Search Results

Lund, 1956. 4to. Minor signs of wear. A fine copy, With signature of "Joh. Holtfreter" to top of p. (1). 6 pp. + 1 plate. First printing, in the very rare off-print - Johannes Holtfreter's copy -, of the revolutionary paper that established for the first time the correct number of chromosomes in man, thus founding modern human cytogenetics. The present paper constitutes the most important breakthrough in genetics since Mendel. "The finding that the normal human diploid chromosome number was 46, rather than 48 as had been assumed for many years previously, represents the starting point of modern human cytogenetics, with great importance for future clinical applications in the detection of both constitutional chromosome abnormalities and somatic abnormalities such as those seen in cancers. This discovery, made 50 years ago at the Institute of Genetics of the University of Lund, Sweden, in December 1955 and published early in 1956 in the journal "Hereditas" (Tjio and Levan 1956), is now of historical as well as scientific importance." (Harper). "After 50 years, the paper of Tjio and Levan can be clearly seen as one of the major landmarks of human genetics, opening up the field of human chromosomes and of medical genetics generlly to detailed analysis, as well as fulfilling its original aim of providing a normal reference point for studies of chromosomes in cancer." (Harper).The rediscovery of Mendel's law at the end of the 19th century triggered intense interest in the principles of heredity; ever since that time, chromosome behavior had been studied scientifically, but although a great deal of scientific interest was directed towards learning more about chromosomes themselves, it wasn't until Joe Hin Tjio and Albert Levan's epochal discovery that the correct human chromosome count was established. For half a century it had been accepted that humans normally have 48 chromosomes - only due to Tjio and Levan were we to know that the chromosome number of man is actually 46. "Difficulties in determining the human diploid number arose for a variety of reasons. For one, early experiments that provided evidence for the chromosome theory often used invertebrate species that reproduced in large numbers and had a relatively low number of well-defined chromosomes. Neither of these characteristics, of course, is a common finding in humans. In addition, the human samples initially used for chromosome analysis were derived from fresh testicular tissue in which haploid meiotic cells were often present. Furthermore, what morphology could be deduced suggested that human chromosomes were more complex than those of the model organisms studied earlier. In light of these and other factors, an erroneous estimate by prominent cytologist Theophilus Painter dominated the field for decades, until researchers Joe Hin Tjio and Albert Levan eventually applied new technology to identify the true diploid number of human chromosomes." (O'Connor). As Painter's estimate of 48 chromosomes had been generally accepted from studies over the previous 30 years, study of normal human chromosomes was not an active research field in the mid-1950's. Albert Levan - one of the key figures in cancer cytogenetics -, however, extensively studied the chromosomes of human cancers and realized that it was necessary to be certain of the normal human karyotype. Likewise, Joe Hin Tjio - who then was primarily involved in plant cytogenetics - realized the importance and necessity in establishing the correct number. "In the decades following Painter's work, scientists continued to refine their methods for preparing chromosomes for microscopy. Sectioning of paraffin-embedded preserved tissue was gradually replaced by squash techniques, in which small tissue specimens are placed on a microscope slide and then literally squashed under a cover slip to produce a single layer of cells. This approach gained broad acceptance as it eliminated any need to slice through tissues and reconstruct the organization of chromosomes in a single nucleus from several different sections. Chromosome preparations were also dramatically improved by combining treatment with a hypotonic salt solution (described by T. C. Hsu in 1952) and cell fixation. This combination of treatments enhanced chromosome spreading without deterioration or fragmentation, thereby facilitating better chromosome counts. In fact, in 1956, these techniques enabled researchers Joe Hin Tjio and Albert Levan to make a more accurate estimate of the human chromosome number.When their classic paper was published in 1956, Tjio and Levan had already been collaborating for several years. Albert Levan was a well-established cytologist who had pioneered the use of colchicine for analyzing chromosomes. Colchicine is a plant-derived toxin that arrests cells in metaphase, the point in the cell cycle at which chromosomes are most condensed. Colchicine is toxic to animals, but Levan and others found that colchicine allowed investigators to work with cells grown in tissue culture. Capturing cells at a specific state of mitosis when the chromosomes are condensed and easily tracked improved the reliability of their observations... Tjio and Levan used spreads such as these in their research, eventually reporting summary data from 261 unique chromosome spreads obtained from 22 different cell cultures of fetal lung tissue. All of the cultures were used within a few days after the tissue was obtained, thus minimizing the possibility of long-term culture-induced artifacts of chromosome number. The results were both clear and replicable. In the words of Tjio and Levan, "We were surprised to find that the chromosome number 46 predominated in the tissue cultures from all four embryos, [with] only single cases deviating from this number." Appreciating the fact that these in vitro data may not have been representative of cells in the body (i.e., in vivo data), Tjio and Levan also highlighted the importance of finding the same chromosome number in spermatogenic cells from testicular samples. Within a year, Ford and Hamerton (1956) did just that, providing confirmatory data by reporting the diploid chromosome number in human testicular cells to be 46." (O'Connor). The revolutionary finding of Tjio and Levan was submitted to the Swedish journal "Hereditas" (which was published for the Mendelian Society of Lund) on January 26, 1956, only a month and four days after the discovery, and appeared in the April issue. "The clarity and unambiguous nature of the published results in the "Hereditas" paper meant that the predominant reaction internationally was surprise rather than dispute; confirmation rapidly came from other workers, while workers who had previously supported the number of 48 soon admitted that they had been wrong. Additional publicity was given in the form of a display by Tjio at the 1956 International Genetics Congress in Copenhagen. Debate rapidly turned to the question of how it was that repeated studies done over the previous 30 years had found 48, not 46 chromosomes. This is an important general issue for science..." (Harper). "Joe Hin Tjio (born Nov. 2, 1919, Java, Indon.-died Nov. 27, 2001, Gaithersburg, Md.), Indonesian-born American geneticist who dispelled a 50-year-held belief that the number of chromosomes in the human cell was 48 when he established that the majority of human cells contain 46 chromosomes, arranged in 23 pairs. While working in 1955 at the Institute of Genetics in Lund, Swed., Tjio used a newly discovered technique to separate chromosomes from the nucleus of a cell; he helped establish modern cytogenetics-the study of the relationship between the structure and activities of chromosomes and the mechanisms of heredity-as a major branch of genetics. His work led to the discovery in 1959 that those people afflicted with Down syndrome have an additional chromosome in their cells." (Encycl. Britt.). JOHANNES HOLTFRETER was the world's foremost experimental embryologist in the decades between 1930 and 1960. He initiated and contributed substantially to many lines of experimentation (that are still ongoing) in the analysis of the embryonic "organizer" (a part of the embryo essential for the development of the proper body plan) and embryonic induction. Through his research on amphibian embryos, Holtfreter made many significant discoveries in the field of developmental biology and is considered one of the most significant embryologists of the 20th century. See:Peter S. Harper: The Discovery of the Human Chromosome Number in Lund; in: Hum. Genet. 119, 2006: pp.226-232.Clare O'Connor: Human Chromosome Number. In: Nature Education. 1(1):43. 2008. Garrison&Morton: 256.2 ("Proof that the normal chromosome number in man is 46").

