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Stockholm, Benjamin G. Schneider, (1731). 8vo. Smukt nyere hldrbd., pastichebind med ophøjede bind på ryggen. Forgyldt rygtitel. (Nanna Grönvalls Eftr., Malmø). Graveret frontispiece. (32),317,(1, Errata) pp. 2 kobberstukne plancher, det ene foldet. Yderst frisk, rent og velbevaret eksemplar, trykt på skrivepapir. Originaltrykket af denne yderst sjældne svenske have-og husholdningsbog.

Stockholm, Carl Delén och J.G. Forsgren (senere) Nordstedt & Söner, 1801- 1926. 8vo. Indbundet i 92 samtidige, nogenlunde ensartede hldrbd. med rigt forgyldte rygge. Nogle bind med kapitælslid, nogle få med tab af lidt ryglæder og et bind med tab af ryg. Indvendigt udmærkede og velbevarede.

Osnabrück, J. G. Schwänders Tilman Bucholtz, 1660. Folio. Fine recent hvellum in old style made of old materials. Titlelabel in leather on spine with gilt lettering. The htitle reads: "Praxis Artolloriae Pyrotechnicæ". Htitle,(6),71,(1) pp.. and 51 engraved plates with 117 figs. (numb. 1-51 of which 2 are unnumb.). One leaf lacks (pp. 17/18) and p. 17 is present in cont. handwriting, but the whole leaf supplied in a fine facsimile on old paper. 2 plates a bit shaved and frayed in margin. Slight browning to htitle, a few minor brownspots. A good copy. Scarce second edition. The publisher tells us in the postscript that the book, published 1657, was in much demand and that it was unobtainable, so he was requested by a gentleman (Einen vornehmen Herr) to republish it. This second edition came out without the authors name. It is divided in 2 parts. The first part mainly deals with all kinds of recreative fireworks but also with the making of rockets, fire-water-and storm balls, grenades, pitch, storm wheels and receipts for gunpowder. The second part deals with gunnery and artillery (Ander der Artollery). - Chris Philip S 310.2 - Not in Rumpf and Cockle.

Warszawa [Warsaw], 1934. 8vo. Orig. printed brown wrappers. Near mint condition. 25 pp (pp. 438-60 in Przeglad Filozoficzny, vol. 37). Exceedingly scarce first edition, off-print with own pagination also, of this very important article by one of the four greatest logicians ever, the Polish-American Alfred Tarski.Tarski's theory of definability, which he presents in this article, belongs to one of his main contributions to logic. Tarski here distinguishes between groups of concepts within the methodology of the deductive sciences: 1) concepts such as "axiom", "theorem", "rule of inference", "proof", and 2) "primitive (undefined) concept" (or "primitive term"), "definable concept", "rule of definition", "definition". "A far-reaching parallelism can be established between the concepts of the two groups: The primitive concepts correspond to the axioms, the defined concepts to the derivable sentences, the process and rules of definition to the process and rules of proof." (English translation of the article, 1956, p. 296). Until this article was written, nothing on the subject of methodology of deductive sciences had primarily dealt with the concepts of the first group, but, as Tarski himself states, "in considering the second group of concepts many interesting and important problems force themselves upon us, some of which are quite analogous to those which arise in connection with the first group." (Introduction, English translation, 1956, p. 296). Two problems are discussed within this domain: the problem of the definability and the mutual independence of concepts, as well as the problem of the completeness of concepts of an arbitrary deductive theory.Tarski (1901-1983) has contributed seminally to the fields of mathematics and logic in a number of ways, and together with Frege, Russell and Gödel, he now ranks as the most important contributor to the field of logic. He is thus considered one of the four greatest logicians of all times.

Wijsingzborg, Johann Kankel, 1670. Folio. (32 x 20 cm.). Samtidigt helpergamentsbd. Håndsyede kapitælbånd. Håndskreven rygtitel. Bindet med lidt brunpletter, men i fin stand. (12),110,523,(8) pp. Mindre smal skjold i indre margin på halvtitelbladet og titelbladet. Lidt spredte brunpletter og nogle ark med svag bruning. Godt eksemplar med brede marginer. En trykt rettelsesetiket er indklæbet i marginen på side 108. Helsides træstik af det svenske rigsvåben på blad 3. Første svenske udgave af "Heimskringla", redigeret, oversat og besørget af J. Rugman. Bogen indledes med Hugo Grotius' lange fortale, pp. 1-110. Forordet af Daniel Gyldenstolpe. Udgivelsen blev bekostet af Per Brahe og trykt på hans trykkeri på Visingsö.Fiske I, 539. - Collijn, 367. - Warmholtz, 2698.

