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Kjøbenhavn, L.H. Lillies Enke, 1758. 4to (203 x 160mm). In a very nice contemporary half calf binding with five raised bands and gilt ornamentation to spine. Lower compartment of spine with some loss of leather. Marbled boards with wear. End-papers renewed but with near contemporary paper. Previous owner's name to title-page. Internally very nice and clean. 72 pp. The extremely scarce first edition of the first printed account of the island of St. Croix under Danish rule. It contain descriptions of the geology, topography and natural history and present detailed descriptions of sugar cultivation and production and the conditions of the slaves. Haagensen settled on the island immediately after Danish occupation (1733) as plantation owner and Danish official. In 1725, St. Thomas Governor Frederik Moth encouraged the Danish West Indies Company's directors to consider purchasing Saint Croix (then known as Santa Cruz). On 15 June 1733, France and Denmark-Norway concluded a treaty by which the Danish West India Company bought Saint Croix for 750,000 livres. Louis XV ratified the treaty on 28 June, and received half the payment in French coins, with the remaining half paid in 18 months. On 16 November 1733, Moth was named the first Danish governor of Saint Croix. The 1742 census lists 120 sugar plantations, 122 cotton plantations, and 1906 slaves, compared to 360 whites on the island. By 1754, the number of slaves had grown to 7,566. That year, King Frederick took direct control of Saint Croix from the company. For nearly 200 years, Saint Croix, St. Thomas and St. John were known as the Danish West Indies. By the mid to late 18th century, "at the peak of the plantation economy, the enslaved population of Saint Croix numbered between 18,000 and 20,000, the white population ranging between 1,500 and 2,000". (Loftsdóttir, Kristin, and Gísli Pálsson, "Black on White: Danish Colonialism, Iceland and the Caribbean"). In 1916, Denmark sold Saint Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John to the United States, formalizing the transfer in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, in exchange for a sum of US$25 million in gold. Sabin 29406 Reid 98 Bibl. Danica III, 647.

Bath, R. Cruttwell, 1795. Large 4to. Contemporary boards, beautifully re-backed in contemporary style, with five raised bands, gilt lines, and gilt red leather title-label to spine. A few light marginal pencil-annotations, small library stamp to lower part of title page, otherwise a very fine copy. 8, 200 pp. + the errata slip inserted after the title-page. First edition of this landmark work in scientific social inquiry, constituting one of the earliest microeconomic- and consumer behavior- analyses. Davies profoundly influenced social history and initiated the entire field of consumer behavior analysis, two areas of study which were to dominate 19th century economics, relevant not only to economic and social history, but also to present day economic analysis. Davies's work anticipates Eden's "The State of The Poor" (PMM 249) by two years. In the present work, Davies discusses in detail the causes of the poverty of agricultural labourers in England, linking the high prices of goods with poverty, and proposes measures to relieve the labourers, including linking their daily wage to the price of bread. Davies's observations demonstrated the failings of the contemporary Poor Laws and was by many seen as a direct criticism of the central policy making (or lack thereof). "The differences in consumption of poor and rich families excited attention and often compassion, but apparently never quantitative analysis, for many centuries. Finally in England in the 1790's two very different investigators made extensive compilations of workingmen's budgets. [Davies in 1795, Eden in 1797]. Both were stimulated to this task by the distress of the working classes at this time." (Stigler, The Early History of Empirical Studies of Consumer Behavior). In "Was bread Giffen? The demand for food in England circa 1790" (in Review of Economics and Statistics, 1977, Vol. 59, issue 2, pp. 225-29), Koenker developed a problem in statistical demand analysis using samples from the budgets recorded in these works. "Two seminal budget studies by .. .Davies ... and ... Eden are employed ... to investigate the place of bread in the diets of English rural laborers at the end of the eighteenth century. Because of the considerable geographical and temporal dispersion in prices of foodstuffs found in these budgets, they afford a unique opportunity to study the influences of both prices and income on individual household consumption decisions. In particular a test is made of the famous hypothesis, attributed by Marshall to Robert Giffen, that a rise in the price of bread, ceteris paribus, increases its consumption among the lower classes." The budget studies to which Koenker refers comprise the 70-page appendix. Davies began collecting statistical data on the poor in 1787 while a rector in the parish of Barkham, Berkshire. "He collected six detailed budgets of 'typical' agricultural laborers living in Barkham and circulated these budgets widely to friends throughout the kingdom. Some of these correspondents were persuaded to produce similar budgets for their own localities. In 1795 Davies edited 127 of these budgets, wrote a dispassionate plea for a minimum wage law tied to the price of wheat, and published both as The Case of Labourers in husbandry." (Koenker). In making the case for government intervention, Davies attacks rampant ignorance and prejudice toward the poor, in particular the notion that the poor are profligate creatures of habit. "It is wonderful how readily even men of sense give in to this censure." (p. 31).Davies's studies "were the first examples of studies in that long and semi-honorable liberal tradition of econometrically snooping into the private lives of the poor. By the mid 19th century such studies were being conducted all over Europe by such notables as Ernst Engel, Frederick Engels, Frederick LePlay and others." (Koenker, Applied Econometrics)David Davies (1742-1819), English clergyman and social commentator, was ordained in 1782 and became the rector of Barkham parish, where he remained incumbent until his death. Kress B2916Goldsmith 16422. Not in Einaudi.

St. Petersburg: N.P. Polyakova, 1869. 8vo. In a later modest half calf binding. Previous owner's name to top of front free end-paper and half title. Internally lightly spottet and soiled. Dampstain to top corner and lower part of book. Restauration to upper outer corner of Pp. 109-110 and pp. 111-112. A closed tear to map. (6), II, 494 pp. + 1 map. Rare first edition of Bervi-Flerovsky's important study based on his own research and impressions from Siberia, which became a milestone in the history of Russian sociology, often referred to as the Russian 'Das Kapital'. It was greatly appreciated by Marx, and in 1869 he began leaning Russian in order to be able to read this work. Marx came to consider Russia the country in which the outbreak of the Revolution was most likely to happen, and in his research for the successive volumes of 'Das Kapital', he primarily used the present work along with works of A. Hoshelev.Flerovsky painted a vivid picture of the growing destitution of the peasantry following the introduction of capitalist social relations in agriculture. "the conclusion he drew was that everything possible should be done to prevent capitalism from making further headway and to utilize, instead, the potentialities of the peasant commune." (Walicki, A History of Russian Thought)."I have read the first 150 pages of Flerovsky's book (they are taken up by Siberia, North Russia and Astrakhan). This is the first work to tell the truth about Russian economic conditions. The man is a determined enemy of what he calls 'Russian optimism.' I never held very rosy views of this communistic Eldorado, but Flerovsky surpasses all expectations. In fact it is wonderful and undoubtedly a sign of change that such a thing could be printed in Petersburg at all [...] In any case this is the most important book which has appeared since your Condition of the Working Class" (Marx's letter to Engels in Manchester. London, 10 February, 1870.)Marx later stated: "The work by Flerovskii is a real discovery for Europe. Russian optimism which has been put about on the continent even by so-called revolutionists, has been mercilessly exposed in this work. The virtues of the book are not diminished if I say that it is in several places not fully up to critical standards, from the purely scholarly point of view. This is a work of a serious observer, a dispassionate laborer, and an impartial critic, a powerful artist, etc..."As an open revolutionary the majority of Flerovsky's works were banned in Russia. This present first edition was banned but sold so quickly that it was not possible to destroy the whole run. All 2465 copies of the second edition from 1872 were destroyed.