Copenhagen, Bianco Lunos, 1918. 4to. Both parts uncut and in the original printed wrappers. Wrappers detached and with small nicks and tears to extremities. Internally fine and clean. Part I unopened. 36 pp. + pp. (37) - 100. First editions, author's off-prints (with "Separate Copy" printed to front wrappers), presentation-copies, of the first two parts of Bohr's seminal work "On the Quantum Theory of the Line-Spectra" (which appeared in three parts and which was never finished, the third part of which, published 4 years later, is almost never found in presentation-sets), in which Bohr gave his first clear presentation of his groundbreaking "correspondence principle": "Which would play a pivotal role in the later development of atomic theory and its transformation into quantum mechanics." (Kragh, Quantum Generations, p. 56). It eventually became a cornerstone in the quantum mechanics formulated by Heisenberg and Schrödinger. "There was rarely in the history of physics a comprehensive theory which owed so much to one principle as quantum mechanics owed to Bohr's correspondence principle" (Jammer 1966, p. 118). The evolution of quantum theory is divided into two distinct periods; from 1900 to 1925, usually referred to as the period with the old quantum theory still grounded in classical physics and the second period with quantum mechanics from 1925 onwards. The general rules of quantum mechanics are very successful in describing objects on an atomic level. But macroscopic systems are accurately described by classical theories like classical mechanics and classical electrodynamics. If quantum mechanics were to be applicable to macroscopic objects, there must be some limit in which quantum mechanics reduces to classical mechanics. Bohr's correspondence principle demands that classical physics and quantum physics give the same answer when the systems become large. "A major tool he developed for dealing with quantum problem, [...], was the correspondence principle, which establishes links between predictions of the classical theory and expectations for the quantum theory." (Pais, Niels Bohr's Times, p. 20.). In this sense, the correspondence principle is not only an exceedingly important methodological principle, it also represents the transition to quantum mechanics and modern physics in general and it became the cornerstone of Bohr's philosophical interpretation of quantum mechanics which later would be closely tied to his thesis of complementarity and to the Copenhagen interpretation. Another version of the correspondence principle lives on in philosophical literature where it has taken form as a more general concept representing a development of new scientific theories."By 1918 Bohr had visualized, at least in outline, the whole theory of atomic phenomena. ... He of course realized that he was still very far from a logically consistent framework wide enough to incorporate both the quantum postulates and those aspects of classical mechanics and electrodynamics that seemed to retain some validity. Nevertheless, he at once started writing up a synthetic exposition of his arguments and of all the evidence upon which they could have any bearing; in testing how well he could summarize what was known, he found occasion to check the soundness of his ideas and to improve their formulation. In the present case, however, he could hardly keep pace with the growth of the subject; the paper he had in mind at the beginning developed into a four-part treatise, 'On the Theory of Line Spectra', publication of which dragged over four years without being completed; the first three parts appeared between 1918 and 1922 [of which the two first from 1918 are offered here], and the fourth, unfortunately, was never published. Thus, the full impact of Bohr's view remained confined to the small but brilliant circle of his disciples, who indeed managed better than their master to make them more widely known by the prompter publication of their own results" (D.S.B. II: 246-47).Inscribed to "Hr. Docent D. la Cour/ Venskabeligst/ fra/ Forfatteren" on both front wrappers. The renowned Danish physicist and meteorologist Dan la Cour (1876-1942), was the son of the great Poul la Cour (1846-1908), who is considered the "Danish Edison". Dan la Cour was the assistant of Niels Bohr's father, Christian Bohr, and a well known scientist. From 1903, he was head of the department of the Meteorological Institute, and from 1923 leader thereof. From 1908 he was Associate Professor at the Polytechnic College. His original scientific works are highly respected, as are his original apparati for measuring earth magnetism which are considered highly valuable. "His original intelligence, which in many ways resemble that of his father, also bore fruit in his patenting of various inventions: the "Pyknoprobe", developed to quickly determine the different layers of the sea; a use of termite in quickly heating food and drinks out in the open under unfavourable weather conditions." (From the Danish Encyclopaedia - own translation). He wrote a number of important and esteemed works and was member of the Danish Scientific Academy as well as many prominent international scientific commissions of meteorology and geophysics (i.e. president of the International Geodetical and Geophysical Union). He was also honorary Doctor at the George Washington University. Rosenfeld, Bohr-Bibliography, 15.

London, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, (1812-) 1816 4to. Bound in a fine contemp. full calf with broad rectangular gilt borders on covers. Inner gilt borders. Professionally re-backed to style and spine richly gilt. Fine repairs along edges and to corners. Engraved frontispiece-portrait of Hooker. (28) incl.htitle,20 pp., (2) pp. of Index. Unnumbered leaves with descriptions to each plate. Complete with 88 fine hand-coloured engraved plates (Numb. I-LXXXIV and Supplementplates I-IV (bound first). Portrait with some brownspots, some offsetting from portrait to title. Inner margins of portrait and title-page with 2 larger brownspots, not reaching the text or the engraving. Otherwise a fine clean copy with broad margins, printed on good paper. Exquisite handcolouring. Interesting presentation-copy of the scarce first edition of Hooker's first botanical work, which is not only considered his most beautiful, but which is also the work that established hepaticology (the science of liverworts) as an independent entity and cemented Hooker's reputation. Presented on half-title: "To Francis Boott, Esq./ of Boston, N. America,/ as a testimony of the affectionate/ regard & esteem of/ The Author/ Halesworth Aug. 5.th 1818." Underneath the dedication in Francis Boott's hand: "Mr. Hooker in a letter to me from Halesworth of Aug 5. - says of this copy - "It will serve as a specimen of Country binding, printing and engraving - every thing in short belonging to it being executed in this neighbourhood."/ signed "F.B.". When Hooker returned from his botanical excursions, first to Iceland, then to France, Switzerland and Northern Italy, he devoted himself to the formation of his "Herbarium", which became of worldwide renown among botanists. In 1841 he was appointed director of the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew, where he founded the first museum of economic botany."Hooker spent twelve years at Halesworth, during which he produced his British Jungermanniae, with his own illustrations, widely considered to be his most beautiful work. This book established hepaticology as an independent entity and made Hooker's reputation." (Mea Allan in DSB).Francis Boott (1792-1863), to whom this copy was given, was a friend of Hooker. He had studied botany in America and medicine in London, where he practiced medicine and also gave lectures in botany, - he was also secretary to the Linnean Society. Pritzel: 4208 - BMC(NH) II.870 - Nissen: 916 - Staffleu & Covan: No 2987.