Lund, 1839-46 og Lund, berlingska Boktryckeriet, 1855. Lille 4to. Indbundet i et samtidigt helshirtbd. Rygforgyldning og forgyldt titel på ryg. En smule kantslid. FÅGLAR: Litograferet og håndkoloreret titelblad. (2),22,(2) pp. samt 62 litograferede og håndkolorerede plancher. Bagsiden af titelblad og dedikationsbladet med en mindre reparation. Tekstsider med lidt brunpletter. Plancherne friske og rene, dog lidt brunpletter på 2 plancher. DÄGGDJUR: Litograferet titelblad, tekst 6 pp. (bundet bagerst) samt 22 litograferede og håndkolorerede plancher. Lidt brunpletter på titelbladet og tekstsiderne. Plancherne gennemgående i fin stand, enkelte med lidt svage brunpletter. Begge værker i originaludgaverne af disse smukke værker hvor Körner var en af sin tids mest skattede dyretegnere. Værkerne udmærker sig ved stor akkuratesse og finhed i kolorereingen, selv om fuglefigurerne er forholdsvis små. Her afbildes ca. 300 skandinaviske fuglearter. Bindet med pattedyrene (däggdjur) er i samme stil som fugleværket og er bemærkelsesværdigt idet mange svenske pattedyr afbildes her for første gang. (Se Björn Dal i "Sveriges Zoologiska Litteratur" pp. 176-78). - Jean Anker, 271.- Nissen ZBI, 2276.

Christiania (Oslo), Grøndahl & Søn, 1880-1901. Large 4to. Bound in 7 uniform contemp. hcalf. Spines gilt and with gilt lettering. Light wear to top of spines on a few volumes. Spines slightly rubbed. Stamp on title-page.The historical part with the 6 fine chromolithographed plates (Vestmanna Øer - Jan Mayen - Berenberg, Jan Mayen - Beeren-Eiland - Sydkap, Spitzbergen - Magdalene Bay, Spitzbergen) and maps. Throughout profusely illustrated with lithographed plates and maps. Text in parallel columns in Norwegian a. English. Issued in 28 parts dealing with different scientific subjects, each part paginated separately. A clean, well-preserved copy. First edition, conataining all the reports from the expedition, sponsored by the Norwegian government, for a physical and biological exploration of the waters between Norway, Iceland, Jan Mayen and West Spitzbergen, carried out in the Vøringen, under the leadership of Capt. C. Wille. (Arct. Bibliography, 12540).

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1860, 1861. 2 uniform contemp. hcalf, raised bands, gilt spine. A few scratches to spine. In "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg. von J.C. Poggendorff", Bd. 110 a. Bd. 113. - IX,668 pp. a. 8 folded plates. X,660 a. 8 folded plates. Entire volumes offered. The 2 papers: pp. 161-189 a. pp. 337-381 and plates (one plate in chromolithography, spectra of different elements). Verso of titlepages and verso of plates with small stamps. Internally fine and clean. First printing of these fundamental papers, constituting the invention of Spectrum Analysis and announcing the discovery of two new elements, Cesium and Rubidium by using the new method of spectroscopy developed by them. This technique, made possible by their invention of the spectroscope is called "One of the most dashing advances of the human mind into the secrets of the composition of matter on earth and in cosmos"(Kedrow in "Spectralanalyse", 1961). The spectral lines proved to be a guide not only to the great world of the outer cosmos, but to the infra-tiny world within the atom. Balmer made the first steps in this direction (the Balmer-lines)."The two investigators advanced, as scientifically established, the law that the bright lines in the spectrum may be taken as a sure sign of the presence of the respective metals. This conclusion was rendered doubtly sure by the discovery in the mineral water of Durkheim, through the spectrum, of two new metals. From the blue and the red lines, by which they were recognized, they were named "Cæsium" and "Rubidium". While spectrum analysis, as a terrestrial science, was due equally to Kirchhoff and Bunsen, its celestial applications belong to Kirchhoff alone."(Cajori in "A History of Physics in its Elementary Branches", pp. 160 ff).In a letter to Henry Roscoe, with whom Bunsen carried out a long importent series of photochemical researches, Bunsen wrote: "At present Kirchhoff and I are engaged in a common work which doesn't let us sleep....Kirchhoff has made a wonderful, entirely unexpected discovery in finding the cause of the dark lines in the solar spectrum, and increasing them artificially in the sun's spectrum, and inproducing them in spectra which does not have lines, and in exactly the same position as the corresponding Frauenhofer lines. Thus a means has been found to determine the composition of the sun and fixed stars with the same accuracy as we determine sulfuric acid, chlorine, etc., with our chemical reagents. Substances on the earth can be determined by this method just as easely as on the sun, so that, for example, I have been able to detect lithium in twenty grams of sea water."

Burdigalae, Ex Typis Gounouilhou, 1892. 8vo. Bound with the scarce original printed wrappers in mathcing recent light greenish-grey boards with title to spine.- A few markings and spotting to wrappers and tiny paper-restorations to corners, A part from light pencil-annotations, a very fine and clean copy. 74, (2) pp. The scarce first edition of Durkheim's earliest published work, his subsidiary Latin thesis on Montesquieu, which anticipates many of his most important theories and contains important observations that are formative for his later work. As such, the present work constitutes his earliest exposition of sociology as a science.Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), the father of sociology, is credited with making sociology a science and established sociology as a recognized academic discipline. Together with Karl Marx and Max Weber he is considered the principal architect of modern social science. The present work, which serves as the companion to his "The Division of Labour in Society", printed the year after, in 1893, analyses Montesquieu's "Spirit of Laws" as a foundational work of modern sociology, explains how Montesquieu's distinctions define the conditions and boundaries of sociology and how the work is the first to establish the main principles of political science. One of Durkheim's major contributions lies in his insistence on taking the total society as his theoretical frame of reference, which is quite explicitly observed in the present analysis and explanation of Montesquieu.

