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Kiøbenhavn (Copenhagen), Kongl. Maj. og Univers. privil. Bogtrykkerie, 1702. 4to. In contemporary half calf with three raised bands. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Light wear to extremities. Small tear to title-page, no loss of text. Dampstain to upper half of last 30 ff. (4), 112 pp. + 6 plates and numerous engraving in text. Exceedingly rare first edition of this – arguably most famous and sought after – early Danish work on naval navigation, a textbook for a small navigational school on the Danish island of Møn. We have not been able to trace a single copy at auction and OCLC only list two copies, both in Denmark. In the 17th and 18th century Denmark was one of the largest seafaring nations in the world and had numerous small schools dedicated to various maritime aspects. Most schools used foreign material and almost none of the locally printed works have been preserved. Jørgen Rasch (ca. 1665 – 1714), Professor of mathematics at the University of Copenhagen. As a young man Rasch travelled around Europa and after enduring various difficulties at sea, he was captured by pirates and taken to Cairo, where he, luckily, was not considered a slave and his knowledge of shipbuilding and seamanship was admired, as well as his proficiency in almost all European languages. He was even paid a considerable salary. However, after 14 years of travelling he returned to Denmark. There, he was accepted as the first instructor at the newly established Navigation School on Møn. He was appointed head of the school with an annual salary of 300 rdl. and housing. In the first year, Rasch was busy preparing the present work. He was undoubtedly a talented and knowledgeable man, but stubborn and difficult to deal with; occasionally, he gave himself vacation for 2 to 3 months. This led to many conflicts. Nevertheless, the school did quite well; in 1708, it had 34 students. in 1712, Rasch was appointed as a mathematical professor at the university, effectively dooming the navigation school.

Iserlohn, J Baedeker, 1866 [but 1865]. 8vo. In contemporary half cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Extremities with wear and back hindge loose. First 12 pp with light occassional brownspotting. Otherwise a fine copy. XVI, 563, (1) pp. Rare first edition of Lange's seminal work on materialism which had profound influence on Nietzsche who stated that it "without a doubt [was] the most significant philosophical work to have appeared in the last hundred years" (Letter to Muschacke). "Nietzsche never 'broke' with Lange's thought at any point in his career as he did with other influences" (Constancio, Nietzsche and the Problem of Subjectivity)."Lange's most famous book, The History of Materialism and Critique of its Contemporary Significance, is in essence a defense of such a return to Kant. It is also a detailed history of materialism (and was read well into the twentieth century for precisely this reason). However, more fundamentally, it was meant to drive home the above mentioned concerns about materialism. Lange accepted materialism as a sensible maxim for the construction of theories within natural science. However, as a comprehensive philosophical system, as both fundamental ontology and epistemology, materialism is self-undermining." (Stanford)In 'Geschichte des Materialismus' Lange adopted the Kantian standpoint that we can know nothing but phenomena, Lange maintains that neither materialism nor any other metaphysical system has a valid claim to ultimate truth. For empirical phenomenal knowledge, however, which is all that humans can look for, materialism with its exact scientific methods has done most valuable service. Ideal metaphysics, though they fail of the inner truth of things, have a value as the embodiment of high aspirations, in the same way as poetry and religion. Lange replaced the transcendental subject of Kantianism by the organism, although he considered that this substitution validated all the more Kant's philosophy that

(Haslev), Gyldendal, 1969. Uncut in the original printed paper binding. Spine with a bit some wear, some creasing and a bit crooked at the top spine. Internally very clean and fresh. With book plate (Eigil Holm) to inside of front board. Illustrated. The scarce first edition of the first translation of The Hobbit into Danish. This first Danish translation appeared in 1969, at a time when Tolkien had not yet become a world sensation within literature and the scope of his enormous literary production was still not fully known in Denmark. At the time, The Hobbit was considered an individual work rather than the introductory part to the extensive universe we now know to be Tolkien’s. The present translation is the first introduction to this universe in the Danish language and a legendary production. As Tolkien was virtually inknown in Denmark at the time, the book was not printed in a large number and is now extremely difficult to find in the first printing.

Kjöbenhavn (Copenhagen), 1836. 8vo. Nice contemporary half calf with gilt red leather title-label and gilt spine. Vellum corners to boards. Ex libris to inside of front board. 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, Hodgson & Son, 1945. Royal 8vo. Entire volume 48 of "Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society. Second Series" bound in a nice contemporary blue full cloth binding with gilt ex-libris ("Sir John Cass College") to front board and gilt title-label and year to spine. Very minor wear to extremities. Nicely re-enforced at inner hinges. A very nice, clean, and tight copy. Large library-book-plate to inside of front board (stating that the volume was presented by "Dr. A.E.R. Church"), with "withdrawn"-stamp. Also "withdrawn"-stamp to title-page and to final page, and a library-stamp to p. (1). Otherwise a nice and clean copy with no markings, etc. Pp. 180-197. [Entire volume: (4),477, (1) pp. The very rare 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).