Morgiis, Guillelmus Laimarius, 1584. Small folio. 18th century half vellum, somewhat soiled and worn. Corners and edges bumped and worn. Handwritten title to spine. Fore-edge with 2-line title in neat (contemporary?) hand and with the "Societas Jesu" (i.e. the Jesuit Society) symbol in white to the otherwise red fore-edge. Internally a very ni8ce copy, with the occasional browning and spotting. A faint damp stain to top marging of some leaves. A small hole to top of title-page, far from affecting print. Last leaves with neat strenthening of blank upper corners, far from affecting text. Old (presumably 18th century) owner's name to title page: "Ioan. Bey A. Vest." Front free end-papers heavily annotated (presumably by this same owner, in Latin, Greek, and German. The annotations include and elaborate handwritten index, information about the edition, and references to the Greek sentences. Verso of last leaf and back end-papers also with notes. A few underlinings here and there. Woodcut ornamental title-border, woodcut vignettes, woodcut initials, numerous woodcut illustrations and diagrams in the text. Greek-Latin parallel-text. (8), 831, (1) pp. The very rare first edition of Julius Pace's seminal "Organon"-edition, which was the standard-edition of the logical texts of Aristotle throughout more than a century, running through at least 11 editions before 1624. Pace's version of the text, in Greek-Latin parallels, and with Pace's inspired commentaries and interpretations, profoundly influenced Renaissance thought, determining the course of the Organon-interpretation throughout this period and inspiring much original philosophical thought. Pace's interpretation of Aristotle's logical works - arguably the most influential collection of works in the history of Western thought - not only changed the face of Renaissance thought, it has remained the authoritative reading of Aristotle's "Organon" to this day and is still considered the most important and authoritative reading of the texts. As Ross puts it in the Preface to his translation of the logical works (the standard Oxford-edition): "My chief authority in matters of interpretation has been Pacius". ("The Works of Aristotle Translated into English Under the Editorship of W.D. Ross. Volume I". Oxford University Press). To this day, a proper study of Aristotle's "Organon" - and Porphyrios' "Isagoge" - is still unthinkable without references to Pace, his rendering of the text, and his interpretations of it. The famous "Porphyrian Tree" or "arbor porphyriana", which has gone down in history as a standard presentation of the basis of Aristotle's thought, was presented by Porphyrios in his "Isagoge", which since Antiquity has accompanied Aristotle's "Ornanon" as an introduction thereof. The standard presentation of this tree is that of Pace in the present edition, on p. 9. It is that rendering of it, with occasional slight alterations, which has remained standard ever since 1584. That which we ever since Antiquity have called the "Organon" comprises the logical works of Aristotle: 1. Categories, 2. On Interpretation, 3. Prior Analytics, 4. Posterior Analytics, 5. Topics, 6. On Sophistical Refutations - which ever since late Antiquity/early Middle Ages have been accompanied by Porphyrios' (233/34-ca.310) "Isagoge", his introduction to Aristotle's "Categories". During the Renaissance, all editions of Aristotle's "Organon" also comprised Porphyrios' "Isagoge", which was seen as necessary for the understanding of Aristotle's logic. Aristotle's logic has played a seminal role in the history of Western thought. No other collection of writings has had an impact on the history of philosophy that comes close to the "Organon", an impact that remains pivotal to this day. "Aristotle's logic, especially his theory of the syllogism, has had an unparalleled influence on the history of Western thought." (SEP).From Antiquity, the earlier middle ages had inherited Boethius' translation of the two first treatises of Aristotle's "Organon", along with Porphyrios' "Isagoge". These works formed the basis for logical study and teaching until the end of the 11th century. Only during the 12th and 13th centuries, were Aristotle's writings - along with those of the Arabic and some of the Greek commentators - translated into Latin. When the medieval universities reached their full development during the thirteenth century, Aristotle's works were adapted as the standard textbooks for all philosophical disciplines - thus modern terms for many philosophical and scientific disciplines correspond to the titles of Aristotle's works (e.g. Ethics, Physics, Metaphysics). Through Aristotle's works, the West thus acquired, not only the specific problems and ideas that were being dealt with at the universities, but also the terminology used to describe and discuss them and the systematic framework within which all relevant problems should and could be treated. But come the Renaissance, we see a clear change in the use of Aristotle's works. We here witness something other than a mere continuation of the late medieval Aristotelianism. The Humanists began supplying new translations of Aristotle's works and translated all the Greek commentators of Aristotle, many of them for the first time. And thus, a tendency to emphasize the original Greek Aristotle developed, a tendency that became pivotal for the development of modern thought - the development of modern science and modern philosophy is inextricably linked with the Renaissance Humanist editions of Aristotle's works in Greek (with Latin parallel-text). The "Organon", Aristotle's seminal logical writings, occupies a central position within the Aristotelian body of writing and thus within the development of Western thought. Certain Humanist versions of the Greek text and the Latin translations, as well as the interpretations of them, thus came to play a seminal role in the trajectory of Renaissance and modern though, Pace's "Organon"-edition presumably being THE most important and influential edition ever to have appeared. "The medieval traditions of logical writing survived well into the sixteenth century particularly at Paris and at the Spanish universities, though with considerable internal changes. Treatises on sophisms and on proofs of terms ceased to be written; whereas there was a sudden flurry of activity concerned with the various divisions of terms and with the opposition of propositions, i.e. the logical relations between different kinds of categorical proposition. These internal changes were not, however, sufficient to keep the tradition alive, and after about 1530 not only did new writing on the specifically medieval contributions to logic cease, but the publication of medieval logicians virtually ceased. The main exceptions were the logical commentaries by (or attributed to) such authors as Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus, which found a place in their "Opera Omnia", and which benefited from a revived interest in the great medieval metaphysicians.The main changes in the teaching and writing of logic during the sixteenth century were due to the impact of humanism. First, commentaries on Aristotle came to display a totally new style of writing. One reason for this was the influence of new translations of Aristotle, and new attitudes to the Greek text. Another reason was the publication of the Greek commentators on Aristotle's logic, Alexander, Themistius, Ammonius, Philoponus and Simplicius. A third reason was the new emphasis on Averroes, which expressed itself in the great Aristotle-Averroes edition of 1550-1552. The effects of these new factors can be seen in the commentaries on individual works of the "Organon" by such Italians as Agostino Nifo (1473-1546) and Jacopo Zabarella (1533-1589), the latter of whom offered a particularly influential account of scientific method. They can also be seen in the "Organon" edition of Giulio Pace (1550-1635), which was first published in 1584 and contained the Greek text side-by-side with a new translation which was designed not only to read well but also to capture the philosophical significance of Aristotle's words." (Raul Corazzon, "History of Renaissance and Modern Logic from 1400 to Stuart Mill")."No editor better understood the nature of this Treatise of Aristotle than Julius Pacius, who was the preceptor of Casaubon, and profoundedly skilled in all the arcane of the Peripatetic philosophy, in both the Greek and Latin tongues." (Dibdin I: 318)Giulio Pace of Beriga (or Julius Pace/Pacius) (1550 - 1635) was a famous Italian Aristotelian scholar and jurist. He was born in Vicenza and studied law and philosophy in Padua. He was inspired by the Reformation and put on trial by the Inquisition. Therefore he had to flee Italy and escaped, first to Geneva, thereafter to Germany. While in Heidelberg, he converted to Protestantism. He was highly respected as an academic and was widely known for his deep knowledge and understanding of Aristotle, whom he became famous for translating. He was elected public professor in Geneva, where he taught for ten years (1575-1585). The next ten years he spent teaching law at the University of Heidelberg (where he got into different conflicts, especially with the philosophical faculty for giving private tuition in the controversial Ramist logic). After Heidelberg, he taught at different universities throughout Europe, where he was especially well known for his 1584-edition of Aristotle's "Organon", which played a definitive role in Aristotle-scholarship and philosophy in general throughout all of Europe.Dibdin I:318; Adams A:1866.