Paris, Bachelier, 1845 a. 1846. 4to. No wrappers. In: "Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences", Vol. 21, No 19, Vol. 22, No 22, Vol. 23, Nos 9, 14, 16 a. 17. (6 entire issues offered). Le verrier's papers: pp. 1050-1055 (No 19), pp. 907-919 (no 22), pp. 428-438 (No 9), pp. 657-659, 659-643, 676 (No 14), pp. 741, 741-754, 754 (No 16), pp. 798-799, 799-800 (No 17). With title-pages to vol. 21,22 a. 23. Titlepages with a small stamp in upper corner and a perforated stamp to lower margin. Light yellowing to title-pages, otherwise clean and fine on good paper. First printing of Le Verrier's importent and famous papers, predicting and confirming the discovery of the Planet Neptune, including the "preparatory" paper, the first paper on the anomalities in the orbit of Uranus, the calculations on which eventually leading to his prediction and discovery of a new planet, Neptune the following year, 1846."In 1846 John Cauch Adams... and Urban J. Leverrier... simultaneously and independently determined the location of a possible new planet... In 1845 he wrote of his findings of the mathematical location of a new planet to Sir George Bidell Airy,,, Because Adams was unknown, his letter was put aside. Meanwhile the same perturbations of Uranus had become of interest to Leverrier. On July 1(should be June !), 1846 he presented a paper "Recherches sur les mouvements d'Uranus" to the Academie des Sciences inParis. When Airy realized that Leverrier and Adams had reached the same conclusions, he hastened to suggest that a search be made for the newplanert. Shortly hereafter it was seen bur not recognized. About a week before it was found in England, it was discovered by Galle in Berlin on information supplied by Leverrier. Thus, the honour of the discovery, or even co-discovery of the new planet, Neptune, was lost to Adams and credited to Leverrier.... Adams paper was reade before the Royal Astronomical Society, November 13, 1846, and was published in 1847. (Milestones p. 40).Milestones of Science No 132. - Dibner No. 16.

Paris, L'Imprimerie Royale, 1778. 4to. 2 contemp. Full mottled calf. Raised bands. Richly gilt spines. Titlelabels with gilt lettering. Volume one rebacked, preserving nearly all of original spines and endpapers renewed. Neath repairs to edges. Stamp on title-pages. (4),389,XIX,(3);(6),500,XXX,(2) pp., 28 mostly folded engraved plates and 3 large folded engraved maps. The maps strenghtened in foldings on verso and slightly brownspotted. Wide-margined. A few scattered brownspots. First edition. In the years 1771-1772 the French government sent a scientific expedition led by Verdun de la Crenne to the North Atlantic. Their commission was to explore the ocean, coasts, and islands and correct errors on existing charts and test various ways of measuring latitude and longitude. One of the most significant corrections they made was in the location of Iceland; based on their measurements they moved the country three and a half degrees eastwards. It comprises the large sea chart of the northern Atlantic (58 x 88 cm.), which is centered roughly on Iceland. It covers from Labrador, Newfoundland, and Baffin Island (Ile James) to Norway, and includes Greenland, Great Britain, Denmark, and part of the coast France, inland to Paris.Sabin, 98960.

