "Life of Fénélon") describes the saintly poet as the first Radical and the first communist of his century, though not to his own knowledge, and he directly traces the Utopias which produced the revolutions of 1793 and 1848 to his groundbreaking work, "The Adventures of Telemachus". Especially the part "Voyage en Salente" is considered very important for the study of utopian literature, but the entire work is characterized by the attempt to represent people as they might have behaved and might still be, were they governed by sages and saints and according to the laws of God. The work represents a religious ideal where God is always higher than man; it is greatly political, greatly influenced by the appreciation of ancient Greek life, and is designed to evoke the feeling of honour, responsibility and religion in the young prince. See Brunet II: 1210-1212. Graesse 2:563-64 (Paris- and La Haye-editions).

Leipzig, Siegfried Lebrecht Crusius, 1769-79. Folio. Bound in one contemp. hcalf, 6 raised bands, gilt. Spineends professionally repaired. Part of title-label missing. Corners renewed. Large engraved title-vignette. (14),154;(2),88 pp., 2 half-page engraved vignettes. and 40 large folded (3/2-page) engraved plates, all finely handcoloured. Some fingermarks at lower right corners of the first leaves. A few scattered brownspots. Printed on good paper. A fourth part of volume 2 came out as late as 1810, having 14 plates and it is sometimes called volume 3. It is not present here. Scarce first edition of Schreber's classic work on grasses, which became of importance due to its very elaborate explanations of all aspects of the numerous grasses mentioned and depicted in the 40 plates, which are considered very well executed, both in regard to drawing, engraving, and colouring. Schreber (1739-1810) was a German physician and natural scientist. He became famous for his diverse knowledge and for his scientific works within botany and zoology. He studied medicine and natural science in Uppsala, Sweden, where he became doctor of medicine and made the acquaintance of Carl von Linné, whom he learned a lot from. In 1787 he became a member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences. In Germany he became professor of medicine, botany, natural history, and pharmacology at Erlangen, director of Erlangen botanical garden, and president of the Leopoldina. His work on grasses was considered fairly important, especially due to its very elaborate explanations of all parts of the particular grasses, its use, conditions, etc. etc. "Dr. Schreber, a pupil of the great Linnæus, and a son to one of the best writers on husbandry in Germany, is publishing in numbers a work on grasses: his plan we will communicate to the reader, as it bids fair to obviate the greater part of the enumerated difficulties, and greatly to promote the study of this useful branch of botany and husbandry. In an introductory discourse, Dr. Schreber describes all the different parts observable in grasses, their flowers and their fructification; so that this part may be considered as a "philosophia Agrostographia". He next observes the points which must be attended to in a good description of grass; and, lastly, he shews the extensive utility of this branch of botany. The first volume contains twenty-seven descriptions, and as many excellent drawings of grasses, on twenty coloured plates…" (a contemporary review of the work, from Smollett's "The Critical Review, or, Annals of Literature, Vol. 32). Schreber was obviously inspired by Linné, as will be seen from the systematic account of the different grasses described and depicted in the present work, although he refused to group the grasses under certain genera. We are provided with the first name of each grass represented as well as with all its varieties, and names in almost all European languages, whereafter follows an extensive description of that particular grass, containing everything that is known about it - where it grows, under which circumstances, in which soil, its time of flowering, when it brings ripe seeds, etc. We are also provided with extensive information as to its cultivation, on the cattle which like it best, on the authors who have written about it, on the medicinal use of it, etc. "The plates are very well executed in regard to drawing, engraving, and colouring. The second part of this work, the first number of which is published, will soon appear. The defects of the work are, its high price, its too great diffuseness, and the too minute detail the author frequently enters into, the prospect that many years will pass away before the work can be finished, and that it is written in German, a language very little understood in this country." ("The Critical Review, or, Annals of Literature, Vol. 32).Some of the excellent original drawings of the "Beschreibung der Gräser" are still to be found at Erlangen, where Scheber also had his private collection of numerous grasses(See Stafleu & Covan, V : p. 328 and No 11.127) Nissen: 1807. - Pritzel: 8395. - Not in Hunt.