Paris, 1869. 8vo. Contemporary green half cloth with gilt red leather title-label to spine. A bit of wear to extremities and title-label with wear. A bit of brownspotting to first and last leaves. VII, (1), 238 pp. Illustrated. Scarce first edition, presentation-copy, of the first book explicitly devoted to solar energy, "Solar Energy and its Industrial Applications", which coincided with the unveiling of Mouchot's largest solar steam engine, the so-called "Sun Engine", in 1869, which caused a revolution in the development of solar thermal power. His 1869 work constitutes a milestone of what we now call "green energy", as it laid the foundation for our understanding of the conversion of solar radiation into mechanical power driven by steam.The PRESENTATION-INSCRIPTION, to the half-title reads: "|a Monsieur Burdallot/ hommage de l'auteur/ A. Mouchot". Auguste Mouchot was a French mathematics teacher, who in the 1860'ies became famous as the designer (and patent-taker) of the first machine that generated electricity with solar thermal energy electricity by the exposure of the sun. Mouchot began his work with solar energy in 1860 after expressing grave concerns about his country's dependence on coal. His work on solar energy and on the development of his sun machine forms the basis for the later developments on solar energy. "The work of Adams, Ericsson, and Shuman had been directly influenced by the solar conceptions of Augustin Mouchot, a man who arrived on the scene in nineteenth century France at precisely that moment when his ideas were likely to attract the most attention. It was a time when French industrial might was at a peak and her leaders open to new ideas, none more so than her emperor. In 1867, to commemorate the explosion of technology that had accompanied the industrial and artistic carnival over which he had presided for 15 years, France's Napoleon III decided to invite the whole world to an international exposition that he would host in Paris." (Kryza, The Power of Light, p. 147). "His initial experiments involved a glass-enclosed, water-filled iron cauldron, in which sunlight passed through a glass cover, heating the water. This simple arrangement boiled water, but it also produced small quantities of steam. Mouchot added a reflector to concentrate additional radiation onto the cauldron, thus increasing the steam output. He succeeded in using his apparatus to operate a small, conventional steam engine. Impressed by Mouchot's device, Emperor Napoleon III offered financial assistance, which Mouchot used to produce refinements to the energy system. Mouchot's work help lay the foundation for our current understanding of the conversion of solar radiation into mechanical power driven by steam.The publication of his book on solar energy, "La Chaleur solaire et ses Applications industrielles" (1869), coincided with the unveiling of the largest solar steam engine he had yet built. This engine was displayed in Paris until the city fell under siege during the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, and was not found after the siege ended." (The Energy Library).

Lisboa, De Francisco Luiz Goncalves, 1912. 8vo. In the original red printed cloth-binding with black and white lettering. Spine with loss of the white lettering. Paper-label pasted on to lower inner margin of front board. Very light wear to extremities, Internally very fine and clean. 240 pp. The exceedingly scarce first Portuguese edition of the most important abridged version of Marx's Capital ever to have appeared, published fifty-six years before the first full Portuguese (but published in Brazil) translation and whole sixy-two years before the first full translation published in Portugal. Curiously, two translations of the present work were made 1912 but the present translation seems to have priority (see Bastien, "Readings and Translations of Karl Marx in Portugal"). After the 1933 rise of Salazar's dictatorial Estado Novo regime, suppression of the relatively newly founded Communist party grew. Members were arrested, tortured, and executed and many were sent to the Tarrafal concentration camp in the Cape Verde Islands. Communist literature suffered an equally repressive fate, hence the rarity of the present work. Marxism and especially Marxist writing caught on comparatively late in Portugal: "As for the Socialist Party - supposed to be the main expression of Marxism -, it revealed itself unable to stimulate effective theoretical and doctrinal efforts. Its existence was an example of ambiguity and inconsequence. Its political programme went on mixing Marxian elements, associationist tradition and positivist thinking. Its strategy balanced continuously between an alliance with republican politicians and the maintenance of political autonomy. Its tatics balanced between electoral abstencionism and an involvement in election processes, that never led it to a relevant position in parliament. Even its international relations showed a lasting ambiguity: it had been created according to the instructions of the Marxist majority at the Hague Congress, when most of its members tended to support political abstencionism. When the formation of the Second lnternacional was taking place in Paris in 1889 Portuguese socialists tried to join the Marxist congress, after being present at the possibilist congress. In 1920 they decided to join the Third lnternacional (what was not accomplished), at the same time that an internal reformist turn was taking place." (Bastien, "Readings and Translations of Karl Marx in Portugal"). "The epitome, here translated, was published in Paris, in 1883, by Gabriel Deville, possibly the most brilliant writer among the French Marxians. It is the most successful attempt yet made to popularize Marx's scientific economics. It is by no means free from difficulties, for the subject is essentially a complex and difficult subject, but there are no difficulties that reasonable attention and patience will not enable the average reader to overcome. There is no attempt at originality. The very words in most cases are Marx's own words, and Capital is followed so closely that the first twenty-five chapters correspond in subject and treatment with the first twenty-five chapters of Capital. Chapter XXVI corresponds in the main with Chapter XXVI of Capital, but also contains portions of chapter XXX. The last three chapters-XXVII, XXVIII, and XXIX-correspond to the last three chapters-XXXI, XXXII, and XXXIII-of Capital." (ROBERT RIVES LA MONTE, Intruductory Note to the 1899 English translation). Capital de Marx also had a Portuguese edition at this time, or better, two different editions, both in 1912, but only in translation of the survey of Book I published in France by Gabriel Deville in 1883 (Marx, 1912a and Marx, 1912b). This version omitted material dealt with in at least four chapters of the original text and was not particularly appreciated by Engels. It was a simplified text, aimed at supporting the training of socialist militants and that made it possible for them to have access, indirect, to the work of Marx. The other summaries and anthologies of Capital, which, with a purpose similar to that of Deville, circulated in Europe during this period or ignored in Portugal, as was the case with Carlo Cafiero, or were only occasionally mentioned, as was the case with Paul Lafargue and Karl Kautsky, in its French versions. OCLC list two copies, both in the US.

Leipzig, J.A. Barth, 1926. 8vo. Bound in three volumes: two uniform contemporary half cloth and one contemporary full cloth. In "Annalen der Physik. Hrsg. von W. Wien und M. Planck., Vierte Folge, Bde. 79-81." Band 79 (full cloth) with gilt lettering to spine, library label pasted on to pasted down front free end-paper and library stamp to front free end-paper. Band 80,81 (half cloth) with a copy of the title page pasted on the front boards. White handwritten title to spine and coners bumped. Library cards inserted on pasted down front free end-paper. All three copies internally fine and clean. [Schrödinger's papers:] Pp. 361-376; Pp. 489-527; Pp. 734-756 (Bd. 79). Pp. 438-490 (Bd. 60). Pp. 109-131 (Bd. 81). [Entire volumes: VII, (1), 160 pp. + 10 plates; VII, (1), 828 pp. + 15 plates; VIII, 1172 pp. + 11 plates.]. First printing and first appearence of these 5 papers which introduces Schrödinger's wave-equations and explains the stationary states of electrons in Bohr's theory of the atom by way of applying de Broglie's concept of electron waves. These papers are among the most important in modern physics."The intensity of Schrödingers work on the problem (he found the earlier Bohr-Sommerfeld quantum theory unsatisfactory) increased as he saw that he was on the track of "a new atomic theory", and it reached a peak during his winter vacation in Arosa. On 27 December 1925 he wrote to Wilhelm Wien, editor of the "Annalen der Physik" inMunich that he was very optimistic: "I believe that I can give a vibrating system...thatyields the hydrogen frequency levels as it eigenfrequencies." The frequences of the emitted light rays are then obtained, as Schrödinger observed, by establishing the differences of the two eigenfrequencies respectively. "Consequently the way is opened toward a real understanding of Bohr's frequency calculation - it is really a vibration (or, as the case may be, interference) process, which occurs with the same frequency as the one we observe in the spectroscope. I hope, that I will soon be able to report on this subject in a little more detail and in a more comprehensive fashion" (Schrödinger's letter to Wien)...The so-called Klein-Gordon equations which Schrödinger used gives an incorrect description of the relativistic structures Schrödinger tried to describe. As this equation he tried to use, describes particles without spin, whereas a a description of electrons requires the Dirac equation..."After a brief interruption Schrödinger took up his method again, but this time he treated the electron nonrelativistically. It soon became apparent that he had arrived at a theory that correctly represented a the behavior of the electron to a very good approximation. THE RESULT WAS THE EMERGENCE OF WAVE MECHANICS IN JANUARY 1926. Schrödinger published the results of his research in a series of four papers in the "Annalen der Physik" bearing the overall title "Quantisierung als Eigenwertproblem." The first installment, sent on 26 January and received by Wien the next day, contains the first apperarance in the literature of his famous wave equation, written out for the hydrogen atom..."(DSB). In the fifth paper offered, Schrödinger himself shows that there is an essential equivalence of his theory and that of Heisenberg, Born and Jordan's.