Amsterdam, 1968 + (Vienna, 1968). Both 8vo. Both unbound and stapled with brown paper-backstrip. "Epistemology...": nice and clean copy. Pp. (333)-373. "On the Theory...": backstrip a bit torn, otherwise a nice and clean copy. Printed on rectos only. Pp. (25)-53. Both works being in the scarce original re-prints of proof-prints (with the original corrections reproduced), both with signed presentation-inscription on top of first page to Tönu Puu [the first reading: "To Tönu Puu / from K. R. Popper.", the second: : "To Tönu Puu / from K. R. Popper / with many thanks / and kind regards."]. of Popper's important works on "the third world", which together forms his "Popperian Cosmology", focusing on the "third world", namely the body of human knowledge expressed in its manifold forms.Tönu Puu is Professor of Economics at the University of Umeå in Sweden. In 1967 Puu published "Some Reflections on the Relation between Economic Theory and Economic Reality", which caught Popper's attention - and to such an extent that he cited it. The two present works constitute the main contributions to what is known as Popperian cosmology, in which Popper divides the world into three parts. "EPISTEMOLOGY WITHOUT A KNOWING SUBJECT" explores the third world."The main topic of this lecture will be what I often call, for want of a better name, "the third world". To explain this expression I will point out that, without taking the word "world" or "universe" too seriously, we may distinguish the following three worlds or universes; first, the world of physical objects or of physical states; secondly, the world of states of consciousness, or of mental states [...]; and thirdly the world of objective contents of thought, especially of scientific and poetic thoughts and of works of art. Thus what I call "the third world" has admittedly much in common with Plato's theory of forms or ideas, and therefore also with Hegel's objective spirit, though my theory differs radically, in some decisive respects. It has more in common still with Bolzano's theory of a universe of propositions in themselves and of truth in themselves, though it differs from Bolzano's also. My third world resembles most closely the universe of Frege's objective contents of thought." (Popper, Karl. Epistemology Without a Knowing Subject, pp. (333))."In "Epistemology Without a Knowing Subject" Popper offers a "biological" argument for doubting that minds and bodies exhaust all the entities inhabiting the human world. Not only is man a conscious animal, he is also a being whose communicative capacity has evolved to the point of being able to describe and criticize his encounters with the world" (Fuller, Steve. Social Epistemology, Indiana University Press, 1988, p. 51).In "ON THE THEORY OF THE OBJECTIVE MIND", "the matter at issue is not, as Descartes, the knowledge of particular subjects but a knowledge that is independent of particular subjects, that is, intersubjective. [It] has much in common with "Plato´s theory of Forms and Ideas" and "Hegel´s objective spirit". (Keuth, Herbert. The philosophy of Karl Popper, Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 294)."To sum up, I have tried to show that the idea of the third world is of interest for a theory of understanding which aims at combining an intuitive understanding of reality with the objectivity of rational criticism", (Popper, Karl. On the Theory of the Objective Mind, p. 47).Karl Popper still exercises extensive influence on a variety of different thinkers, scholars and economists. The billionaire investor George Soros claims that his investment strategies are modeled upon Popper's understanding of the advancement of knowledge through the distinctly Hegelian idea of falsification.

Christiania (Oslo), 1883-1979. Lex8vo. Vol. 1-79 bound in 40 vols. (Vol. 1-4 in 2 contemp. hcalf and vol. 5-79 in solid uniform hcloth with tome-and titlelabels on spines). Vol. 80-94 in clean parts. Register volume 1-16 in hcloth.

Berlin, Asher & Co., 1886. Folio and 4to. Bound in 3 uniform solid hcloth, slightly rubbed. (2 in folio, 1 in 4to). (8),212;(8),448;V,(1),204 pp. The original printing.

(Paris), Minuet, 1967. 8vo. Original wrappers. A bit of tanning and soiling to wrappers and usual wear to spine. Internally fine and clean, with pencil notes and underlinings by Gardair. 445, (3) pp. First edition (20 Septembre, 1967, numéro 630) - SIGNED PRESENTATION-COPY FOR JEAN-MICHEL GARDAIR - of Derrida's seminal main work, the foundational text for deconstructive criticism.1967 marks a turning point in the history of modern philosophy, constituting the birth of "Deconstruction". In this one year, Derrida publishes all of his three break-through books, "De la grammatologie", "L'écriture et la difference" and "La Voix et le phenomene", profoundly altering the course of modern thought. Although all three books are responsible for the introduction of Deconstruction, it is primarily "De la Grammatologie", Derrida's magnum opus, that has come to be associated with this groundbreaking concept.Jean-Michel Gardair (1942-2013) was a highly esteemed professor at the Sorbonne and a famous author and translator from Italian into French, who also wrote the prefaces for many of the great classics that appeared at Minuet (where Derrida also published his main works). He is responsible for enriching French Italianism with an original presence, both through his own novels and his critical works, through his numerous translations, and through his highly esteemed prefaces. "Jacques Derrida's revolutionary theories about deconstruction, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and structuralism, first voiced in the 1960's, forever changed the face of European and American criticism. The ideas in "De la grammatologie" sparked lively debates in intellectual circles that included students of literature, philosophy, and the humanities, inspiring these students to ask questions of their disciplines that had previously been considered improper. Thirty years later, the immense influence of Derrida's work is still igniting controversy..." (Review, Spivak's translation of Derrida's "Of Grammatology", 1997).Derrida's concern is to bring to light the binary schema that is hidden in all kinds of texts and ideas of culture. In the present text Derrida brilliantly reveals some of the principles of deconstruction, not through theoretical explication, but, rather, by demonstration, showing that the arguments promulgated by their subject-matter exceed and contradict the oppositional parameters in which they are situated. Put into other words, deconstruction seeks to expose, and then to subvert, the various binary oppositions that undergird our dominant ways of thinking.The ideas that Derrida here present have had an enormous impact on a number of the human sciences, including psychology, literary theory, cultural studies, linguistics, feminism, sociology and anthropology. Due to this work, a whole new world of problematic suppression and marginalisation has become apparent, making "De la grammatologie" one of the most important philosophical works of the later part of the 20th century. "One of the major works in the development of contemporary criticism and philosophy". (J. Hillis Miller, Yale University).