New York, Macmillan, 1930. 8vo. In the original red full cloth and with the the original dust-jacket. Dust-jacket price-clipped and missing 2 cm of lower part of spine, spine discoloured. Internally very fine and clean. Binding likewise very fine and clean. xxvi, (2), 286 pp. First edition of this seminal work tracing the causes of the 1929 Stock Market Crash, here in scarce original dust-jacket..Irving Fisher is considered one of the earliest American neoclassical economists and the first celebrity economist. Fisher was also the first economist to distinguish clearly between real and nominal interest rates, and Milton Friedman called him "the greatest economist the United States has ever produced."Considered "the father of monetary economics" (Pressman, 91), "Irving Fisher was, in the opinion of many, the leading economic theorist in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. Although his contributions to economic theory and to the development of econometrics ensure him a preeminent position among contemporary economists, he was a versatile man. In his day he was equally well-known as social philosopher, teacher, inventor, businessman, and passionate crusader for many social causes" (DAB).

Neuchatel, L'Imprimerie de la Société Typographique), 1771-83. 4to. Bound in 19 contemp. uniform full mottled calf. Raised bands. Gilt spines. Title-and tomelabels with gilt lettering. Spine-ends on nearly all volumes strenghtened. Stamp on title-pages. Each volume around 650 pp. With 508 fine engraved plates. Second edition and the first 4to-edition was published in 19 volumes plus an additional volume by Jean Elie Bertrand (where vol. 20 is an additional volume published much later (1799) - not present here - dealing with the art of printing). This importent collection of books on crafts was published by between 1761 and 1788. The full series comprises 113 parts (cahiers) in 27 folio volumes along with three supplements, and "provide detailed accounts of a wide range of handcraft and manufacturing processes carried out in France at that time. The volumes are well-illustrated, with precise engravings by Jean Elie Bertrand (1737-1779) a noted typographer from Neuchâtel, where the printing was done. Many of them provide the background for shorter articles in Diderot's Encyclopedia, which was appearing at much the same time. The project had its origin in request from Colbert in 1675 to the Academy Royal des Sciences for detailed accounts of various mechanic arts to be prepared and for new machines to be reported upon. This led to the formation of the Bignon Commission under Abbé Bignon. René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683-1757) became editor soon after he joined the Academy. He inherited number of drawings (the earliest prepared in 1693) and an illustrated manuscript on printing, type and book binding, which had been prepared in 1704. It was left to Réaumur's successor Duhamel du Monceau to bring about the publication of the series, probably as the result of the competition from the Encyclopedia." (Wikipedia).Brunet II,618 ff. - Graesse II, 367.

Paris, Arnould Seneuze, 1687. 4to. Two contemporary uniform full calf bindings with five raised bands to richly gilt spines. Capitals and upper front hinge of volume one worn and boards with a few scrapes. Internally very nice and clean with just the occasional light brownspotting. Engraved frontispiece in vol. 1, engraved title-vignettes, large engraved vignette to verso of title-page of vol. 1, engraved portrait in vol. 1, woodcut vignettes and initials. Printed on good paper and with wide margins. (48), 621, (3) pp. + frontispiece and portrait; (4), 197, (3) pp. The very rare first edition of the first French translation of Grotius' groundbreaking magnum opus, "De Jure Belli ac Pacis", the founding work of international law. The profoundly influential masterpiece - written during the Thirty Years' War, in the hope that rational human beings might be able to agree to legal limits on war's destruction - "made him famous throughout Europe... [t]he questions which he put forward have come to be the basis of the ultimate view of land and society. This was the first attempt to lay down a principle of right, and a basis for society and government, outside Church or Scripture... Grotius's principle of an immutable law, which God can no more alter than a mathematical axiom, was the first expression of the "droit naturel", the natural law which exercised the great political theorists of the eighteenth century, and is the foundation of modern international law." (PMM 125). This magnum opus of legal philosophy played a tremendous role in French law and politics and in the entire development of international law in general. "It is on the DIB (De Iure Bellis) that the bulk of Grotius' reputation rests. It consists of an introduction and three books, totaling more than 900 pages in translation. As with DIP, the introduction or "Prolegomena" holds the greatest interest for philosophers, for it is here that Grotius articulates and defends the philosophical foundations of the DIB. While philosophers are naturally attracted to the "Prolegomena," the body of the DIB is also redolent with themes of philosophical interest. Book One defines the concept of war, argues for the legitimacy of war, and identifies who may legitimately wage war. Book Two deals with the causes of war, the origins of property, the transfer of rights and more, while Book Three is dedicated primarily to the rightful conduct of belligerents in war. After the initial publication in 1625, Grotius ushered several more editions to press during his life, each time adding more references without substantially changing the arguments." (SEP).Living in the times of the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Netherlands and the Thirty Years' War between Catholic and Protestant European nations (Catholic France being in the otherwise Protestant camp), Grotius was deeply concerned with matters of conflicts between nations and religions. His magnum opus was a monumental effort to restrain such conflicts on the basis of a broad moral consensus. It was begun in prison and published during his exile in Paris. "In the dedication of his great work, "De Jure Belli ac Pacis", to Louis XIII of France, Grotius addresses the king as "everywhere known by the name Just no less than that of Louis ... Just, when you call back to life laws that are on the verge of burial, and with all your strength set yourself against the trend of an age which is rushing headlong to destruction; ... when you offer no violence to souls that hold views different from your own in matter of religion; ... when by the exercise of your authority you lighten the burden of oppressed peoples."When writing this dedication and the Prolegomena to "De Jure Belli ac Pacis" (originally published in Paris in 1625), Grotius was living in exile. Europe was war-torn and depression and suffering from hunger and cold prevailed in many regions, justifying Grotius' description of international law as such: "in our day, as in former times, there is no lack of men who view this branch of law with contempt as having no reality outside of an empty name." The treaty of peace, embodying many of the universal and permanent principles which Grotius abstracted "from every particular fact" in those dark days of the early part of the Thirty Years' War, was not concluded till 23 years later. The year 1624 was, in the negotiation of the treaty, assumed to be the norm year for restoration of the "Status quo".The more than three centuries since Grotius wrote his magnum opus seem to bear witness to his views upon war peace, in spite of the fact that many a state has not yet realized that the state is "Truly fortunate which has justice for its own boundary line." In 1625 Grotius famously stated: "there is no state so powerful that it may not sometime need the help of others outside itself, either for the purposes of trade, or even ward off the forces of many foreign nations united against it."Grotius's paramount influence upon international law is widely acknowledged worldwide. For instance, since 1999 the American Society of International Law holds an annual series of Grotius Lectures. Because of his theological underpinning of free trade, he is also considered an "economic theologist"."To those desirous of understanding the fundamental principles which have motivated some of the greatest statesmen of modern time and the bases upon which a state which is to remain essentially sound must rest, a reading of Grotius' Prolegomena to the "Law of War and Peace" is commended." (George Grafton Wilson: "Grotius: Law of War and Peace.", p. 1. In: The American Journal of International Law, vol. 35, nr. 2, 1941).