Kolombo (Colombo, Sri Lanka), 1821. 8vo. Original blank blue wrappers. Insignificant wear to edges of wrappers. Light toning, but a fine copy. (2),16 pp. First (and only) edition of the first Singalese grammar in a Western language, Rask's highly importent work, in which he "identified Sinhalese as a speech belonging to the same class as Sanskrit and added that Tamil belonged to a different class. Since then the subject has been studied and discusses by various scholars, and it is established beyond doubt that Sinhalese is an Indo-Aryan language."Rasmus Rask is one of the absolutely most prominent and famous Danish philologers and is very well esteemed worldwide. He was the first to systematically study the ancient Nordic languages and is the discoverer of the relations between the consonants in the Indo-European languages. This discovery served as the foundation of the rules Jacob Grimm later formulated, underlying the Germanic and High-German soundshifts. In PMM, Rask is identified as "one of the founders of the modern science of language." (PMM 266).

Stockholm, Uppsala, 1878-1988. Indbundet i hpergamentsbd. og hldrbd., 18 bind ialt er heftede. Rygge på enkelte af pergamentsbindene lettere beskadigede.

(Paris, Gauthier-Villars), 1901. 4to. No wrappers. In: "Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences", Tome 133, No 5 and No 23. Pp. (969-) 1044 and pp. (909-) 966. The papers: pp. 276-279 + pp. 931-934 (both from vol. 133, and entire issues offered) + Tome 135, No 20. Pp. (821-) 880. (Entire issue offered). The paper: pp. 857-59. + Tome 136, No 4. Pp. (181-) 262. (Entire issue offered). The paper: pp. 223-226. First printing of these four papers, constituting a revolution in time measuring, as Pierre Curie here defined a STANDARD FOR THE ABSOLUTE MEASURING OF TIME ON THE BASIS OF RADIOACTIVITY, and hereby departing from the relative measurements in geology and archaeology.After the discovery of Polonium and Actinium (1898 a. 1899 ) further discoveries followed. "First came the announcement in 1899 by Marie Curie of induced radioactivity, brought about by the action of polonium or radium on inactive substances. The induced radioactivity persisted over a considerable period of time, a phenomenon of great concern to Pierre Curie. He took up the question with Debierne, with whom he published two papers in 1901(the first two papers offered); their experiments could be explained by Rutherford’s theory of emanation (radon), a radioactive gas emitted by radium. With J. Danne, Curie measured the diffusion coefficient of radium emanation in the air and proved, as Rutherford had done, that it liquefies at - 150°C. In order to clarify the nature of the emanation he studied the law of diminution of the activity of a solid after having removed it from a chamber in which a radium salt was present. In two notes presented to the Academy on 17 November 1902 and 26 January 1903 (the third and fourth papers offered), Curie showed that this activity diminishes according to an exponential law characterized by a time constant that, for the emanation, is equal to 5,752 days, regardless of the conditions of the experiment. The importance of this discovery, which marks the point of departure for all modern measurements of archaeological and geological dating, did not escape his, for at a meeting of the Société Française de Physidque in 1902 he defined a standard for the absolute measurement of time on the basis of radioactivity. Almost immediately Rutherford and Soddy showed that the exponential diminution was caused by the transmutation of radioactive elements." (DSB. Pierre Curie).

Bremen, Hermann Jäger, 1730. 4to. In contemporary full vellum with yapp edges. Title in contemporary hand to spine and all edges coloured in red. A magnificent copy. (32), 454, 200, (16) pp. + 1 large folded map (with small repair in upper margin, not touching the map) and 34 engraved plates. A very nice copy of the first edition of Pontoppidan’s famous precursor to his extensive seven volume topographical description of Denmark. Biblioteca Danica II, 600

Parmae, Ex Regio Typographeo, 1786. 4to. Orig. blank boards. Spine missing. Bdg. and bookblock tight. Minor occasional soiling; lacking a small part of corners of some leaves, far from affecting text. An overall good and solid copy. Engr. frontispiece-portrait, engr. title-vignette. Printed on good and thick paper. (10), 128, (6) pp + (1) leaf, errata. The rare editio princeps of Theophrastus' 29th and 30th characters. Greek and Latin text.The work is renowned, not only for containing the very first printing of Theophrastus' two last "characteres", but also for the beautiful printing of it and Amadutius' excellent and instructive foreword and notes. "A very splendid edition, exhibiting only two chapters (cap. 29 and 30) of this work, from a Vatican MS. of the eleventh century. It is mentioned, in order that the student may consult the very learned prolegomena which it contains." (Dibdin, II:503). Brunet 5:798.