Copenhagen, 1960-73. Folio. 10 volumes bound in publishers fine hvellum. A collection of Danish medieval Manuscripts reproduced in facsimile. The earliest Scandinavian texts which have survived until our day from about 1100 and originate from the ancient sphere of Danish Culture.

Parisiis, Iacobi du Puys, 1573. 4to. Bound in one near contemporary full vellum. Printers woodcut device to booth title pages. Ex-libris [Luigi Imolae, physician to Pope VII] pasted on to pasted down front free end paper. Title written in contemporary hand to upper part of spine. Names written in contemporary hand and crossed out, except for 'Livius' and 'Imolae', to first title page. Very light uniform browning to leaves. All in all a fine and clean copy. (87), 477, (11), 328, (4) pp. First edition of Charpentier's famous comparison of Aristotle and Plato - one of the most thorough and important works of its kind - which came to influence the way that the Renaissance viewed the two great thinkers and their works. The work, which is profoundly anti-Ramist and also as such drew great attention, constitutes a fabulous determination of the joint legacy of Aristotle and Plato and is one of the works that best illustrates the nuanced basis of Renaissance scholarship and philosophy. It is a curious but generally accepted conception that with the rise of the Renaissance came the fall of Aristotle. It is a fact that with the recovery of many lost works of ancient literature, the widening of the range of classical studies and the renewed interest in Plato, Aristotle was no longer the sole authority on a huge number of fields, as he to a certain extent had been viewed during the Middle Ages. That this should mean a total ignorance of the teachings of Aristotle must be considered somewhat of a myth (though a very frequently repeated one), and in fact with the grand humanists of the late 15th and early 16th century, the study of Aristotle fits perfectly with the broader comprehension of scholarship. The idea of nearing the thought of Aristotle to that of Plato and vice-versa is something that understreams much original thought of the Renaissance, and Charpentier's work, which explicitly and thoroughly compares and reconciles the two great thinkers, gives us a fabulous insight into Renaissance thought, as it is rarely presented."It was published at Paris in 1573. Charpentier shows a knowledge of other writers in this tradition, namely Boethius, Bessarion, George Trebizond, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Symphorien Champier, and Fox Morcillo, among others." (Riccardo Pozzo, "The Impact of Aristotelianism on Modern Philosophy", p. 20). Jacques Charpentier (1521-74), Professor of medicine and philosophy, Charles IX's physician, taught mathematics at the Collège de France and philosophy at the Collège de Bourgogne and was later appointed Rector of the University of Paris. He passionately defended Peripateticism and was renowned for his philosophical and religious intolerance. Despite his remarkable merits he is today perhaps best known for his feud with Petrus Ramus, French humanist and protestant convert with a liberal approach to Aristotelian teaching. In Ramus Charpentier saw the impact of Lorenzo Valla's criticism or Aristotle: "He thought that with Ramus the true idea of knowledge was in danger of eclipse", as expressed in the present work. Charpentier is often referred to as a Anti-Ramist due to his many - often fierce and personal - attacks on Ramus's teaching:"More intellectual provocative were three attacks by Jacques Charpentier. In 1551 as rector of the University Charpentier ruled that because Ramus did not teach the Aristotelian logic required by the statutes, his pupils could not enjoy the privileges of Paris university students. Rasmus appealed first to the assembly of regents of Philosophy and later to the Parliament of Paris. Before the Parliament Ramus outlined a programme of study in which grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic led first to natural and moral philosophy and later theology or law. He argued that his method of teaching avoided wasting time on scholastic technicalities and produced graduates who were better prepared for practical life. The effectiveness of this speech and the support of his patron helped him to avoid censure and obtain a royal lectureship." (Mack, A History of Renaissance Rhetoric 1380-1620, Pp. 153-4)."by 1565 he was leading opposition to the naming of Jacques Charpentier (no relation), a long-time adversary, to the royal chair of mathematics. Charpentier, who had by then succeeded Ramus as the Cardinal de Lorraine's protégé and who enjoyed Jesuit support, kept his chair; and Ramus, ever more threatened, in 1567 again fled Paris, taking refuge with the Prince de Condé." (DSB).