Edinburgh, 1767. Large 4to. Recased preserving the contemporary marbled leather boards with a gilt line-frame over a more recent light brown full calf binding with five raised bands and gilt ornamentations to spine. The contemporary gilt title-label also preserved in second compartment of the spine. A later leather-onlay to the lower compartment, presumably covering an earlier library-marking. All edges of boards gilt. Inner hinges re-enforced. A good, solid, and sturdy copy. Library stamp (Freie Universität Berlin) to verso of title-page, along with a deaccession-stamp, as well as to blank lower margin of p. 48. Apart from the stamps, internally extremely well preserved, clean, and fresh, with only light occasional brownspotting. A very wide-margined copy on good paper. Leaves measuring 27x21 cm. VII, (1), 430 pp. The uncommon first edition of this pioneering classic of the Enlightenment, a magnum opus in the history of political thought. The Essay became extremely influential and established Ferguson’s reputation in Britain and the rest of Europe. The work was also taught at the University of Moscow, causing Voltaire to praise Ferguson for “civilizing the Russians”. Marx was also directly influenced by the work, as were numerous of the great political and sociological theoreticians. “Adam Ferguson's Essay on the History of Civil Society (first published in 1767) is a classic of the Scottish - and European - Enlightenment. Drawing on such diverse sources as classical authors and contemporary travel literature, Ferguson offers a complex model of historical advance which challenges both Hume's and Smith's embrace of modernity and the primitivism of Rousseau. Ferguson combines a subtle analysis of the emergence of modern commercial society with a critique of its abandonment of civic and communal virtues. Central to Ferguson's theory of citizenship are the themes of conflict, play, political participation and military valour. The Essay is a bold and novel attempt to reclaim the tradition of active, virtuous citizenship and apply it to the modern state.” (Cambridge University Press). ”A pioneering work of the Scottish Enlightenment in the field of “philosophical history”, or what we would today call sociology. It deals with the social, political, economic, intellectual, and legal changes which accompanied societies as they made the transition to modern commercial and manufacturing society.” (OLL – Online Library of Liberty)

Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1816-47. 8vo. Bound in 101 physical volumes in contemp. hcalf. Gilt spines. Light wear to top of spine, occassionally rubbed, a few with tears to spines. With folded maps, plates, plans, tables. Scattred brownspots to some volumes. Extremely scarce in complete state as this, being one of the main sources for French colonial and marine history, dealing with ethnography, voyages, surveys, medicine (KERAUDREN), technology, hydrography, sailing manuals, navigation, geography, carthography, oceanography, commerce etc. etc.First serie: the years 1816-21 comprising 2 vols. each, 1822-30 comprising 3 vols. (1827 and 1830 each: 4 vols) - Second serie: each year comprising 3 vols. - Third serie from 4 to 5 vols. each year.

Paris, Dentu, 1809. 8vo & Folio. Four text-volumes and one atlas-volume. Text-volumes uniformly bound (by Harry Larsen) uncut with contemporary blue blank wrappers in recent half calf with gilt lettering to spines. A stamp to title-page in all volumes. With repaired worm-tracts throughout, primarily affecting margins, but with occassional loss of text, otherwise internally clean. LX, 389; (4), 562 + three folding tables; (4), 479; (4), 380 pp.Atlas-volume in contemporary half calf with gilt lettering to spine. Worm-tract to inner margin and light margin brownpostting. 25 numbered plates: An engraved portrait of the author, 5 detailed folded maps, 7 plates depicting animals, 8 city plans and views, including a double page plan and view of Buenos Aires, and four bird plates. A complete set. The preferred first French edition of Azara's highly influential and important work on the region around Río de la Plata, here he charted the region while delineating the boundary between Spanish and Portuguese interests. His work, however, also included his observations on many topics ranging from the geography of the region to characteristics of the many indigenous groups and to zoology in the region. Consequently, he became a naturalist of some note, and Charles Darwin had a high regard for his work. In 1777, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso. As dictated by the treaty, each nation would send a delegation to the Río de la Plata region to negotiate the border dispute between the Portuguese and Spanish colonies. Azara, being a Spanish military officer and engineer, was selected as a member of this delegation and departing quickly for the New World. The Portuguese delegation, however, never arrived, and Azara ended up remaining in the region from 1781 to 1801. In the 20 year period Azara ventured on several expedition in which he began observing the nature of the region. Over the course of his time there, he "described 448 birds...This number is reduced to 381 when duplications of sex, age, and plumage are taken into account (eight remain unidentified), and 178 of them are the types upon which the scientific names are based." (Beddall, "Isolated Spanish Genius. He also identified 78 quadrupeds, 43 of which were new. A number of animals were named after him, including Azara's night monkey (Aotus azarae), Azara's agouti (Dasyprocta azarae), Azara's grass mouse (Akodon azarae), Azara's spinetail (Synallaxis azarae), and Azara's tree iguana (Liolaemus azarai ). Dorsum Azara on the Moon is also named after him.The present work is by far the most extensive and wide-ranging work he published. Vol 3-4 and to a large extend translated from his "Apuntamientos para la historia natural de los pa?jaros del Paraguay y Rio de la Plata" (Madrid, 1802-05). Palau 20975 Sabin 2541 Wood, p. 214.

Paris, Brunot-Labbe, 1817. 8vo. Completely uncut in later, simple paper-wrappers. Light dusting to first and last leaf and only light occasional brownspotting. Overall a magnificent anf fresh copy, on good paper, and completely uncut. Scarce first edition of the first Western book about Buddhism and Buddha. "Although the Western encounter with Asia's largest religion may be the vastest and most consequential spiritual encounter in human history, its protagonists and historical development are still barely known. Thus it comes as no surprise that even specialists have hitherto failed to appreciate the earliest Western book about Buddhism: Michel-Jean-François Ozeray's Recherches "Sur Buddou ou Bouddou, Instituteur religieux de l'Asie Orientale" (Paris, 1817)." (from the review of Urs App's edition of the work from 1917).To commemorate Ozeray's groundbreaking work, an edition of it was published for its 200th anniversary, in 2017, with French-English parallel-text (the translation by Urs App). It is this edition that has made the book famous and re-introduced it as the pioneering classic that it is. "In his 73-page introduction App presents and analyzes Ozeray's view of Buddhism and its founder. Tracing the author's main sources, he explains why his book deserves to be recognized as a pioneering contribution to Western knowledge about Buddhism and to global-scale comparative religion. Published just before the onset of academic research on Buddhism in Europe, Ozeray's work relied not on Christian missionary literature or romantic speculation but rather on figurative representations and reports furnished by ambassadors, travelers, and long-time residents in Asian countries. Due to its focus on living Buddhism as practised in numerous Asian countries, Ozeray's pioneering study is-in spite of its inevitable flaws-in many respects more congruent with modern field work than the majority of popular books on Buddhism that bend the spiritualism and esotericism shelves in today's bookstores."