London, Peter Elmsly, 1795. 4to. In recent marbled paper wrappers. Extracted from "Philosophical Transactions". Including title-page of volume. Leaves reinforced in margin. Light offsetting from folded plates as usual. Plate depicting the full telescope with professional repair to lower right corner. (4), 347-410 pp. + 19 folded plates. First appearance of William Herschel account of his great 40-foot telescope. It was the largest telescope in the world for 50 years and it was possibly used to discover Enceladus and Mimas, the 6th and 7th moons of Saturn. The plate of the 40-foot telescope fully assembled remains as one of the great icons of astronomy. "It is well known that King George III granted £2,000 for the construction of the 40-foot reflector, and that this was supplemented by a further £2,000 plus other expenses. Only recently has it become evident that the second grant was made in the context of a serious row between monarch and astronomer. Herschel was of course in uncharted territory in attempting the construction of such a monster. The king had understood that the first £2,000 was the total required, and when this proved not to be the case he may well have suspected Herschel of deliberately underestimating the costs involved when making his original application. Although the king acceded-reluctantly-to the second request, from then on Herschel was required to account for every last penny of expenditure, and was told in no uncertain terms that no further grant would be forthcoming.The 40-foot reflector proved cumbersome and its results did not justify the labor and cost of its construction. What has only recently been appreciated is the extent to which it became a millstone around its creator's neck. From Herschel's point of view, it lost its principal raison d'être in 1790 when an observation with the 20-foot convinced him of the existence of "true nebulosity." But to the king it was an enduring symbol of his patronage of science, and visitors to Windsor Castle were invited to make the short journey to Slough to see the world's biggest telescope." (DSB)

London, Hodgson & Son, 1945. Royal8vo. In a recent nice green full cloth binding with gilt lettering to spine. Entire volumes 48 of "Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society. Second Series". A very nice and clean copy without any institutional stamps. Pp. 180-197. [Entire volume: (4),477 pp.] First printing of Turing's first published paper devoted to the Riemann-zeta function, the basis for his famous "Zeta-function Machine", a foundation for the digital computer.While working on his Ph.D.-thesis, Turing was concerned with a few other subjects as well, one of them seemingly having nothing to do with logic, namely that of analytic number theory. The problem that Turing here took up was that of the famous Riemann Hypothesis, more precisely the aspect of it that concerns the distribution of prime numbers. This is the problem that Hilbert in 1900 listed as one of the most important unsolved problems of mathematics. Turing began investigating the zeros of the Rieman zeta-function and certain of its consequences. The initial work on this was never published, though, but nevertheless he continued his work. "Turing had ideas for the design of an "analogue" machine for calculating the zeros of the Riemann zeta-function, similar to the one used in Liverpool for calculating the tides." (Herken, The Universal Turing Machine: A Half-Century Survey, p. 110). Having worked on the zeta-function since his Ph.D.-thesis but never having published anything directly on the topic, Turing began working as chief cryptanalyst during the Second World War and thus postponed this important work till after the war. Thus, it was not until 1945 that he was actually able to publish his first work on this most important subject, namely the work that he had presented already in 1939, the groundbreaking "A Method for the Calculation of the Zeta-Function", which constitutes his first printed contribution to the subject."After the publication of his paper "On computable Numbers," Turing had begun investigating the Riemann zeta-function calculation, an aspect of the Riemann hypothesis concerning the distribution of prime numbers... Turing's work on this problem was interrupted by World War II, but in 1950 he resumed his investigations with the aid of the Manchester University Mark I [one of the earliest general purpose digital computers]..." (Origins of Cyberspace p. 468).Not in Origins of Cyberspace (on this subject only having his 1953-paper - No. 938).

K., 1843-1845. 8vo. Smukt lidt senere hldrbd.m. rig rygforgyldn., ophøjet "bind", dannet af heftesnoren. 2. blad (indhold) repareret. Pp 1-50 m. svagt skjold for neden, ellers pæn. (Iv)+52+62+84+59+70+111pp. Originaludgave. Himmelstrup 85.First edition of Kierkegaard's important eighteen upbuilding discourses, which comprise his two, three, and four upbuilding discourses from the years 1843-45, with the joint title-page of all eighteen. The work constitutes Kierkegaard's religious works, which supplement his theological and philosophical ones.The first upbuilding discourses were published the same year as Either-Or, and it is interesting to note that in opposition to his major philosophical works, the religious upbuilding discourses actually bear the name of the author on the title-page, -a fact that was by no means incidental. While the pseudonymous works could make one doubt the religiousness of the author, the parallelly written religious discourses stress the fact that we are dealing with an author, who was religious from the very beginning, -a fact that Kierkegaard also wished to establish himself; in his journals he clearly states that the religious discourses bear as much significance for his work as a whole as do the larger pseudonymous works, "I began with "Either-Or" and two upbuilding discourses..." he says, and explains that he intended the upbuilding, the religious, to advance, and that he wanted to show "that the writer was not an aesthetic author who in the course of time grew older and for that reason became religious" (Journals, IX A 227).The importance of the upbuilding discourses and the close relationship they have with the major works and Kierkegaard's philosophical development also becomes evident with the fact that every pseudonymous work was accompanied by a little collection of "upbuilding discourses" until "Concluding Postscript" appeared.