Copenhagen., A.& S. Soldin, Trykt hos C.M. Cohen, 1807. 4to. All four issues in the original blank wrappers with paper title-lables to front wrappers. Each issue with a later cloth backstrip. Housed in an exquisite box with a beautifully gilt red morocco spine and marbled blue and red paper, with gilt super ex-libris to front. Some leaves brownspotted, especially in the fourth issue 48 pp + 40 finely hand-coloured plates (on two of which the engraved is mentioned: "Fridrich sc."). Two versions of the title-page for the fourth issue. 4to. Foreligger i de 4 originale hefter med glanspapirsomslag, shirtryg i en smuk bogæske af rød maroquin med rygforgyldning. 4 titelblade (af hefte 4 foreligger 2 versioner). På skrivepapir. 48 pp. samt 40 fint håndkolorerede plancher (på 2 plancher nævnes kobberstikkeren: Fridrich sc.). Nogle plancher brunpletted, især i 4. hefte. Of the utmost scarcity. OCLC records merely one copy. Af største sjældenhed. Kobberstikkeren må være identisk med Johann Georg Fridrich (1742-1809) som er kendt for brandbillederne fra 1794, jvf. Krohn p. 82, heri er værket dog ikke nævnt. B. Danica II:191.

Kiøbenhavn, Johan Rudolph Thiele, (1797) 1799. 4to. Recently bound in a nice pastiche-binding of brown half calf with five raised bands and gilt red leather title-label to elaborately gilt spine. Vellum corners and marbled paper over boards. Published in: "Nye Samling af det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter." Vol. V. A very nice copy. Pp.469-518 + 3 folded engraved plates. First edition of this seminal publication in which Wessel presents the first systematical treatment of the theory of complex numbers and furthermore being the first work to add vectors in three-dimensional space."Wessel’s fame as a mathematician is based entirely on one paper, written in Danish and published in the Mémoires of the Royal Danish Academy, that established his priority in publication of the geometric representation of complex numbers. John Wallis had given a geometric representation of the complex roots of quadratic equations in 1685; Gauss had had the idea as early as 1799 but did not explicitly publish it until 1831. Robert Argand’s independent publication in 1806 must be credited as the source of this concept in modern mathematics because Wessel’s work remained essentially unknown until 1895, when its significance was pointed out by Christian Juel. The title of Wessel’s treatise calls it an "attempt" to give an analytic representation of both distance and direction that could be used to solve plane and spherical polygons. The connection of this goal with Wessel’s work as a surveyor and cartographer is obvious. The statement of the problem also suggests that Wessel should be credited with an early formulation of vector addition. In fact, Michael J. Crowe, in A History of Vector Analysis (University of Notre Dame Press, 1967), defines the first period in that history as that of a search for hypercomplex numbers to be used in space analysis and dates it from the time of Wessel, whom he calls the first to add vectors in three-dimensional space." (DSB).

Te Leiden, Te Amsterdam, 1766-91. 8vo. Bound in 94 contemporary full vellum. With 47 engraved plates (partly folded) and many fold.Tables. Each year consists of 2 or more parts, in the set lacks 5 parts (Deel 3:1, 16:2, 19:1 - 7:1, 23:1).

Stockholm, L. L. Grefing, 1757. 8vo. Bound in a very nice recent half calf pastich binding (by Gust. Hedberg, Stockholm) with gilt lettering and ornamentation to spine. Very light miscolouring to spine. Internally with a few occassional brownspots. Overall a very nice copy. (8), 312, (4), 317-376, (16) + 12 engraved plates. First edition of this important account of two Swedish voyages to China and the East Indies, with a foreword by Linné. The first being by the Swedish botanist and explorer Peter Osbeck and the second by the Swedish naturalist Olof Torén. Both are notable for their contributions to botany, natural history and cultural exchange between Europe and Asia.In 1750–1752 Peter Osbeck travelled on the ship Prins Carl to Asia where he spent four months studying the flora, fauna, and people of the Canton region of China. He returned home just in time to contribute more than 600 species of plant to Linnaeus' Species Plantarum, published in 1753. Osbeck's journal contain detailed observations on the languages, cultures, and local economy of the regions he visited. However, its primary significance lies in the extensive sections dedicated to foreign plants and fish which are illustrated in 12 engravings.Soulsby 3599.