Leipzig, Weidmann, 1776-78. 8vo. Bound in two nice uniform contemporary half calf bindings with five raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Ex-libris pasted on to pasted down front free end-papers and a small embossed stamp to front free end paper on volume 1 ("Buchhändler u. Antiquar Carl Helf"). Stamp to p. 1 of both volumes. Spines with light soiling and capital on volume 1 lacking a small part of the leather. A few light brown spots throught. A fine set. VIII, 632 pp; XII, 740 pp. First German edition, also being the very first overall translation, of Adam Smith's ground-breaking main work, the "Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations". This seminal first translation of the work was undertaken by J.F. Schiller, who finished the first part of the translation in time for it to appear as soon as 1776, the same year as the original English edition. The second part appeared in 1778, the same year as the exceedingly scarce first French translation. This first German translation has been of the utmost importance to the spreading of Smith's ideas throughout Europe, and, after the true first, this must count as the most important edition of the work."The influence of the Wealth of Nations [...] in Germany [...] was so great that 'the whole of political economy might be divided into two parts - before and since Adam Smith; the first part being a prelude, and the second a sequel." (Backhouse, Roger E., The Methodology of Economics: Nineteenth-Century British Contributions, Routledge, 1997.)"The first review of the translation, which appeared in the Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen for March 10, 1777, by J. G. H. Feder, professor of Philosophy at the University of Göttingen, was very favorable. In the words of the reviewer: "It is a classic; very estimable both for its thorough, not too limited, often far-sighted political philosophy, and for the numerous, frequently discursive historical notes," but the exposition suffers from too much repetition." (Lai, Cheng-chung. Adam Smith Across Nations: Translations and Receptions of The Wealth of Nations, Clarendon Press, UK, 2000).Until 1797, [...], the work of Adam Smith received scant attention in Germany. While Frederick II was living, Cameralism held undisputed sway in Prussia, and the economic change which began with the outbreak of the French Revolution had still not gained sufficient momentum to awake the economic theorists from their dogmatic slumber." (Lai, Cheng-chung. Adam Smith Across Nations: Translations and Receptions of The Wealth of Nations, Clarendon Press, UK, 2000).Various German economist read the german translations and was inspired by it."Christian Garve, [...], must be considered as among the important contributors to the spread of Smith's views. Himself a popularizer of philosophical doctrines, he was early attracted by the Scotch writers and became one of their foremost exponents in Germany." In 1791 Garve began a second translation of the Smith's work and in the introduction to the the translation he wrote: "It (Smith's work) attracted me as only few books have in the course of my studies through the number of new views which it gave me not only concerning the actual abject of his investigations, but concerning all related material from the philosophy of civil and social life". Georg Sartorius, August Ferdinand Lueder and, perhaps the most important economist of the period, Christian Jacob Kraus, were all important figures in the spread of Smith's thought. "The most significant of Kraus' works and that also which shows his conception of economic science most clearly is the five-volume work entitled State Economy. The first four volumes of this work are little more than a free paraphrase of the Wealth of Nations". Kraus was: "to a large extent responsible for the economic changes which took place in Prussia after 1807, in so far as they can be ascribed to Smithan influence." (Lai, Cheng-chung. Adam Smith Across Nations: Translations and Receptions of The Wealth of Nations, Clarendon Press, UK, 2000).Kraus wrote of the present volume: "[T]he world has seen no more important book than that of Adam Smith.... [C]ertainly since the times of the New Testament no writing has had more beneficial results than this will have.... [Smith's doctrines form] the only true, great, beautiful, just and beneficial system." (Fleischacker, Samuel , A Third Concept of Liberty, Princeton University Press, 1999.)_____________Hailed as the "first and greatest classic of modern thought" (PMM 221), Adam Smith's tremendously influential main work has had a profound impact on thought and politics, and is considered the main foundation of the era of liberal free trade that dominated the nineteenth century. Adam Smith (1723-1790) is considered the founder of Political Economy in Britain, mainly due to his groundbreaking work, the "Wealth of Nations" from 1776. The work took him 12 years to write and was probably in contemplation 12 years before that. It was originally published in two volumes in 4to, and was published later the same year in Dublin in three volumes in 8vo. The book sold well, and the first edition, the number of which is unknown, sold out within six months, which came as a surprise to the publisher, and probably also to Smith himself, partly because the work "requires much thought and reflection (qualities that do not abound among modern readers) to peruse to any purpose." (Letter from David Hume, In: Rae, Life of Adam Smith, 1895, p. 286), partly because it was hardly reviewed or noticed by magazines or annuals. In spite of this, it did evoke immense interest in the learned and the political world, and Buckle's words that the work is "in its ultimate results probably the most important book that has ever been written", and that it has "done more towards the happiness of man than has been effected by the united abilities of all the statesmen and legislators of whom history has preserved an authentic account" (History of Civilisation, 1869, I:214) well describes the opinion of a great part of important thinkers then as well as now. Kress S. 2567Goldsmith 11394Menger 521Not in Einaudi