Kjöbenhavn (Copenhagen): S.L. Møllers Bogtrykkeri, 1836. 8vo. Slightly worn contemporary half calf. Wear to upper capital. Previous owner's signature to front free end-paper. Minor brownspotting to titlepage and the last few leaves, otherwise a nice and clean copy. Illustrated. (4), 100 pp. Scarce first edition of this milestone publication, which laid the foundation of modern archaeology and transformed it into an exact science. With this seminal publication, Thomsen was the first to establish an evidence-based division of prehistory into discrete periods, and with it he became the originator of the three-age system (the division into Stone Age - Bronze Age - Iron Age), which is "the basic chronology that now underpins the archaeology of most of the Old World" (Rowley-Conwy: From Genesis to Prehistory, p.1). This foundational work altered our understanding of our world and our place in it and contains the first use of "culture" in an archaeological context."Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, (born Dec. 29, 1788, Copenhagen, Den.-died May 21, 1865, Copenhagen), Danish archaeologist who deserves major credit for developing the three-part system of prehistory, naming the Stone, Bronze, and Iron ages for the successive stages of man's technological development in Europe. His tripartite scheme brought the first semblance of order to prehistory and formed the basis for chronological schemes developed for other areas of the globe by succeeding generations of archaeologists." (Encycl. Britt.).Up until the beginning of the 19th century, our understanding of antiquities had been very loose and fumbling. Studying the artifacts, earlier archaeologists had used a great deal of imagination, especially when adapting information from written sources to the objects. Only when Thomsen enters the scene, this approach changes. He is the first to focus the investigation upon the artifacts themselves. Quickly realizing that this approach must be the only way forward, he soon distinguished clearly between objects, both similar and different, and established what belonged together in time and where there were chronological differences. He was among the first to differentiate between history that could be studied through written sources and prehistory which could only be studied through material culture. He realized - as the first - that in order to interpret findings of prehistoric objects, one would have to know their source and the context in which they were found - thus establishing the foundation for modern excavation technique. He trained the great archaeologist J.J.A. Worsaae and sent him on excavation expeditions to acquire artifacts for ethnographic museum that he had founded and thus also founded Danish archaeology. Thomsen was the first to perceive typologies of grave goods, grave types, methods of burial, pottery and decorative motifs, and to assign these types to layers found in excavation, thus combining our different sources of knowledge to establish certainty. When, in 1836, the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries published Thomsen's illustrated contribution to "Guide to Scandinavian Archaeology" (i.e. the present publication), in which he put forth his chronology for the first time, together with comments about typology and stratigraphy, Thomsen already had an international reputation. But this publication gave him more than that - it made him the founder of modern archaeology and arguably the most influential archaeologist of all times. In 1816 Thomsen had been appointed head of "antiquarian" collections, which later developed into the National Museum of Denmark. It was while organizing and classifying the antiquities for exhibition that he discovered how much more sense it would make to present them chronologically, and so he did, using what is now known as the "three-age system". Proposing that prehistory had advanced from an age of stone tools, to ages of tools made from bronze and iron was not in itself a novel idea, but no previous proposals allowed for the dating of artifacts (which Thomsen's system did for the first time) and they were all presented as systems of evolution. Refining the idea of stone-bronze-iron phases, Thomsen turned it into a chronological system by seeing which artifacts occurred with which other artifacts in closed finds. In this way, he was the first to establish an evidence-based division of prehistory into discrete periods. It is this seminal achievement that led to his being credited as the originator of the three-age system.He provided for the first time a solid empirical basis for the system that ever since the present publication has laid at the foot of all archaeological research. He showed that artifacts could be classified into types and that these types varied over time in ways that correlated with the predominance of stone, bronze or iron implements and weapons. In this way he turned the Three-age System from being an evolutionary scheme based on intuition and general knowledge into a system of relative chronology supported by archaeological evidence."His published and personal advice to Danish archaeologists concerning the best methods of excavation produced immediate results that not only verified his system empirically but placed Denmark in the forefront of European archaeology for at least a generation. He became a national authority when C.C Rafn, secretary of the Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab ("Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries"), published his principal manuscript in "Ledetraad til Nordisk Oldkyndighed" ("Guide to Scandinavian Archaeology") in 1836."This groundbreaking publication was immediately translated into German (published the following year, 1837), in which form it reached a wide audience, influencing the archaeologists of all of Europe. In 1848, it was published in English and became highly influential on the development of archaeology theory and practice in Great Britain and the United States.In 1849 Thomsen founded the world's first ethnografic museum, which continued to contribute significantly to the development of modern archaeology."Throughout the course of the nineteenth century growing amounts of archaeological material were being recovered as the vastly expanding engineering activities of the Industrial Revolution were transforming Central and Western Europe into the "workshop of the world." Indeed, much of the popular appeal of archaeology in early Victorian times lay in its seeming demonstration that this contemporary technological advancement, which both intrigued and delighted the middle classes, was no mere accident but the acceleration of a tendency for "progress" which was innate in humankind. This evidence that cultural evolution as opposed to degeneration from an original state of grace had been a significant feature of human history made archaeology pre-eminently a science of progress. Within the context of the history of the discipline, however, the birth of this "scientific archaeology", as distinct from the antiquarianism of earlier times, is generally associated with the unfolding of the "Three Age System" and the pioneering work of C.J. Thomsen.While in the past a few archaeologists had attempted to subdivide prehistoric materials into various temporal segments, it was Thomsen who first envisaged, and applied, on the basis of archaeological evidence, a systematic classification of antiquities according to the criteria of material use and form which could be correlated with a sequence of temporal periods: the Ages of Stone, Bronze, and Iron, familiar to every student of archaeology for the last hundred years. The novelty of this approach, however, did not lie in the concept of technological development gleaned from his familiarity with the conjectural history of the Enlightenment, or in his assumption of a sequence of Stone, Bronze, or Iron Ages, itself a variation of Lucretius' popular model. Rather, it lay in his employment of "seriational principles" acquired from his extensive knowledge of numismatics, which he used to combine evidence concerning technology, grave goods, along with the shape and decoration of various artefacts into an internally consistent developmental sequence. Though Thomsen's Museum of Northern Antiquities in Denmark had arranged its collection of artefacts in accordance with this new system as early as 1819, the first written account of his research was not set out in print until the "Ledetraad til Nordisk Oldkyndighed" ("Guide Book to Northern/Nordic Antiquities") was published in 1836. While prior to Thomsen's work, thinking about antiquities in both Europe and the United States bas both intellectually fragmented and essentially speculative, the publication of the "Ledetraad" and its translation into German a year later unified archaeological studies by providing scholars with an exemplar or "paradigm". For, while previously antiquarians and indeed classical archaeologists, who were interested in what are now recognized to be prehistoric remains, tended to look to written records and/or oral traditions to provide a historical context for their finds, it was Thomsen who liberated archaeologists from this restrictive assumption through the creation of a carefully controlled chronology which allowed for the comprehensive study of those periods in history for which NO written records were available. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Thomsen's system established itself as THE system, as his basic classification of artefacts, arranged in periods by virtue of an analogy with the form and function of tools in his own day, was modified an elaborated upon by, among others, Worsaae, de Mortillet and John Lubbock." (D.A. Nestor: Cognitive Perspectives on Israelite Identity, pp. 46-48).