Lipsiae, Excudebat Iohannes Rhamba, 1561. Small 8vo. Later blue boards (ab. 1800). Spine with minor loss and a few cracks. First few leaves with minor soiling, but otherwise a nice and clean copy. 19th century owner's inscription to inside of front cover: "Colegii Thomani". Lovely woodcut opening initial. Beautiful Greek script. 48 ff. Extremely scarce first edition thus, containing all of Theophrastus' 23 characters in Greek and Latin, being the first edition of Auberius' excellent Latin translation and first edition with Lycio's interesting commentaries. "This very rare edition, which presents us with the Greek text of H. Stephan (Stephanus), contains a new Latin version by Claudius Auberius, who was scarcely twenty years of age when he composed it. The notes are critical and historical; sometimes bold, but always erudite... This version and these notes were republished in Zuinger's edition of Aristotle's "Ethics" at Basil. fol. 1582." (Dibdin II:500). This version of Theophrastus' milestone work, the first recorded attempt at systematic character writing, became hugely influential and is still referred to in modern editions of the text, as Auberius' translation is regarded as one of the best and most important interpretations of the text. Claude Aubery or Claudius Auberius (ca. 1540-1596) was a noted philosopher and medical doctor, professor of Philosophy in Lausanne. He translated several Greek texts into Latin, but is best remembered for his excellent version of Theophrastus' "Characters", which was highly influential throughout the Renaissance and which was incorporated into later Renaissance Aristotle-editions as the standard-version of Theophrastus' text. Theophrastus (ca. 371- ca. 287 BC), Aristotle's successor at the Lyceum, and probably the most famous Aristotelian of all times, successfully presided over the Peripatetic School for 36 years and here wrote a number of works. The most famous of them is arguably his great moral opus "The Characters", which continues to amaze readers to this day. It introduced the "character sketch", which became the core of the Character as a genre, and as such it influenced the entire literay tradition of the Western world. The fabulous, very witty, astute, harsh, and insightful characteristics of type characters of the human race have been formative for our understanding of moral virtues and vices and how they come to be expressed in man, for our understanding of human nature in general. It is no wonder that the work became so popular and widely read during the Renaissance, the era of man as the centre of the universe. "Le texte est le celui de Henri Estienne (insére dans l'édition d'Aristote de 1557), mais dans la version il suit pour la plupart ses propres conjectures" (Graesse 7: 125). Dibdin II:500, Graesse VII:125.

Wisconsin, The Association for Symbolic Logic, 1936. Lev8vo. Entire volume one of "Journal of Symbolic Logic" (i.e. number 1-4), March, June, September, December 1936) BOUND WITH ALL THE ORIGINAL WRAPPERS in a blue half cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Crossed-out library paper-label to lower part of spine and top left corner of front board. Two library stamps (in Chinese) to back of front free end-paper. Chinese library-stamp (red) and stamped inventory-number lower part of all four front wrappers. Minor bumping to lower corner of nr. 4, otherwise internally a very fine and clean copy of the entire volume. [Church:] Pp. 40-1; 101-2. [Post:] Pp. 103-5. [Entire volume: 218 pp.]. First publication of Church's seminal paper in which he proved the solution to David Hilbert's "Entscheidungsproblem" from 1928, namely that it is impossible to decide algorithmically whether statements within arithmetic are true or false. In showing that there is no general algorithm for determining whether or not a given statement is true or false, he not only solved Hilbert's "Entscheidungsproblem" but also laid the foundation for modern computer logic. This conclusion is now known as Church's Theorem or the Church-Turing Theorem (not to be mistaken with the Church-Turing Thesis). The present paper anticipates Turing's famous "On Computable Numbers" by a few months. "Church's paper, submitted on April 15, 1936, was the first to contain a demonstration that David Hilbert's 'Entscheidungsproblem' - i.e., the question as to whether there exists in mathematics a definite method of guaranteeing the truth or falsity of any mathematical statement - was unsolvable. Church did so by devising the 'lambda-calculus', [...] Church had earlier shown the existence of an unsolvable problem of elementary number theory, but his 1936 paper was the first to put his findings into the exact form of an answer to Hilbert's 'Entscheidungsproblem'. Church's paper bears on the question of what is computable, a problem addressed more directly by Alan Turing in his paper 'On computable numbers' published a few months later. The notion of an 'effective' or 'mechanical' computation in logic and mathematics became known as the Church-Turing thesis." (Hook & Norman: Origins of Cyberspace, 250) The volume also contains first printing of Post's seminal paper, in which he, simultaneously with but independently of Turing, describes a logic automaton, which very much resembles the Turing machine. The Universal Turing Machine, which is presented for the first time in Turing's seminal paper in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society for 1936, is considered one of the most important innovations in the theory of computation and constitutes the most famous theoretical paper in the history of computing. "Post [in the present paper] suggests a computation scheme by which a "worker" can solve all problems in symbolic logic by performing only machinelike "primitive acts". Remarkably, the instructions given to the "worker" in Post's paper and to a Universal Turing Machine were identical." (A Computer Perspective, p. 125)."The Polish-American mathematician Emil Post made notable contributions to the theory of recursive functions. In the 1930s, independently of Turing, Post came up with the concept of a logic automaton similar to a Turing machine, which he described in the present paper [the paper offered]. Post's paper was intended to fill a conceptual gap in Alonzo Churchs' paper on "An unsolvable problem of elementary number theory" (Americ. Journ. of Math. 58, 1936). Church's paper had answered in the negative Hilbert's question as to whether a definite method existed for proving the truth or falsity of any mathematical statement (the Entscheidungsproblem), but failed to provide the assertion that any such definite method could be expressed as a formula in Church's lambda-calculus. Post proposed that a definite method would be written in the form of instructions to a mindless worker operating on an infinite line of "boxes" (equivalent to Turing's machine's "tape"). The worker would be capable only of reading the instructions and performing the following tasks... This range of tasks corresponds exactly to those performed by a Turing machine, and Church, who edited the "Journal of Symbolic Logic", felt it necessary to insert an editorial note referring to Turing's "shortly forthcoming" paper on computable numbers, and ascertaining that "the present article... although bearing a later date, was written entirely independently of Turing's" (p. 103)." (Origins of Cyberspace, pp. 111-12).Even though Post's work to some degree has been outshined by Turing's, the present paper is of seminal importance in the history of the foundation for modern computer logic and the ideological basis for the modern computer.The volume also contains the following important papers by W. V. Quine:1. Toward a Calculus of Concepts. Pp. 2-25.2. Set-theoretic Foundations for Logic. Pp. 45-57.Hook & Norman, Origins of Cyberspace, 2002: 250 + 356 Charles & Ray Eames, A Computer Perspective, 1973: 125.