Napoli, Excudebat Felix Musca, 1716. 4to. Nice contemporary Italian full vellum binding with gilt title to back. A bit of soiling and averall wear. Internally occasional brownspotting, but overall a very nice copy. Title-page in red an black, full-page engraved portrait of Hadrianus Carafa, full-page engraved portrait of Antonius Carafa, six beautiful large engraved vignettes, and six beautiful large engraved initials. Tissue-guards inserted later. (2) ff. (being half-title and title-page), portrait, (12) ff. (dedication), portrait, 501 pp. The very rare first edition of Vico's intriguing account of the deeds of Antonius Carafa, the historical biography which the highly influential Enlightenment philosopher, historian, and jurist was commissioned to write about the important seventeenth-century statesman. The work is more than a beautifully printed work by a highly influential thinker about an important Italian statesman, though; it is a rich and enlightened reconstruction of many major historical events and aspects of the contemporary history of Vico, mixed with numerous of Vico's personal opinions. As such, the work is of the greatest interest to historians, philosophers, jurists and political historians, as well as anyone interested in early modern European history; it furthermore gives us a unique insight into the thought of a thinker, whose ideas and opinions, both philosophical and political, have greatly influenced the likes of Marx, Hegel, Goethe, etc. The commission of the work is also that which caused Vico to become interested in the question of the law of nations, and that which led him to discover Grotius' "On the Law of War and Peace" (1625), which came to influence him greatly. The biography of Antonio Carafa is the next major work that Vico writes after his magnum opus, the "Scienza Nouva". "The life of Carafa was a commissioned work, undertaken at the request of Don Adriano Carafa, the nephew of the subject and a former pupil of Vico, and for its composition access to the family archives was given him. It appeared in 1716, in magnificent format, as Vico says "in the Dutch style", and won for its author the praise of Pope Clement XI as well as the friendship of the Italian scholar Gianvincenzo Gravina"." (Camponigri, Time & Idea: The Theory of History in Giambattista Vico, p. 22). Vico later married one of Carafa's daughters, and he has himself said of the work that it was "tempered by honour towards the subject, reverence towards the princes and the just claims of truth." (The Autobiography). Antonio Carafa (1646-1693) was a Neapolitan statesman and diplomat, who immigrated to Vienna in 1662 to serve the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I of Habsburg, in whose service he stayed throughout most of his life. Carafa spent years at the Viennese court, familiarizing himself with the intrigues and learning the secrets of the state and the art of governing here. He became a favourite of the emperor and the Habsburg princes (Charles of Lorraine and Maximillian of Bavaria ) and came to serve as a statesman and diplomat of Leopold I in Vienna, Poland and Hungary. He kept rising through the ranks, as his military experience grew, and he was known for his courage, wisdom, strategic skills and political diplomacy. Eventually he rose to the highest rank in the Austrian military and was appointed Military Governor of, first, Upper Hungary, then Transylvania as well as General Commissary of all imperial armies on all fronts, namely the Rhine, Danube, and Po; he was integral in Leopold's wars against the Ottoman Empire. Towards the end of his career, he came to suffer from infamy, according to Vico due to the jealousy of his rivals, and he was dubbed the "butcher of Eperjes"; he was thus sent back to Vienna, where he died shortly after.The present text by Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) is a historiographical work which sets out to delineate the biography of Antonio Carafa, a statesman much admired by Vico. The work touches on numerous events, in which the important statesman and diplomat was involved, and Vico thus describes in detail, from a contemporary point of view, many highly interesting historical events. These events include THE ALLIANCE'S WAR AGAINST THE TURKS BETWEEN 1683 AND 1694, THE SECOND ENGLISH REVOLUTION OF 1688-1689, THE WAR OF THE AUGSBURG LEAGUE, etc., etc. These events are also valuably commented upon by Vico, for whom they were contemporary and vivid. For a modernist, the present work possesses a rare source of information on a number of important European events, presented in the most interesting manner, by one of modern Europe's great thinkers, and it is thus probably of greater interest to us today than it ever has been. "In his own time, Vico was relatively unknown, but from the nineteenth century onwards his views found a wider audience and today his influence is widespread in the humanities and social sciences." (SEP). In 2004 the first English translation of the work appeared, bearing witness to the renewed interest in this important and interesting work by one of the leading Enlightenment philosophers. "Vico's next major work [after the "Scienza Nuova"], "The Life Of Antonio Carafa" (1716), although somewhat of a by-way in the development of his general thought, contains one relevant point. Whereas, in "On the Study Methods of our Time", he had emphasised the importance of wisdom, virtue and eloquence in training the intellectual to guide the masses, in his biography of Carafa he attributes Carafa's success to his natural, rather than acquired, shrewdness and suggests that formal culture is likely to hinder rather than to promote effective action. This was not a view that he was to maintain in its generalised form, but it is indicative of decreasing confidence in the capacity of the intellectual to bring about political well-being by the methods advocated earlier. At this point it is necessary to turn to the importance of Grotius's influence on Vico, though this is a highly debated matter. Vico may have known something about Grotius's doctrines, probably through discussion, as early as 1708, but as part of his preparation for "The Life of Antonio Carafa", he had undertaken a thorough reading of "The Law of War and Peace"." (Introduction to Vico's "The First New Science" by Leon Pompa, p. XXIII).First editions by Vico are generally of great scarcity, and the present work is no exception, as it is almost impossible to find.

Lyon, Jacob Roussin, 1596. 8vo. Contemporary limp vellum. Title-page printed in red and black. A fine copy. (16), 633 pp. The rare first edition of Bodin's great final work, his main contribution to the field of natural philosophy, "The Theatre of Nature", which was written in 1590, but published for the first time in the year of his death, 1596. In spite of the fact that the "Theatrum" has been somewhat neglected by modern scholars and has for instance never translated into English in 1997, it is in fact one of his most important works. It constitutes the most systematic exposition of Bodin's vision of the world and is the culmination point of his systematic examination of things, revealing to us the full extent of his entire philosophy.In this Bodin's magnum opus of natural history, a completely new type of natural philosophy is constructed, one which attempts to combine religion with philosophy. By combining philosophical research concerning causes with a pious recognition of divine providence and the greatness of God, Bodin constantly reminds us of the importance of reason and reasoning at the same time that he refers to the Holy Scripture. Jean Bodin (1529/30 - 1596), "one of the towering figures in the history of French thought" (Scott), was a lawyer, economist, natural philosopher, historian, and one of the major political theorists of the sixteenth century. His main work, the "Six livres de la république" is one of the most important works of modern political thought. Here Bodin gave the first systematic statement of sovereignty and coined the term "political science". With his theory of the State and statement of Sovereignty, he fundamentally changed the history of political thought in the West. The "Six livres de la république" is Bodin's most famous and frequently read work, and ever since the 18th century, it has completely overshadowed everything else that he wrote. In the 17th century, however, Bodin's "Theatrum" was considered very important to the understanding of Bodin's entire philosophical system, including the political. It is the only one of his works that attempts to actually do that which he ever since the beginning of his career set out to do: to methodologically study all things, human and divine.Bodin does this in a manner that made it universally understandable. "While its erudition and philosophical originality suited it well to professors and scholars, Bodin's "Theatrum" was also designed to be pedagogical, with its question-and-answer format and its broad coverage of natural philosophy from first principles to metals and minerals, plants and animals, souls, angels, and the heavenly bodies." (Ann Blair, The Theater of Nature: Jean Bodin and Renaissance Science, p. 17). Tchemerzine: II:250.