London, C. Davis, 1753. 4to. Without wrappers. Extracted from "Philosophical Transactions", vol. 47. Including title-page of volume. Title-page with repair to inner margin. Pp. 289-91; pp. 565-70. First appearance of both papers, one of them being the milestone paper in which Franklin describes his lightning experiment and proves what he had already conjectured, that lightening is an electrical discharge. Both of the present papers were to become part of his famous work "Experiments and Observations on Electricity.." assembled by his friend Peter Collinson, to whom the papers were addressed. The famous letter was also published in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for 1752."Franklin was the first American scientist to achieve an international reputation, with his work on electricity...The most dramatic result of Franklin's researches was the proof that lightening is really an electrical phenomenon. Others had made such a suggestion before him - even Newton himself - but it was he who provided the experimental proof. In 1752 he flew a kite in a thunderstorm and attached a key to its string. From this he collected electrical charges in a Leiden jar and showed that atmospheric and frictional or machine-made electricity are the same. He went on to propose the fixing of iron rods at the top of buildings, masts of ships, etc., from which he conducted the electric charges they collected from lightening into the wet subsoil - the invention of the lightening conductor."His reputation as a scientist was immediately established by the publication of the results of his researches in a series of letters addressed to Peter Collinson, a London merchant and naturalist, in 1751; and the Experiments and Observations [ which collected all the Collinson letters not just those offered here ] remains the most important scientific book of eighteenth-century America." (PMM 199)."Later, Franklin devised a second experiment to test the electrification of clouds (the first was the sentry-box experiment), one which has become more popularly known: the lightning kite. Franklin reported his experiments to Collison in a letter of October 1752 (the paper offered), written after Franklin had read "in the public papers from Europe, of the success of the Philadelphia -Experiment for drawing the electric fire from clouds by means of pointed rods of iron erected on high buildings..." Actually, Franklin appears to have flown his electrical kite prior to having learned of Dalibard's successful execution of the sentry-box experiment. The KITE LETTER, published in the "Philosophical Transactions", referred to the erection of lighetning rods on public buildings in Philadelphia. The lightening experiment caused Franklin's name to become known throughout Europe to the public at large and not merely to men of science. Joseph Priestly, in his "History...of Electricity", characterized the experimental discovery that the lightening discharge is an electrical phenomenon as "THE GREATEST, PERHAPS, SINCE THE TIME OF NEWTON".....the discoveries made in the summer of 1752 will make it memorable in the history of electricity," William Watson wrote in 1753. "These have opened a new field to philosophers, and have given them room to hope, that what they have learned before in their museums, they may apply, with more propriety than they have hitherto could have done, in illustrating the nature and effects of thunder; a phenomenon hitherto almost inaccessible to their inquiries."(DSB V, pp. 134-35).The volume offered contains a series of other notable papers: T. Simpson (mathematics), Thomas Debenham (medicine), James Parsons (Phocae Marinae, the long-necked seal), W. Watson (the sex of flowers), Francis Blake (steem-engine), William Watson (An Account of Mr. Benjamin Franklin's Treatise, lately published, Experiments and Observations on Electricity..."pp. 202-211),Dunthorne (on comets), William Watson ("An Account of the Phaenomena of Electricity in vacuo", pp. 362-376), J. Smeaton (Air-pump), Richard Brooke (surgery), Abbe Nollet (electricity from the clouds), W. Watson (electrical experiments in England upon Thunder-Clouds), etc. etc.

London, Marcus Ward & Co., 1878. Folio. (49 x 35 cm.). Orig. full pictotial cloth. Richly gilt. Spine-ends repaired. First inner hinge strenghtened. Edges gilt. Halftitle with a stamp. (1-7)8-83 pp. With 16 mounted, fine chromolithographed plates, many textillustrations, 1 map. Title-page printed in red/black. Internally clean fine. First edition. "It is believed by both Artist and Publishers that a much fuller and more vivid idea of Arctic scenery can be produced by careful chromo-lithographic fac-similes of the original drawings made by Dr Edward L. Moss during the Expedition, than by any rendering in black and white. The sketches are not designed to illustrate the progress of the Expedition, or any stirring events in its history, so much as the appearance of the strange and desolate country by the shores of which the ships slowly steamed, the wonderful phenomena of the sky, and the effects of light and shade produced by a midnight sun, or a mid-day moon, on the ice-bound rocks which form the scenery of the region. They are here reproduced ... in order to make them more generally accessible ... It must be added that the sketches are all the work of one hand - Dr Edward L. Moss, who served on board the Alert in the Arctic Expedition which left England on the 29th of May, 1875, and entered the Arctic regions on the 4th of July in the same year. Although the Expedition failed in reaching the Pole - which was among the sailing orders on which it started - it yet achieved results of the highest scientific and geographic value. Of what kind was the life they led - what strange experiences they gained of natural phenomena, and the freaks of light on ice and rock - the accompanying drawings illustrate with a vividness and fullness never before arrived at in sketches of Arctic life." (Scott Polar Research Institute).

Leipzig, Voss u. Compagnie, 1794-1801. 4to. Bound in 4, a little later hcalf, richly gilt backs. Leather along fronthinge with tears, but but not broken and binding tight. 4 engraved titlepages of which the 2 first are handcoloured, and 2 printed titles (to volume 3 a. 4). 154;176;VIII,188;178;62 pp. and 141 fine engraved and handcoloured plates (numb. 1-142, n. 77 lacks). A few repairs to outher margins of titlepage and some plates and textlvs. A few plts. and textlvs. browned in lower margin. First edition of this scarce botanical work which was issued in 28 parts with in all 152 plates. The suite here having 141 of 142 plates in fine handcolouring. - From the Introduction: "Die Zeichnungen sind entweder von mir selbst oder von geschickten Künstlern unter meiner Aufsicht, nach der Natur und der vortrefflichen Abbildungen in Will. Curtis Flora Londinensis (London 1777-94) verfertiget...Die illumination wird unter eines Kunstverständigen in Meissen besorgt". - Nissen BBI: 528.

(Colophon:) Kiøbenhaffn (Copenhagen), Matz Wingaardt, 1576. 4to. Pragtfuldt samtidigt hellæderbind af kalveskind over træ med skråtskårne kanter og 2 lukkestroppe med messingbeslag (det ene hængsel løst), antageligt udført af en dansk bogbinder. 3 ophøjede ægte bind på ryggen og med blindtrykte stregbordurer. Permer med dobbelte stregrammer og 2 brede rammer udført med ruller og stempler. Midtfelterne med stort pladetrykt billede af Justitia, på bagpermen et billede af Justinian ?. Kapitæler med mindre reparationer. Titelbladet med en træsnit illustration af den danske konge med rigsvåbnet. Kolofon med Gotfred af Ghemens trykkermærke i træsnit. 111 unummerede blade. Indersiden af forpermen har notater i gl. hænder vedrørende bogens indhold. Fra Oscar Wandels bogsamling med hans exlibris. Da bogen ikke er ombundet foreligger den her i dens opsrindelige størrelse med pænt brede marginer. Få spredte brunpletter. Nogle blade med en svag skjold nederst på siderne. De første 6 blade (incl. titelbladet) er noget restaurerede med senere omkantning. Titelbladet har en smule tab af stregrammen omkring kongen, blad 2 recto har tab af et ord i nederste linie (tagher). Trykt på svært papir. Extremely rare first printing of what is arguably the world's first facsimile, namely Mads Vingaard's 1576 reproduction of the first printing of the Law of Sealand, originally printed by Ghemen in 1505 and here re-issued in exact reproduction. This wonderful print is not merely a "line to line, word to word"-reproduction, but a facsimile making use of the same types and exact reproductions of the woodcuts. It is generally believed that "the first facsimile in the history of the book was a manuscript of Austrian provenance - the Goldene Bulle - reproduced in 1697 by the Frankfurt law historian Heinrich Günther Thülemeyer and Johann Friedrich Fleischer" (from "Imagination, Almanach" 1986-1993, Sammelheft. 1993; 2006). The present reproduction predates that work otherwise hailed as the first "facsimile" in the history of the book by more than a century!Some credit Plantin in the 17th century with being the first to produce a facsimile. This is also about a century after Mats Vingaard's facsimile of the Law of Sealand. Like the laws of Sealand and The Law of Scania, The Law of Jutland" constitutes a law book ("Rechtsbuch" in German) in the sense of a private collection of those common laws pertaining to inheritance, ownership, marriage, measurement of land, murder, theft, vandalism, etc. that were commonly applicable in the region.The medieval Danish regional laws possess an immense importance both linguistically and legally, and the influence is evident even today, both in the development of our legal system and of our written language. At the time of their foundation, the Danish kingdom was divided into jurisdictional areas, lands, that in turn were divided into townships. Each land had a county council, which also served as a judicial court. It quite quickly became standard for the township court to be able to refer verdicts and rulings to the county/land council. In the 13th century, there were three main lands, namely Jutland, Sealand and Skåne. With time, these three lands came to rule over all townships, and thus, we find three ruling legal books from the 13th century, namely the three earliest Danish law books - Jyske Lov, the Sealandic Laws, and Skånske Lov. They were all printed for the first time in 1505 and 1505 respectively. It is not until 1683 (with "Danske Lov") that Denmark gets a law that covers the entire kingdom. The 1576 facsimile is scarce and Thesaurus estimates that only ab. 10 copies still exist on private hands.