London, G. Lathum and R Young, 1634. Folio (350 x 230 mm). In contemporary full calf with six raised bands. Some wear to extremities, corners bumped and leather on hinges to upper compartment split. Occasional marginal dampstaining throughout. A few small worm-tracts, otherwise a good copy. (62), 184, 181-555, [1], 512, 517-669, (54) pp. + 8 double-page maps. Fine copy of Raleigh’s highly influential work on the history of the world. Its immense popularity resulted it in being published in nearly twenty editions and abridgements this early edition being the fifth. Imprisoned in the Tower of London after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, Walter Ralegh spent seven years producing this massive work. Created with the aid of a library of more than five hundred books that he was allowed to keep in his quarters, this incredible work of English vernacular would become a best seller. It covers the course of human history from Genesis to the conquest of Macedon by Rome. Raleigh intended to write more volumes relating the rise and fall of the great empires, but his release in 1615, his expedition to Guiana, and his execution in 1618, prevented the accomplishment of his plan. According to author Edmund Gosse, "This huge composition is one of the principal glories of seventeenth-century literature, and takes a very prominent place in the history of English prose”. “The success of Raleigh’s History, which apart from numerous abridgements, ran through ten editions between 1614 and 1687, can perhaps be explained by the very fact that it is not a work of history in the academic sense but a political tract of immediate applicability. Its author was listened to, not so mucnh because he was a scholar (which he certainly was by contemporary standards of scholarship), as because he embodied all the glories of the reign of Elizabeth I, which at the time of the publication had already begun to be transfigured into a golden age.” (PMM 177). (PMM 177, the first edition).

Lwów, Ksiegarnia Polska, 1875-1876. 8vo. In contemporary half cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Previous owner's stamp and another owner's sginature to title-page. Light wear to extremities, otherwise a fine and clean set. 262, (2); 313, (3) pp. Rare first Polish edition of the second and third parts of the Descent of Man, but published separate from the first part, as one work, hence the title 'Sexual Selection', a translation authorised by Darwin in response to Malowski's request to make the translation (Letter 8910, 14 May 1873). Whereas "Origin of Species" established Darwinism as a turning point in nineteenth-century biology "The Descent of Man" helped built a bridge between biology, the social sciences, and the humanities and made Darwinism a broad system of research designs, theoretical principles, and philosophical outlook.The numeration of parts is from Chapter I to Chapter VI (vol. I) and from Chapter VII to Chapter XIV (vol. II). It is generally based on the first English edition (1871) but at the end of vol. II the Polish publisher has added the short note on the brains of man and apes of T. H. Huxley, which was originally published in the second English edition (1874). "It was translated into Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian and Swedish in Darwin's lifetime and into ten further languages since." Freeman.Maslowski (1847-1928) studied medicine and natural sciences in Paris before returning to Poland, where he took part in the January Uprising: he remained active in politics, primarily as a journalist. At first an ardent Darwinian, he later became a fierce opponent.Not in FreemanDarwin Online: F1101b.1, F1101b.2.OCLC locates four copies worldwide (Cornell Univ., Huntington Libr., Yale Univ. Libr., National Library of Poland,)