London, Royal Society, 1888. 8vo (210 x 135 mm). In the original printed wrappers. In "Proceedings of the Royal Society of London", vol. 45, no. 274. New backstrip (presumably from having been extracted from a binding) The entire issue offered, internally fine and clean. Pp. 135-145. [Entire issue: 99-156]. First edition Galton’s landmark paper in which he first presented his invention of the statistical concept of correlation.

Germany, Late 18th century. Folio. (32 x 20,5 cm.). 3 contemp. Half calf. (275);(351);(335) pp. (only text on front, not verso of leafs) A few illustrations in the text. A plate seems to be missing as the text refers to one. On fine thick paper. In uniform German gotic hand in brown ink. All 3 volumes are signed "Rosenstand", which must be the author. All three volumes attested with a read wax seal and signed "Haffnery". Extensive manuscript in German on artillery science.

[No place], 1792 & 1802. Folio. 2 volumes uniformly bound in contemporary half calf with five raised bands and with gilt lettering and gilt stamp to spine. Small paper-label pasted on to pasted down front end-papers and stamp to first front free end-paper and two stamps to title-pages. Light wear to extremities. Written of thick paper. Fine and clean. LLXIII, (1), 307, (4) pp.; 15, (6), 344, (4) pp Danish manuscript translation of Tofino's famous description of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. "Vincente Tofiño was a rear-admiral in the Spanish navy. He was a renowned astronomer and mathematician and near the close of his career was the King’s hydrographer. Between 1783-1788, Tofiño charted the ports and coasts of Spain as well as the shore of North Africa. He eventually was elected as correspondent of the Spanish Academy of History and of the French and Portuguese Academies of Sciences." Translator De Løwenørn (Kommandør-Kaptajn Friderich de Løwenørn) n 1784, captain lieutenant Poul de Løwenørn assisted the Danish crown in establishing the Royal Danish Nautical Chart Archive. He was appointed the institution’s first Director. At this time, only France had a similar institute."In the first instance, the Danish Admirality requested Løwenørn to collect all existing nautical charts and navigational details in the country, for both Danish and international waters. He was to develop accurate and reliable charts for both the Navy and Merchant Marine.In addition to these formidable tasks, Løwenørn also took the initiative to establish a Lighthouse Authority, a Buoy Authority and a Pilot Authority as well as improve the country’s harbours." (Danish Geodata Agency).Hansen, Sources of the History of North Africa, Asia and Oceania in Denmark, p. 459.