Altona, J.F. Hammerich, 1807. Contemp. hcalf. Gilt spine, titlelabel in leather (letters worn). Light wear to top of spine and corners. Spine rubbed. Some wear to edges of covers. A stamp on title-page. XVI, 368; VIII, 358, (2) pp. A few leaves in the first quire disbound. Scattered brownspots and a few marginal underlinings on the first 20 leaves. Rare first German edition of this political and economic classic, which constitutes Malthus' first major publication and his main work, because of which he is considered the father of demography and one of the main sources of inspiration for Darwin and Wallace. It is the first translation of the "Principle on Population" into any language, and it influenced German politics tremendously.The first edition was printed anonymously in London in 1798, and in 1803 the second edition, which, also according to Malthus himself, can be said to constitute a new work, appeared; -the great quarto edition from 1803 is thoroughly revised and much enlarged, the title has been changed and Malthus' name appears on the title-page for the first time, it is on this edition that all the preceding editions are based, and in consequence also the early translations. All the later editions were minor revisions of the second one. In 1806 the third edition appeared, and as soon as 1807 the first German one, which is translated from the revised third edition ("Die gegenwärtige Uebersetzung ist nach der dritten Ausgabe, Oktav, London 1806. Die Quartausgabe ist minder vollständig", Vorwort, p. V). New revisions of the text kept appearing till the sixth edition in 1826. The book, then as now, is considered highly controversial, and it has influenced all demographers ever since, as well as being of immense importance to the study of economic theory and genetic inheritance. "The "Essay" was highly influential in the progress of thought in the early nineteenth-century Europe.... "Parson" Malthus, as Cobbett dubbed him, was for many, a monster and his views were often grossly misinterpreted.... But his influence on social policy, whether for good or evil, was considerable. The Malthusian theory of population came at the right time to harden the existing feeling against the Poor Laws and Malthus was a leading spirit behind the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834." (PMM 251).Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834), called the "enfant terrible" of the economists, was an English demographer, statistician and political economist, who is best known for his groundbreaking views on population growth, presented in his "Essays on the Principle of Population", which is based on his own prediction that population would outrun food supply, causing poverty and starvation. Among other things this caused the legislation, which lowered the population of the poor in England. Malthus actually turned political, economic and social thought upside down with this work, which has caused him to be considered one of the 100 most influential persons in history (Hart, The 100: A Ranking of the most Influential Persons in History, 1978). Of course, he was condemned by Marx and Engels, and opposed by the socialists universally, but the work was of immense impact on not only politics, economics, social sciences etc, but also on natural sciences. "Later in the "Origin of Species" he [Darwin] wrote that the struggle for existence "is the doctrine of Malthus applied with manifold force to the whole animal and vegetable kingdoms; for in this case there can be no artificial increase of food, and no prudential restraint from marriage" [p. 63]. Alfred Russel Wallace, who arrived at a worked-out formulation of the theory of evolution at almost precisely the same time as Darwin, acknowledged that "perhaps the most important book I read was Malthus's "Principles of Population" (My Life, p. 232). Although there were four decennial censuses before Malthus' death, he did not himself analyze the data, although he did influence Lambert Quetelet and Pierre Verhulst, who made precise statistical studies on growth of populations in developed countries and showed how the early exponential growth changed to an S curve." (DSB, IX, p. 69). As Malthus realized that his theories were not satisfactorily presented or sufficiently demonstrated in the first edition from 1798, he travelled for three years through Europe gleaning statistics, and then published the second edition in 1803. Among other places he travelled through Northern Germany, and his detailed diaries of these journeys provided him with some of the evidence necessary for the development of his theory on population growth. The observational information that he gathered on his travels in Europe were crucial to the development of his theories, which also means that the work is of great interest for other European countries, and not only Britain. "In 1819 the Royal Society elected Malthus to a fellowship. He was also a member of the French Institute and the Berlin Academy, and a founding member of the Statistical Society (1834)." (DSB, IX, p. 67). Printing and the Mind of Man 251 (first edition).

New Haven, Conn., J.D. & E.S. Dana, 1881. 8vo. Extracted from "The American Journal of Science", Third series vol. XXII, Numb. CXXVIII, pp. (87-) 166. With title-page to the entire volume. Title-page with a faint rubberstamp. The Michelson-paper: pp. 120-129. Two leaves with small tear to the margin. The seminal first edition of the first description of the first version of a series of experiments with the Interferometer, which was built by Michelson and with which he planned to measure the relative speeds of light-waves moving at right angles to each other - an experiment that would ultimately lead to the special theory of relativity. The series of experiments ended with the so-called "Michelson-Morley experiment", the results of which were published 6 years after Michelson's first experiment (the item offered here). The 1887 paper, written together with Morley, constituted an improved attempt of the 1881- version of the experiment. The experiments were designed to calculate the effect of the earth's motion on the passage of light rays through the "luminous ether", which was believed to surround the earth. The experiments were negative and as such led to the introduction of relativity."Michelson tried to determinate the relation of ether drift and the velocity of light, effect of extremely minute values...no drift could be found and the "negative result held revolutionary implications which led directly through Lorentz and Einstein to the acceptance of new standards of reference of time and space from geometry an cosmometry."(Dibner).In 1919 Einstein met Michelson in California. At a dinner given in honor of them both, Einstein said in a speech "You (Michelson) uncovered an insidious defect in the ether theory of light, as it existed, and stimulated the ideas of H.A. Lorentz and Fitzgerald, out of which the Special Theory of Relativity developed. Without your work this theory would today be scarcely more than an interesting speculation..." In an interview in 1842 Einstein said: "It is no doubt that Michelson's experiment was of considerably influence upon my work insofar as it strengthened my conviction concerning the validity of the Principle of relativity...On the other side I was pretty much convinced of the validity of the principle before I did know this experiment and its result. In any case, Michelson's experiment removed practically any doubt about the validity of the principle in optics and showed that a profound change of the basic concepts of physics was inevitable."Michelson was awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize "for his optical precision instrument (the inteferometer) and the spectroscopic and metrological investigations he has carried on."Dibner: Heralds of Science: 161 (the 1887-experiment) - Vide PMM: 378,410,408.