All: Antwerpen, Plantin; I: Balthasar Moretus, 1639, II: Apud Viduam & Filios Io. Moreti, 1636, III:Apud Balthasarem Moretum, & Viduam Ioannis Moreti, & Io. Meursium, 1630, IV: Johannes Moretus, 1610. 4to. Bound together in one contemporary full vellum binding with handwritten title to spine. Old crossed-out owner's name to first title-page and a few leaves with a few tears and creases to upper margin, far from affecting text, otherwise all works are very nice and clean, in very fine condition. I: Beautiful engraved printer's devise to title-page, beautiful woodcut vignettes and initials, and 17 excellently executed large (one small) engravings in the text (one full-page), most of which depict crucifications, a few of which depict coins. Woodcut printer's devise to last leaf. 96, (8) pp.II: Beautiful engraved title-vignette, beautiful woodcut initials, and two excellent engraved plates. Woodcut printer's devise to last leaf. (8), 86, (10) pp.III: Beautiful engraved title-vignette, beautiful woodcut initials. Woodcut printer's devise to last leaf. (8), 69, (11) pp.IV: Beautiful engraved printer's devise to title-page, beautiful woodcut vignettes and initials, 1 full-page engraving, woodcut printer's devise to last leaf. (8), 121, (7) pp. + 2 large folded engraved maps ("Lovanium" and "Hervelea").

Kiöbenhavn, Gyldendal, 1776 - 1777. 8vo. 4 volumes, uncut in publisher's original blue boards. Printed on heavy paper. Rebacked using old blue paper. Boards with marks and stains. Ex-libris and a few annotations in pencil to verso of front board. A few pages slightly stained but overall a very nice copy. The only copy we have seen on thick paper. Engraved frontispiece-portait of Carvantes (by Meno Haas) and 28 engraved plates by Georg Haas and Preisler. The rare first Danish translation of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, illustrated with elegant Rococo-style engravings copied from the French folio edition of 1746, is regarded as one of the greatest achievements of its time in the field of foreign literature translated into Danish. Dorothea Biehl approached the publisher Gyldendal, and a contract was drawn up. However, prior to this, she had already issued a prospectus and secured 350 subscribers. To honor this commitment, Biehl arranged to have 500 copies printed at her own initiative. Of these, Gyldendal agreed to take over the remaining 150 copies. In addition, Gyldendal was permitted to print a further 500 copies at its own expense, and the copperplates were transferred to the publisher. For each set sold, Biehl was to receive 600 rix-dollars. This particular copy is one of the original 500 printed on thick paper, and includes both the subscriber’s list and the Gyldendal title page.

Sorøe, Jonas Lindgren, 1763 - 1764. 4to. Uniformly bound in two contemporary full sprinkled calf bindings with five raised bands. "Söe Cadet Accadem:" embossed to front boards. Wear to extremities, head of spines chipped and parts of the gilting worn off. A few annotations to front free end-paper in both volumes. Small stamp to upper outer corner on title-page in both volumes. Internally very nice and clean. (28), 656, (4) pp. + 14 folded engraved plate; (16),1000 pp. + 47 folded engraved plates. First edition of the most significant Danish physics work of the 18th century, being the first systematic exposition of Newtonian physics and mathematics in Denmark. Here he provides a systematic presentation of Newtonian physics and calculus. "Kraft’s best-known work is a textbook on theoretical and technical mechanics (1763-1764). The book, written in an easy and fluent style, contains a series of lectures baied on Newtonian principle. Each lecture is provided with a supplement giving a more advanced mathematical exposition of the subject matter. In Denmark this work gave theoretical physics a firm basis as an academic subject, while its large section on machines stimulated the expansion of industry. The book was favorably received abroad and was trans. lated into Latin and German." (DSB) Jens Kraft (1720–1765) was a Dano-Norwegian mathematician and philosopher. He was born in Frederikshald in Norway.While still a student in Copenhagen, he was influenced by Christian Wolff, having attended one of Wolff’s lectures during a visit to Halle. Later he was appointed professor of philosophy at the Sorø Academy, where he responded to Baumgarten’s Metaphysica with his own work, Metaphysik. Both philosophers structured their works into four divisions: Cosmologie, Ontologie, Psykologie, and Naturlig Theologie. Kraft distinguished between time and eternity asserting that “the finite can never attain eternity, but it can attain infinite time (Aevum), a time with a beginning but without an end.” In contrast, the infinite possesses true permanence. Biblioteca Danica II, 53.