Balsel, Sebastian Henricpetrus, (1562). 4to. Both volumes bound in one nice mid-19th century half calf with gilt spine. Title to lower edge in contemporary hand. Ex libris to inside of front board. Some browning and brownspotting, and first title-page frayed at edges and with a repaired hole (presumably removing an old owner's name), not affecting printing and a small repaired hole in imprint (affecting the "Pe" of "Per Sebastianum..."). 1) Somniorum Synesiorum: (42) pp., 1 blank leaf, 278 pp., 1 blank leaf. +2) Opera quaedam lectu digna (with a separate title-page and separate pagination): (36), 413, (1, -errata) pp. - lacking the final leaf with printer's devise only (no text). The extremely rare first edition of the most important Renaissance work on dreams, arguably the most important book on dream interpretation up until Freud. (Appended thereto as the second part of a collection of earlier works by Cardano, gathered here for the first time. This part lacks the leaf with the printer's device). "Cardano is unusual among Renaissance writers on dreams, in that he both records a good many of his own dreams, displaying keen interest in them, and has a highly developed theory about the causation of dreams and the method of interpreting them. His book on dreams, "Somniorum Synesiorum Libri IIII", comprises an exhortation to interpret dreams, an account of how dreams are caused, classifications of them, advice on how to interpret them, and a final chapter describing fifty-five of his own dreams." (Alice Brown, Girolamo Cardanos's Somniorum Synesiorum Libri III, 1979). Girolamo Cardano/Hieronymus Cardanus (1501 -1576) was an extremely important Renaissance polymath, being an influential mathematician, physician, biologist, physicist, chemist, astrologer, astronomer, philosopher, writer, - and gambler. He is often referred to as the greatest mathematician of the Renaissance and was one of the key figures in the foundation of probability as well as the one whointroduced binomial coefficients and the binomial theorem to the Western world. His great work on dreams was also extremely influential and has always been considered of the utmost importance to the understanding of his scientific theories and world view. His theories about dreams are closely connected to his scientific theories about the world and bridges the gap of our understanding of his thoughts about certainty of knowledge. This great work on dreams, dream interpretation, and the cause of dreams, constitutes a fundamental attempt at understanding the mind and therefore the boundaries of our knowledge. "Cardano admired experience and was a determined advocate of natural science. But at the same time he was aware of the insufficiency of empiricism and insisted upon the justice of the claims of mathematical reason. He even went so far as to stress that our knowledge can be protected against uncertainty only by the employment of a method that led from the one to the many. He held, however, that owing to the way in which the mind is tied to the body, the synthesis between reason and sensuous knowledge was most precarious and prevented a perfect understanding of those ideal and incorporeal essences which constitute the principles of bodies. It also makes it impossible for us to visualise adequately the original connections through which the separate things arise out of their principles. Our physical knowledge is a superficial knowledge. It makes us glide over things without probing their souls and is based upon analogies and parables... In short, Cardano was fully aware of the difficulty of the passage from the mental to the real, from ideas to things." (Eugenio Garin: Italian Humanism, 1965, pp. 188-89). "Girolamo Cardano conceived and outlined his four books on dreams according to Synesius' philosophy between 1535 and 1537. Originally divided into ten books, the volume underwent subsequent modifications until it was published in 1562. We know from Cardano's own testimony how the key episodes in his life were always heralded or accompanied by dreams. From this point of view, the 1562 summa on dreams reflects one of the most critical of such moments. As Jean-Yves Boriaud explains in the introduction to his new Latin edition and French translation of Somniorum Synesiorum libri quatuor, in the year prior to the composition of this work, Cardano was undergoing intense dream activity as a result of the tragic execution in 1560 of his son Giovanni Battista, who had been charged with poisoning his wife. From that moment on, the death of his son would represent a watershed moment in both his life and literary career. For this reason, too, Somniorum Synesiorum libri quatuor deserves to be considered as one of Cardano's most important writings and Boriaud's edition should be saluted as a notable accomplishment. (Giglioni, Guido (2010) Synesian Dreams. Giacomo Cardano on dreams as means of prophetic communication. Bruniana & Campanelliana, XVI (2). pp. 575-584.).The work is of the utmost scarcity. OCLC lists merely four copies: two in Switzerland, one in Germany, and one in The Netherlands.Adams: C:692; Wellcome: I:1305.

S.-Peterburg, 1864. 8vo. Bound in a beautiful recent pastiche-binding of brown half calf with marbled papers over boards and elegant gilding to spine. End-papers renewed. A few dampstains and a bit of brownspotting throughout. A nice copy. XIV, 399, (1) pp. + 1 plate. First edition of the first Russian translation of Darwin's "Origin of Species", a main reason for the widespread effect of Darwinism in Russia, where the theory met less resistance in the 1860'ies than it did in Western Europe. In Russia, Darwinism had a profound influence not only upon the different sciences, but also on philosophy, economic and political thought, and the great literature of the period. For instance, both Tolstoy and Dostoevsky referenced Darwin in their most important works, as did numerous other thinkers of the period."In 1864, S.A. Rachinsky, professor of plant physiology at St. Petersburg University, produced the first Russian translation of the "Origin". Although not a masterpiece of translation art, the book sold out so quickly that in 1865 it went through a second printing. By this time Darwin's ideas were discussed not only by scientists but also by such popular writers as Dmitri Pisarev and M. A. Antinovich." (Glick, p. 232). Rachinsky began translating the "Origin" in 1862 and wrote an important article on the theories presented in it, while working on the translation. This article and the translation of the "Origin" into Russian were responsible for the great success and rapid, widespread knowledge of Darwinian theory of evolution in Russia. "Darwin was concerned that the "Origin of Species" reach naturalists across the world, but translations of that complicated work raised problems for Darwin. If he found it difficult to make the reader "understand what is meant" in England and America, at least in those two countries he and the reader were discussing the "Origin of Species" in the same language. Foreign language editions raised not only the thorny question of translating Darwinian terms, but also the problem of translators, who often thought it proper to annotate their editions to explain the "significance" of Darwinism. The first Russian translation of the "Origin of Species" (1864) appeared, however, without any comment whatever by the translator, Sergei A. Rachinsky, professor of botany at the University of Moscow. Rachinsky had begun the translation in 1862 and published an article on Darwinism while continuing work on the translation in 1863." (Rogers, p. 485). In the year of publication of the translation, 1864, Pisarev wrote a long article in "The Russian Word", which purports to be a review of this translation; the critic complains about the absence of notes and commentaries by the translator. Pisarev furthermore points to several errors in the translation and to numerous infelicities of expression. Acknowledging the importance of the work, however, and of the spreading of Darwinism in Russia, he goes on in his own essay to provide a much more popular account of Darwin's theory and to impress upon his readers its revolutionary significance.Nikolai Strakhov also reviewed the translation immediately upon publication, acknowledging the effect it would have. Strakhov, however, recognized potential dangers inherent in the theory and expressed them in his review of Rachinsky's translation. He praised the work for its thoroughness and rejoiced in the evidence that man constituted the highest stage of organic development; but then he went on to argue that by moving into questions of philosophy and theology, the Darwinists were exceeding the limits of scientific evidence. Like Pisarev, Tolstoy enthusiastically embraced Darwinism. "The first mention of Darwin in Tolstoy's literary "Nachlass" is found in one of the drafts to "War and Peace". There Darwin is listed, apparently quite favorably, among leading thinkers "working toward new truth" [...] Thus by the late 1860's the name of Darwin as a leading scientist was already familiar to Tolstoy and duly respected." (McLean, p. 160). A fact which is often overlooked is that Tolstoy actually knew Rachinsky quite well. Interestingly, it was in a letter to Rachinsky, in reply to a question about the structure of "Anna Karenina", that Tolstoy made the famous statement (that all Tolstoy scholars and lovers know by heart): "I am proud of the architecture - the arches are joined in such a way that you cannot discover where the keystone is". Like Strakhov, however, Dostoevsky, acknowledging the significance of the "Origin", saw the dangers of the theory. In the same year as the publication of Rachinsky's translation, he lets the narrator in "Notes from Underground" (1864) launch his attack on Darwinism , beginning: "As soon as they prove you, for instance, that you are descended from a monkey, then it's no use scowling, you just have to accept it."In "Crime and Punishment" (two years later, 1866) the Darwinian overtones inherent in Raskolnikov's theory of the extraordinary man are unmistakable. He describes the mechanism of "natural selection," where, according to the laws of nature, by the crossing of races and types, a "genius" would eventually emerge. In general, Darwinian themes and Darwin's name occur in many contexts in a large number of Dostoevsky's works.Freeman: 748. See: James Allen Rogers: The Reception of Darwin's Origin of Species by Russian Scientists. In: Isis, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Dec., 1973), pp. 484-503.Thomas F. Glick: The Comparative Reception of Darwinism. 1974.Hugh McLean: In Quest of Tolstoy. 2008.