Basel, Johannem Hervagium & Bernhardum Brand, 1558. Folio. (30,5x21,5). Bound in 19th century brown hmorocco with 5 raised bands. Light wear to back and corners a bit bumped. (2),587 pp.Numerous wood-cut diagrams and initials throughout. First ab. 20 leaves with different degrees of yellowing and occasional with marginal faint dampstaining. 3 leaves with upper right corners repaired without loss of text. The "privilege" at verso of title partly unreadable as a piece of paper is pasted on, some of these letters are faint, just as some letters in "Basiliae" on title are weak. Last leaf with colophon and printers large woodcut-device on verso is mounted, but not hiding the wood-cut. The word "Basiliae" on last leaf recto, is weak or nearly gone. Overall a large good copy as usually without the foreword by Melanchton. A small rubber-stamp on title: "Duplum Bibliothecæ V.E." and in old hand: "Bibliothecæ Conventij Romani S. Andrea de Fratrij (?)" Scarce third printing of the so-called Zambert-Campanus Edition of the Elements, all printed by Johann Herwagen in Basel - this edition printed together with his son-in-law Bernhard Brand. The first of the Herwagen prints was the famous Editio Princeps in Greek from 1533, and in 1537 he published a Latin version, which became the first Euclid-editon to contain also Euclids smaller tracts as "Phenomena"(Spherical geometry), "Katroptik" (Mirror-reflexion), "Optik" und "Data"(Geometrical excersises). The 1537- edition was reprinted 1546 and in 1558 (the present)."The most famous source of Greek geometry is the monumental work of Euclid of Alexandria, called the "Elements" (around 300 B.C.). No other book of science had a comparable influence on the intellectual development of mankind. It was a treatise of geometry in thirteen books which included all the fundamental results of scientific geometry up to his time. Euclid did not claim for himself any particular discovery, he was merely a compiler. Yet, in view of the systematic arrangement of the subject matter and the exact logical procedure followed, we cannot doubt that he himself provided a large body of specific formulations and specific auxiliary theorems in his deductions. It is no longer possible to pass judgement on the authorship of much of this material; his book was meant as a textbook of geometry which paid attention to the material, while questions of priority did not enter the discussion." (Cornelius Lanzos in "Space through the Ages").Max Steck III:57 - Thomas-Stanford: 15 - Riccardi 1558/3 - Adams E:976.

Kopenhagen, Nicolaus Möller, 1774-78. 4to. Bound in 2 contemp. hcalf. Gilt spines. Title-and tome-labels with gilt lettering. A paperlabel pasted on upper part of spines. Slightly rubbed. Stamps on title-pages. 2 engraved titlevignettes. Halftitles. XVI,(6),505,(1);(16),479 pp. 1 large folded map, outlinecoloured "Tabula Iteneraria... Terrae Yemen... 1763." and 124 engraved maps and plates (complete). A dampstain on lower part of leaves in volume 2, increasing towards end. Printed on good paper. A few scattered brownspots. Scarce first edition of Niebuhr's great travel account of Arabia. Like his "Beschribung von Arabien", his "Reisebeschreibung von Arabien" "provided a mass of new geographical, regional, and historical information... Among is many exact maps and plans, the map of the Red Sea and of Yemen served as the most reliable information for more than 50 years.""Despite its tragic course, the expedition was a complete success with regard to its scientific and scholarly results. It was especially due to Niebuhr's efforts to preserve and continue his and his collegues' , that the Royal Danish Library was eventually equipped with a host of oriental manuscripts, maps, and drawings, as well as many botanical and zoological specimens... It was Niebuhr who edited and published Forskåll's Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica (1775) and Descriptiones Animalium (1775), together with the drawings of Bauerfeind. In 1772 he had alredy published his systematic and geographically organized beschreibung von Arabien, which was followed between 1774 and 1778 by the first two volume of his three-volume chronologically arranged Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien. (the item offered, the third volume was published many years later, 1837). Both works, written in a clear and sober language and illustrated with numerous precise drawings, maps, and plans, provided a mass of new geographical, regional, and historical information... Among is many exact maps and plans, the map of the Red Sea and of Yemen served as the most reliable information for more than 50 years."(Josef Wiesehöfer).

London, Published by William Samt, (1825 ?). Folio. Contemporary red longgrained half-morocco. Richly gilt back, all edges gilt. Top a. bottom of spine professionally repaired. Title, (42) pp. of text to the plates and 21 fine hand-coloured aquatint-plates in fine colouring and condition. Some plates watermarked 1824 a. 1825. Abbey I: 113-14. Tooley: 443.

Kjøbenhavn (Copenhagen), Andr. Fred. Høst, 1850. 8vo. Et nydeligt samt. hldrbd. m. samt. tidstypisk rig rygforgyldn. En smule slitage v. false og kapitæler, en anelse svag i forreste indre fals, ellers et nydeligt ekspl., kun indimellem brunplettet. X, 190; XII, 206, (2, -avertissement) pp. 8vo. Nice cont. hcalf w. richly gilt back. A bit of waer to hinges and capitals, and inner front hinge a bit weak, otherwise a very nice and good copy w. only occational brownspotting. X, 190; XII, 206, (2, -advertisement-leaf) pp. Originaludgaven af Ørsteds naturfilosofiske hovedværk med dedikation fra forfatteren til "Herr Professor og Dr i Theologien/ Scharling/ venskabeligst/ fra/ Forfatteren." Under dedikationen er tilføjet et håndskrevet citat fra et brev af Sophie Ørsted (f. Oehlensläger) (fra Adam Oehlenschlägers Erindringer) i samtidig hånd (sandsynligvis Scahrlings). Dedikationen er til professor Carl Emil Scharling (1803-77), teolog, som var bror til Ørsteds datters (Karen) mand. First edition of Oersted's main work in natural philosophy. Presentation-copy with the inscription "Herr Professor og Dr i Theologien/ Scharling/ venskabeligst/ fra/ Forfatteren." (Mr. Professor and Doctor of Theology/ Scharling/ with the kindest regards/ The Author"). Underneath the presentation-inscription a handwritten quotation from a letter from Sophie Oersted (born Oehlenschläger) (from Adam Oehlenschläger's Memoires) in cont. hand (probably that of Scharling). The presentation-inscription is for professor Carl Emil Scharling (1803-77), theologist, who was the brother of Oersted's daughter's (Karen) husband.Oersted is universally known for his discovery of Electro-Magnetism in 1820. Afterwards he went on to write a number of important philosophical works on natural philosophy and empiricism, of which "Aanden i Naturen" he himself considered his main work. The work is found printed on 2 sorts of paper, common- and vellum-paper. This copy is on vellum-paper. Both H.C. Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard admit to having been influenced by the writings of Oersted. "He was an enthusiastic follower of the "Naturphilosophie" school in Germany, whose main object was the unification of physical forces, thus producing a monistic theory of the universe. It was to further this purpose that Oersted sought in actual phenomena the electro-magnetic identity of which he had already convinced himself on metaphysical grounds" (Percy H. Muir in Printing and The Mind of Man).

Wien, Christian Friedrich Wappler, 1792. Bound in 2 contemp. marbled boards. Spines gilt. Titlelables with gilt lettering. Very light wear along edges and spineends. XVI,408;(10),497,(2, Druckfehler) pp. and 16 folded engraved plates of which 11 are handcoloured, each with many figs. of eyes (in all 94). The 5 plain plates showing chirurgical apparatus. Some scattered brownspots. A few plates with a bit of offsetting, but a good copy. The colouring is exquisite, done by Beer himself. Scarce first edition of this classic work in opthalmology, being the work which established ophthalmology as an independent scientific speciality. "Beer was outstanding in his clinical practise and as an author. He was the founder of the first ophthalmological school and clinc" (Albert and Blodi), and he became chairman of the first university eye department of the world (in Vienna)."Beer is rembered for his text-book; the doctrines in it dominated practice for many years. He described the symptoms of glaucoma and noted the luminosity of the fundud in aniridia. He was a distinguished irisdectomist. many of his pupils became famus ophthalmic surgeons. Beer opened the first known eye hospital, in 1786, in Vienna." (Garrison & Morton 5842, describing only the later edition from 1813-17 "Lehre von den Augenkrankheiten).Waller, 829. - This first edition not in Wellcome.