Kiöbenhavn, Schultz, 1797. 8vo. Uncut, partly unopened, in contemporary (original?) marbled boards. Part of spine missing and wrappers very loose. Internally with very light occassional brownspotting. 84 pp. + four folded plates, each with the accompanying "Plan"-leaf (complete). First edition of Oxholm's early and important work on the state of the West Indies in which he describes the government loans to planters to buy slaves in the ten years from 1792 until abolition of the trade in 1802 and the effects of British imports on the price and quality of slaves. "Denmark acquired St. Croix from France in 1733. Oxholm was a young Danish officer sent to the Danish West Indies in 1778 to map all the fortifications in the islands, suggest improvements, and estimate their cost. He was also to create topographic maps of the islands of St. Thomas and St. John. He mapped only St. John, but presented numerous drawings and maps at the Danish court where his work was approved and rewarded. Having married into a St. Croix family, he returned there and became a sugar planter. In 1794 he privately published a detailed map of St. Croix that he had created." (John Russell Bartlett Collection)"Lieutenant Oxholm was a promising young man of 24 when he was sent to the Danish possessions in The West Indies. Oxholm’s task was to examine the ability of the colony to defend itself against attack and draw new maps of St. Thomas and St. John. But Oxholm was an enterprising man and he also examined a number of issues that he had not been tasked to deal with at all. The political situation of the colony, conditions for soldiers and enslaved laborers, health care and conditions for prisoners and lepers, organization of the sugar trade and the schools were all described. Oxholm became an advocate of slavery that he believed was necessary for the economy of the colony. But he was critical of the miserable living conditions of enslaved laborers, soldiers, and the sick.Oxholm’s maps were of high quality and impressively accurate. Some have been in use almost up until the present day. Today, his maps and drawings are considered by the Danish Ministry of Culture to be of “unique national importance”. Oxholm also left behind a number of reports and books about conditions in the Danish colony in the West Indies. The most important one is his book on the state of the West Indies, De danske vestindiske Øers Tilstand i Henseende til Population, Cultur og Finance-Forfatning ("The State of the Danish West Indian Islands with Respect to Population, Culture and Financial Condition") from 1797, containing both descriptions and illustrations of plantation operations in the colony. Oxholm also wrote several debate pieces where, among other things, he defended the slave trade as late as 1806. Oxholm’s energy did not diminish, and right up until his death he continued making maps and drawings and suggesting improvements to conditions in the Danish colony in the West Indies." (Danish State Archive, The Danish West-Indies - Sources of history).

(Copenhagen, 1838). Large8vo (230 x 135 mm). In recent half calf with gilt lettering to spine. 9 leaves of text in Danish and German describing plate 1-54 + 52 beautifully handcoloured plates: Plate 1-53, wanting plate 45. A very fine and clean copy. The exceedingly rare first edition of Walter's famous "Blomster-Museum" or "Blumen-Museum". A total of 11 Hefts, each consisting of 6 plates and 1 leaf of accompanying text was published. As with his "Flora eller colorerede Afbildninger af Pragt-Blomster" it is of exceptional rarity and almost no complete copies are know. The present copy, albeit incomplete containing the first 8 hefts (except for plate 45 and 54), contain a more substantial part of the work than one can expect to find. Nissen BBI, 2102.Christensen, Den Danske Botaniks Historie, Vol. 2, p. 212.

Amsterdam, Bernard, 1715. 8vo. Uniformly bound in two contemporary full calf binding with five raised bands with richly gilt spines. Traces from white paper-label to upper compartment of spines. Light wear to extremities, corners bumped and some of gilting worn off. Plates chipped at edges and maps with a few tears, but generally a nice and clean set. (8), XLIV, (6), 116, 200 pp. + frontispiece, 4 folded maps and 6 plates; (4), 298 pp. + 16 plates. Uncommon first edition (the two first volumes) of this compilation of Northern voyages. A total of 10 volumes was published in the period 1715 – 1738. These first two volumes concentrate on Greenland and Iceland. “Bernard claimed that the ‘science de voyager’ required such a broad range of knowledge that no one individual could hope to encompass all relevant disciplines. Among these, he included natural history, astronomy, geography, hydrography, philosophy, and commerce. He criticized most published travel accounts for their contradictions and lack of precision. His collection of voyages was intended to correct these faults and the list of instructions was supplied to guide the ‘voyageur curieux & philosophe’ in making reliable observations.” (Harris, Rethinking the Mediterranean, p. 239) “Recueil de voyages au Nord was published in ten volumes between 1715 and 1738 and was met with great success. It focused on a variety of territories of the “North”, from Iceland to Japan. Already very familiar with existing travel literature of the time, the editor, in addition to compiling previously published travel literature, produced translations and wrote accounts in which, while seeking to satisfy the reader’s curiosity, he insisted on ways to make each journey useful.” (Muceni, L’apport d’un éditeur des Lumières à la littérature viatique de son temps : Jean-Frédéric Bernard et le Recueil de voyages au Nord). Sabin 4935Leclerc I, 1264: "Collection tres estimee" (Referring to the first 4 volumes).