København, 1828-35. 3 smukke senere hldrbd.m.rygforgyldn.og skindtitler. Frisk ubeskåret eksemplar, såvel plancher som tekstsider. Med ialt 288 håndkolorerede, kobberst. blomsterplancher(efter Flora Danica og Palmstruch) samt 576 pp. beskrivende tekst. Bound in three beautiful later hcalfs w. gilt backs and leather title labels to backs. Clean and uncut copy, wich goes for both text-leaves and plates. All in all 288 handcoloured engr. plates of plants (after Flora Danica and Palmstruch) and 576 pp. of descriptive text. Et af de smukkeste blomsterværker på dansk. Sjælden.The work is rare and counts as one of the most beatiful works on plants in Danish.

Lancaster, American Physical Society, 1923. Royal8vo. In the original printed wrappers. In: Physical Review, Second Series, Vol. 25, No. 5, May 1923. With black cloth back-strip. Front wrapper missing top right corner and front wrapper washed/polished. Internally fine and clean. [Compton's paper:] pp. 483-502. [Entire issue:] Pp: 483-584. First printing of this milestone paper in quantum physics in which Compton verifies Planck's quantum postulate and found that some of the X-rays had, in scattering, lenghtened their wavelenght. This phenomena was called the "Compton Effect" in his honour. For this discovery Compton received the Nobel prize in physics in 1927."Compton was able to account for this (lenghtening of wavelenght) by presuming that a photon of light struch an electron, which recoiled, subtracting some energy from the photon and therefore increasing its wavelenght. This made it seem that a photon acted as a particle: thus after more than a century, the particulate natuer of light, as evolved by Newton, was revived... What itamounted to was that Compton brought to fruition the view that electromagnetic radiation had both a wave aspect and a particle aspect, and that the aspect which was most evident depended on how the radiation was tested. De Broglie was, at the same time, showing that this held true also for ordinary particles, such as electrons." (Asimov)Parkinson "Breakthroughs", 1923 P. - Sigmund Brandt "The Harvest of as Century", Episode 31.

Franckfurt am Mayn, Zunner, 1685. 4to. In contemporary half calf. Traces from old paper-label to spine. Binding with considerable wear. Back board broken but still attached. Inner hinges split. Frontispiece partly detached. Previous owner's name in contemporary hand to spine. With a few occassional brownspots and tears in margin, but internally generally nice and clean. (8), 210, (14) pp. + 128 engraved plates and 1 frontispiece. (plates are numbered consecutively from 1 - 130. Plate no. 90 and 92 are missing, but collation corresponds to the digitalized copy in Regensburg, Staatliche Bibliothek, OCLC Accession No: 930342403 and the Otto Leopold Schmidt-copy, sold at Bonham in 2020). First German translation (vol. 4 only) of Mallet’s lavishly illustrated ambitious guide to Europe, offering geographical and cultural knowledge to a broader audience in part because of the numerous and detailed engravings. Mallet's maps and illustrations are not only geographically informative but also a fine example of the baroque style of the period. It has been suggested that his background as a teacher led to him being concerned with entertaining his readers. This concern manifested itself in these charming illustrations which include maps, cityscapes, and depictions of various cultural practices and costumes. The first edition appeared in Paris in 1683 as "Description de l'univers," and soon after the hundreds of copper plates for the illustrations were transferred to Jan David Zunner in Frankfurt, who published the first edition of the German translation in 1684, with German text engraved in the plates. He then published the second French edition in 1685, with the German text still in the plates. Alain Manesson Mallet (1630–1706) was a French cartographer and engineer primarily known for his significant contributions to cartography, particularly through the present work. He began his career as a soldier in the army of Louis XIV, eventually rising to the rank of Sergeant-Major in the artillery and serving as an Inspector of Fortifications. Mallet also served under the King of Portugal before returning to France where he was appointed to the court of Louis XIV. His expertise in military engineering and mathematics earned him a position teaching mathematics at the royal court. (For the original in French see: Brunet III, 1343 and Sabin 44130 and Graesse IV, 354).