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1850. Contemp. marbled boards. Gilt spine, titlelabel with gilt lettering. Light wear to spineends, corners and edges. Stamps on title-page (Gusstahlfabrik Fried. Krupp). In "Annalen der Physik und Chemie", Dritte Reihe, 19. Band (79. Band der ganzen Reihe). IX,(1),580 pp. and 3 folded engraved plates. (Entire volume offered). Endpapers and the first and last few leaves with brownspots. Clausius's paper: pp. 368-397 a. pp. 500-524. Internally clean. First edition of this monumental, famous paper in thermodynamics in which Clausius for the first time states the Second Law of Thermodynamics, one of the most importent laws of Nature having a huge impact on the development of physical theory, cosmology, communications and information theory. The law states that a) the energy of the Universe is constant, and b) the Entropy of the Universe tends to a maximum."Clausius' contribution to thermostatics is comparable to those of Newton and Maxwell to mechanics and electromagnetism, respectively. In the obituary J.W. Gibbs remarked that Clausiu's first memoir "marks an epoch in the history of physics....."" (Chowdhury and Stauffer in "Principles of Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics").In "The Nature of the Physical World" Eddington writes: "The Law that entropy increases - the Second Law of Thermodynamics - holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the Universe is in disagreement with Maxwell's equations - then so much the worse for Maxwell's equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation - well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the Second Law of Thermodynamics I can give You no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.".Parkinson "Breakthroughs", 1850 P.

London, G. Robinson, 1778. 4to. Later (19th Century) hcalf. Raised bands, richly gilt spine. Fronthinge broken, but block fully intact. Stamps on title-page. (3),II,III,IV,(9-)649,(3) pp. 1 folded table, 1 folded chart. First leaves lightly brownspotted. Scattered faint marginal brownspots. Wide-margined. First edition of Forster's own account on the second of Cook's voyages where he became the naturalist. When Joseph Banks withdrew at the last moment as naturalist on Cook's second voyage, Forster and his son were appointed to fill the vacant position. In July 1772 they set sail on the Resolution, returning to England in July 1775. During a stop in Cape Town, Forster engaged Anders Sparrman to act as his assistant. Both the Forsters kept detailed diaries of everything they saw on the voyage, and made extensive collections of both natural history specimens and artifacts. On his return Forster published the offered work."At the time of his death he was called the 'patriarch' of geography in Europe and was widely recognised as one of the most able naturalists. His influence on German science and scholarship was considerable. There was not one continent to which he did not devote some scholarly work." (Captain Cook Society).Sabin, 25140.

Oxoniae (Oxford), E Theatro Sheldoniano, 1702. Folio. Contemporary full calf, raised bands, rectangular blindtooled frames and central panel "mirror" on covers, Cambridge-style binding. leather at joints cracked, but cords intact so that covers not loose. Corners a bit bumped. Light wear to spine ends. Spine a bit rubbed. Pastedowns and flyleaves with browning. Title-page with large engraved vignette (Sheldon Theater). (12),494,(2) pp. With numerous textdiagrams. Very light browning to titlepage and a few marginal brownspots to last leaf, a fine clean copy, printed on good paper with wide margins.On the verso of the title-page is pasted the book plate of Sir William Baird of Newbaith. He habitually pasted his armorial bookplate on the verso of the title-pages of the books in his large and fine library. First edition of the first text book of astronomy based on Newtonian principles. Apart from its importance in the remodeling of astronomy in conformity with physical theory, the work is of the utmost importance as a source book - it contains the FIRST PRINTING OF NEWTON'S PAPER ON LUNAR THEORY ("Lunae Theoria Newtoniana", pp. 332-336) as well as the FIRST EXPOSITION OF NEWTON'S CLASSICAL SCHOLIA, which Newton himself considered an important part of his philosophy.Gregory, a Scottish mathematician, who taught at Edinburgh and Oxford, was one of Newton's closest friends and associates. Newton thought highly of his work and communicated for insertion it in his Lunar Theory. He also permitted Gregory to use the material of that which is known as his "Classical Scholia", which are incorporated into Gregory's preface. "Newtonian scholars have long been aware of a set of draft Scholia to Propositions IV to IX of Book III of the "Principia". These were composed in the 1690's, as part of an unimplemented plan for a second edition of the work. Since they describe supposed anticipation of Newton's doctrines in the thought of Greco-Roman antiquity, they have been known as the 'classical' Scholia..... Newton's thoughts on these matters were not, however, kept completely concealed. HE PERMITTED DAVID GREGORY TO USE THE MATERIAL EXTENSIVELY in a long historical preface to his "Astronomiae Physicae & Geometricae Elementa" (1702), IF WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION. (It was also available to Maclaurin for his much later work)." (McGuire & Rattansi in "Newton and the Pipes of Pan", 1966)."It was the first textbook composed on gravitational principles, and remodeling astronomy in conformity with physical theory. Newton thought highly of it, and communicated for insertion in it (p. 332)) his 'lunar theory', long the guide of practical astronomers in determining the Moon's motions. The discussion in the preface, in which the doctrine of gravitation was brought into credit on the score of its antiquity, likewise emanated from Newton." (DNB)."His thick folio text on foundations of astronomy, Astronomiae...elementa (1702) is a well-documented but unimaginative attempt to graft the gravitational synthesis propounded in the first book and especially the third book of Newton's Principia onto the findings of traditional astronomy. While respected as a source book it is now chiefly remembered for the remarks by Newton on the prisca sapientia of the ancients and their "knowledge" of the inverse-square law of universal gravitation and for the Latin version of Newton's short paper on lunar theory which it reproduces." (DSB).Babson No. 71. - Houzeau & Lancaster 9240.

Paris, Bachelier, 1851-52. 4to. 2 uniform full cloth bindings. Gilt spines, gilt lettering. Gil lettering on spines: "The Chemist's Club". Faint marks of earlier paper labels to spine. In "Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences", Vol. 32 and vol. 35. Entire volumes offered. (4),1026 pp. + (4),1010 pp. A stamp on top and verso of title-pages. Foucault's papers: pp. 135-138 (1851, vol. 32), pp. 421-424 (1852, vol. 35), pp. 424-427 (1852, vol. 35), pp. 469-470 (1852, vol. 35) and p. 602 (1852, vol. 35). First appearance of the seminal papers, in which Foucault presented his discovery of the proof of the rotation of the earth by the large pendulum, known as Foucault's Pendulum. The first papr offered here was presented by Arago at the meeting of the Acadey of Scieces on February 3, 1851. In the third paper, "Sur les phénoménes d'orientation des corps tournant entraînés par un axe fixe...", Foucault presents his invention of the gyroscope, a freely spinning flywheel, which constitutes a different method of demonstrating the rotation of the Earth; he furthermore correctly predicts the use of the gyroscope as a compass and coins the word "gyroscope" (on p. 427), taken from the Greek, meaning "to look at the rotation".Ever since Léon Foucault's public demonstration of his pendulum experiment, it has played a prominent role in physics, physics education, and the history of science. The Foucault pendulum is a long pendulum suspended high above the ground and carefully set into planar motion. The phenomenon described by Foucault concerns the orientation of the plane of oscillation of the pendulum. "The experiment (with the pendulum) caused great excitement at the time. Heracleides had first suggested twenty-two centuries before that the earth was rotating and Copernicus had renewed the suggestion three centuries before. Since the time of Galileo two and a half centuries before, the world of scholarship had not doubted the matter. Nevertheless, all evidence as to that rotation had been indirect, and not until Foucault's experiment could the earth's rotation actually be said to have been demonstrated rather that deduced." "Continuing to experiment on the mechanics of the earth's rotation, Foucault in 1852 invented the gyroscope, which, he showed, gave a clearer demonstration than the pendulum of the earth's rotation and had the property, similar to that of the magnetic needle, of maintaining a fixed direction. Foucault's pendulum and gyroscope had more than a popular significance (which continues to this day). First, they stimulated the development of theoretical mechanics, making relative motion and the theories of the pendulum and the gyroscope standard topics for study and investigation. Second, prior to Foucault's demonstrations the study of those motions on the earth's surface in which the deflecting force of rotation plays a prominent part (especially winds and ocean currents) was dominated by unphysical notions of how this force acted. Foucault's demonstrations and the theoretical treatments they inspired showed conclusively that this deflecting force acts in all horizontal directions, thus providing the sound physical insight on which Buys Ballot, Ferrel, Ulrich Vettin, and others could build. (DSB).PMM: 330 lists the offprint with the title "Sur Divers Signes Sensibles du Mouvement Diurne de la Terre" - Barchas Collection, 738 (the periodical version, but only the first paper) - Dibner, No. 17 (offprint version).