London, Longman, Brown, Green, And Longman, 1856, 8vo. In the original full embossed red cloth, rebacked, preserving most of the original spine. Map with 10 cm long tear. Wear to extremities and 1 quire lose. Otherwise internally fine. (I)-XV, 300, (1)-4, 24 pp. + 1 folded map. The exceedingly rare first edition of Captain Bernard Whittingham's notes on his voyage from Hong Kong aboard HMS Sibylle to the Russian settlements in Eastern Siberia. Here he recounts in detail the movements and actions of HMS Sybille, including the period of the capture of the Diana's crew (under the command Nikolai Baron Schilling) and their transfer in Hong Kong to other Royal Navy ships. Whittingham had volunteered to join an Allied squadron attempting 'to discover the progress of Russian aggrandisement in North-eastern Asia, and to ascertain how far the reports of her successful encroachment on the sea frontiers of China and Japan were true'. In the context of the Crimean War's Pacific theatre, he was also keen to see avenged the Royal Navy's defeat by the Russians at Petropavlovsk the previous year."Between March and May, the British Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Bruce, assembled his fleet in preparation for a renewed attack on Petropavlovsk to be carried out in May. On March 26 (7), the frigate HMS Sybille (Commodore the Hon. Charles Elliot), steam corvette HMS Hornet and brig HMS Bittern left Hong Kong under instructions from Rear Admiral Sir James Stirling, Commander-in-Chief on the China station. By April 2 (14) the Screw Steam Ship HMS Encounter (Captain George William Douglas O'Callagan) and the Paddle Wheel Steam Sloop HMS Barracouta (Commander Frederick Henry Stirling), both vessels detached for the purpose from the East India station by Rear Admiral Stirling, were in position at the rendezvous position patrolling some distance off Petropavlovsk. Accuracy in the accounts of the events involving HMS Sybille and HMS Barracouta is greatly enhanced by the existence of contemporary journals written by Captain Bernard Whittingham, Royal Engineers, travelling as an observer on HMS Sybille, and by Assistant Surgeon John M Tronson, of HMS Barracouta." (Girad, "Setting the Scene").The present publication consists of the authors partially unedited notes: "The following rough notes were originally pencilled at intervals of a few days, to refresh the recollections of their writer, and they have subsequently been copied amidst the bustle of the saloons of crowded Oriental steamers; and as the duties of the writer's profession preclude any attempt to remould or amplify them, they are offered in their present unpolished form, in the hope that the slight and meagre information they afford of lands comparatively unknown - the Japan Islands, and the shores of Tartary and Eastern Siberia - may interest the public." (from the preface).

Kjøbenhavn, 1856. Tvær-folio. Velbevaret originalt hldrbd., permer af shirt med stor rammeforgyldning. Kromolitograferet titelblad samt 77 litograferede plancher, delvis i farvelitografi. Enkelte brunpletter - Smukt eksemplar af dette hovedværk i dansk topografi.

Paris, Olivier de Varennes, 1678. 4to. Lovely contemporary full mottled calf with five raised bands to richly gilt spine. Spine with signs of wear and cords just showing at the front hinge. But overall very nice indeed. Internally very nice, clean, and fresh. Printed on good paper and with good margins. With the Coyet-book plate from the Torup estate to inside of front board. Engraved title, (14), 408 pp. + 1 folded engraved map, 21 engraved plates and 7 engraved illustrations in the text. The scarce first edition of the first French translation of the first extensive work on Lapland and the Lapps. This highly important work by Johannes Schefferus - Skyttean professor of Eloquence and Government at Uppsala University and one of the most important humanists in Sweden at that time - originally appeared in Latin, in 1673 and was soon translated into French, English, German, and Dutch. It constitutes one of the earliest works on the Saami and is considered a basic source of information on Saami religion and beliefs. Scheffer had been commissioned by the King of Sweden to undertake a study of the Saami, primarily because rumors circulated widely in Europe about the heathen traditions and magic allegedly flourishing among the Lapps. The rumors were based uopn unserious and unfounded studies that the Swedish sought to correct. Schefferbased his work on both his own experiences among the Saami and the extensive collections of manuscripts and artifacts at Upsalla.

London, John Pine, 1733-37. Royal 8vo. Bound in 2 cont. uniform red full morocco. 5 raised bands on backs, backs richly gilt, boards richly gilt, inner gilt borders on boards, all edges of boards gilt, all edges gilt. Vol. 1 neatly rebacked, vol. 2 w. a bit worn hinges. Corners bumped. Internally mint condition. Front- and end-papers in silk, printed on fine, thick paper, broad margins. Copper-engr. throughout, plates and vignettes as well as text. First editon, first issue ("post est Caesar" in sted of "potest Caesar" on medal p. 108, vol II) with the first impressions. This beautiful work, said to be the finest illustrated English book of the 18th century, became a main inspiration for the art of bookillustration. "This edition is much esteemed by the curious. The text is ENGRAVED as well as the numerous and beautiful vignettes which accompany it: of these vignettes, the copies which contain the FIRST IMPRESSIONS are valuable and much sought after." (Dibdin II: 108).Inserted a HANDWRITTEN AND SIGNED NOTE BY PINE, dated "November 5 - 1743." The note is a receipt, stating that Pine received one pound sixteen shilling for a set of Horace.