Cairo, Kütübhane-i Içtihad, 1908. 8vo. In recent full calf with four raised bands. With blind-stamped ornamentation to boards in old Ottoman style. Very light occassional brownspotting, last few leaves a bit frayed, but no loss of text. Otherwise a fine copy. 243 pp The very rare first complete Ottoman-Turkish translation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. "Although Hamlet was performed in Greek in 1842 and in Armenian in 1866 (Silahtaroglu 1989: 7), according to Savas Arslan, "the first complete translation of Hamlet was made from the French by Abdullah Cevdet and published in Cairo" (Arslan 2008: 159). Between 1908 and 1910, Abdullah Cevdet produced a large oeuvre of translations, including four translations of Shakespeare's tragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Romeo and Juliet to Ottoman Turkish. "A Certain Abdullah Cevdet, a doctor of medicine, a polemist, a printer, was also known as a Shakespeare idolator as he always found a way of mentioning Shakespeare in all his talks and in all his writings. Abdullah Cevdet translated and published in his own printing house first in Cairo and then in Istanbul five of Shakespeare's play, beginning with Hamlet in 1908 and ending the series with Anthony and Cleopatra in 1921" (Turhan, Vahit. Shakespeare in Turkish). Although Hamlet was published the same year as The Second Constitutional Era Abdülhamid II seemed to be even less tolerant of the dissemination of Hamlet, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar, all being about unjust rulers who were executed. The performances of these plays were subject to strict censorship in Ottoman dominated countries and they were banned from most of them. (Paker 1986: 91), which is most likely the reason for why Abdullah Cevdet was able to publish the translations of these plays only after 1908, though he had finished translating Hamlet in 1902. "It is necessary to note here that the initial literary import of Hamlet into the Ottoman literary system has been framed within the broader narrative of Hamidian absolutism. For instance, Ýnci Enginün points out that various attempts to perform Hamlet were turned down by Abdülhamid II in his bid to root out any attempt which would debilitate the absolute monarchy. Along similar lines, Sevda Ayluçtarhan highlights that Abdullah Cevdet’s 1908 translation of Hamlet was a "critical text" produced by a prominent culture-planner of the time in opposition to Abdülhamid II’s absolutist regime. Ayluçtarhan further points out that Cevdet’s Hamlet was motivated by his perception of the “parallels between Hamlet’s step-father and Abdulhamid II, who had been brought to the throne (1876) on the condition that he would promulgate the Constitution (Kanun-i Esasi) but did not really keep his promise.Cevdet’s translation was introduced to the Turkish audience at a time when the discourse of westernization was prevalent. The translation coincided with the announcement of a Constitutional Revolution that led to the dethronement of Abdülhamit II and ultimately to the promotion of western-inspired reforms. Since Cevdet was one of the ardent supporters of an Ottoman Renaissance through westernization, his translation has been framed as a symbol of the western canon within the Turkish context. For instance, Demirkol regards Cevdet’s translation as an object of culture-planning which was sought to promote westernization. In the same vein, Paker suggests that Cevdet’s Hamlet plays a "stimulating if not revolutionary role in the intellectual re-awakening of the Ottoman political and cultural milieu"." (Durmus, Discourses on Hamlet’s Journey in Turkey).

Basiliae (Basel), Froben, August 1531. Small 8vo. Very nice later (ab. 1700) full brown morocco, probably Italian, with gilt borders to boards, back richly gilt. Old library-label to lower back, scratch to front-board, white chalk-like staining to back-board. Internally a bit of brownspotting, but overall good condition. Contemporary marginal notes to three pp. Woodcut printer's device to t-p. and last leaf, a few woodcut initials. 144, (6) pp., 1 f. w. printer's device. With the ex-libris of Jeffrey Norton. Very rare Froben-edition of the first work by the Renaissance-historian Paolo Giovio. All early editions of this work are very rare.Giovio was a gifted philosopher, medic and historian. He was born in 1483 in Come (Lombard) and was as controversial a person as he was an author. He died in 1552 in Florence, and this particular edition is thus printed in his lifetime. Three other editions appeared in his lifetime, all printed in Rome, in 1524, 1527, 1528, but the 1531-edition is the only one by as prominent a printer as Froben.Giovio was very strategic and succeeded in connecting himself with the Medici-family, especially Giulio Medici, who was later elected Pope (Clement VIII); when he became Pope, Giovio was assigned chambers in the Vatican and in 1528 he was announced Bishop of Nocera. Giovio wrote historical and biographical works and essays; these works are said not to be taken as authorities, but in their entirety and with proper reservation they do have real value, especially because he gives a rich and lively picture of Italy in his own time. He gives indispensable accounts of the manners and lives of the people of Renaissance Italy. As a writer and clergy he played quite a big role in Renaissance Italy.This his first work is a rarity and plays a special part in his body of writing, as it is neither historical nor biographical. It deals with the types of fish that Romans eat and tells how to prepare them, it is thus of great importance to anyone interested in the lives and customs of the time, and it is sometimes counted among the earliest of cook books. It also provides names of the fish and details of where they can be found, and where the best of each species is most easily found, making it of real value to the ichthyologist; this work is also said to contain the first reference in history to American fish. The work was translated into Italian in 1560, eight years after the death of Giovio.Not in Simon. BMC (NH) only mentions the 1561 edition and the 1560 translation. Wood p. 359: "a very early treatise on Roman ichthyology" ("the rare" 1524 first edition).

(Calcutta, Printed and sold by Manuel Cantopher, and sold at London by P. Elmsly, 1788). 4to. Extracted and bound in a recent vey nice marbled dark blue paper-binding w. matching gilt burgundy leather title-label to front board. A very nice and clean copy. Pp. 415-431 The seminal first edition of this groundbreaking paper which determined the connection between the Indo-European languages and thereby founded comparative philology and Indo-European studies. "This slim paper read to the Bengal Asiatic Society and published in its "Transaction" marks a turning-point in the history of linguistics and signaled the birth of comparative philology." (PMM 235).Sir William Jones (1746-1794) was an English philologist and judge who was stationed in India in 1780. He is the founder of the Asiatic Society and now famous as the discoverer and propounder of the existence of a relationship between the Indo-European languages. As he was stationed in India, he set out to master the ancient Sanskrit language, among other things in order to study native Indian law codes, which were written in this language. Due to his excellent language skills and his already perfect mastering of Greek and Latin, Jones discovered a shocking similarity between the languages in a huge number of words. By this discovery of the connection between Latin, Greek and Sanskrit, Jones had, without realizing it initially, discovered what was to be known as proto-Indo-European, -the lost mother tongue of almost all European, Indian and Russian languages as well as some Middle Eastern ones. And thus, with this breakthrough work, Jones, for the first time in history, presents man with the fact that there exists one single, ancient, prehistoric language that led to the development of numerous languages in Europe, India, Russia and the Middle East. It was to take subsequent scholars almost a decade to uncover what exactly this language was, but because of Jones' founding of comparative philology, the likes of Karl Verner and Jakob Grimm have been able to do this.The passage, for which Jones is most famous comes from the present work and has gone down in history as the single most important passage within the literature pertaining to comparative philology: "The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists; there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both the Gothic and the Celtic, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with the Sanscrit; and the old Persian might be added to the same family." With these words, linguistics had witnessed a turning-point that was to change this science for ever and that was furthermore to point in the direction of a future understanding of the common heritage that much of mankind possesses. "In 1786 Jones made his epoch-making discovery between the Sanskrit, Gothic, Greek and Latin languages -to which he later, erroneously, thought he could add Egyptian. His clear understanding of the basic principles of scientific linguistics provided the foundation on which Rask, Bopp and Grimm built the imposing structure of Indo-European studies." (PMM 235).