Kjøbenhavn [Copenhagen], 1872 - (Kristiania [Oslo], 1890) - Stockholm, 1871. A very nice and harmonious set, in four excellent half calf bindings.1) The Danish translation: 1 volume 8vo. A nice contemporary half calf with gilding to spine and gilt title-label. Only light wear. Internally some light brownspotting. (19), XIII, 605, (1) pp.2) The Norwegian translation: 2 volumes small 8vo. Bound in two excellent, uniform, recent red morocco bindings in pastiche-style, with gilt lines to spines. The work is printed in quite bad paper, which is always yellowed and quite brittle. Thus, the first title-page has two small restorations from verso, far from arrecting printing. The second title-page had an old owener's signature and a previous owner's stamp. 379, (5); 383 pp.3) The Swedish translation: 1 volume large 8vo. Bound uncut and with the extremely scarce original front wrapper in a lovely later brown half morrocco binding in contemporary style, with five raised bands and gilt author and year to spine. Front wrapper bound on a strip at inner hinge and with a missing outer coner (far from affecting printing). Old owner's name to front wrapper. An excellent copy. XI, (1), 420 pp. A magnificent collection of first editions of the first Danish, Norwegian and Swedish translations of Darwin's masterpiece "The Origin of Species", together constituting the introduction to "The Darwinian Revolution in Scandinavia".The first Scandinavian translation to appear was the Swedish, which is also the rarest of the three. Darwinism was strongly opposed in Sweden, where the primary reaction to the work came from religious institutions that were outraged and fiercely fought against spreading the ideas presented in "origin" in their country. The second Scandinavian translation to appear was the Danish, which was translated in 1872 by the then young botanist J. P. Jacobsen, who was soon to become one f Scandinavia's most celebrated and influential authors. He received world-wide fame as the author of "Marie Grubbe" and "Niels Lyhne", which founded literary naturalism in Europe. "In the early 1870's, however, he was still dedicated to science. In 1873 he received the University of Copenhagen's Gold Medal for his work on desmids, single-celled green freshwater algae. The Descent of Man was also translated by Jacobsen and appeared in 1874-75."Darwin's ideas found great resonance in scientific circles in Denmark, and his ideas were immediately recognized. "In the early 1870s [With the Danish translation] the literary critic Georg Brandes started promoting Darwin's ideas as part of his liberal ideology and soon Darwinism became the mark of a new generation of intellectuals. Both the Steenstrup circle and the Brandes circle held Darwin in high esteem, but made completely different attributions to his theory. Consequently they both decided to raise money separately for the same Darwin. Darwin had borrowed the collection of barnacles from the Zoology Museum in Copenhagen with the help of Steenstrup. As a compliment Darwin sent him a signed copy of the Origin. Steenstrup acknowledged Darwin as an important fellow naturalist, but like many of his colleagues at the University of Copenhagen he never accepted evolutionary theory. The initial scientific reaction to Darwin's work on evolution by means of natural selection was respectful, but made few converts. memorial in 1882. Independently, Darwinism transformed as it became part of popular culture. " (Kjærsgaard, Darwinism comes to Denmark).The Norwegian translation was the last of the three to appear, but it is quite scarce and very difficult to come by. It was published by businessman and publisher Johan Sørensen (1830-1918) as a part of 'Bibliothek for de tusen hjem' (Library for Every Home)."The first volume came out at the end of 1889, in five parts and a total of 379 pages. Each part cost 30 øre, making a total price of 1 kroner 50 øre. The following year, 1890, the second volume appeared and this consisted of four parts totaling 383 pages and cost 1 kroner 20 øre. The books were translated from the English sixth and final edition by the Master of the Arendal Public Secondary College, Ingebret Suleng (1852-1928)" (Glick, The Reception of Charles Darwin in Europe).1. The Danish translation: Om Arternes Oprindelse ved Kvalitetsvalg eller ved de heldigst stillede Formers Sejr i Kampen for Tilværelsen. Efter Originalens femte Udgave oversat af J.P. Jacobsen. Kjøbenhavn, Gyldendalske Boghandel (F. Hegel), 1872. 8vo. (10),XIII,605,(1) pp. - Freeman No 643 (Freeman with wrong collation, as he omits half-title and content-leaves).2. The Norwegian translation: Arternes Oprindelse gjennem naturligt Udvalg eller de bedst skikkede Formers bevarelse i Striden for Livet. Oversat efter Originalens VI. Udgave af Ingebret Suleng. (I-) II. (Kristiania), Bibliothek for de tusen hjem. Fagerstrand pr. Høvik, (1890). Small 8vo. (1-3)4-379,(4);(1-3)4-383 pp. - Not in Freeman.3. The Swedish translation: Om Arternas Uppkomst genom naturligt Urval eller de bäst utrustade Rasernas Bestånd i Kampen för Tillvaron. Öfversättning från femte Originalupplagan af A.M. Selling. Stockholm, L.J. Hiertas Förlagsexpedition, 1871. (I-IV)V-XI,420 pp., 1 plate. - Freeman No 793 (Freeman having the wrong year of publication and not mentioning the plate).

Basel, in Officina Frobeniana (Per Hieronymum Frobenium, & Nicolaum Episcopium), 1531. Small 8vo. Bound in a lovely, charming early 19th century red half calf with gilt title and lines to spine and lovely gold and red ornamented "romantic" paper over boards. A bit of wear to spine. Internally a very fine and clean copy. Title-page slightly soiled, and a vague marginal dampstain throughout, on most leaves barely visible. Froben printer's device to title-page, and in a larger version to verso of last leaf. Four large woodcut initials. 76, (44) pp. The extremely scarce first printing, of both the original Greek text and the translation into Latin, of Parthenius's only surviving work, the historiographically, mythographically, and literarily hugely important "Erotica Pathemeta" (or "Sorrows of Love"), which constitutes the only prose work by a Hellenistic poet to survive in its entirety and one of the few extant works of its genre, i.e the mythological or paradoxographical handbook, preserved from any period. The "Erotica Pathemata" constitutes the only surviving work by the famous Greek poet Parthenius of Nicea (fl. 1st century BC, Rome), the Greek teacher of Virgil, and the favourite author of Hadrian and Tiberius, who is now often referred to as "the last of the Alexandrians".Parthenius was Born in Nicaea in Asia Minor, He was captured in the third Mithradatic war and taken to Italy, where he became the Roman poet Virgil's teacher in Greek. He is considered a main influence on the "Neoteroi" - the group of "modernist poets" led primarily by Callimachus, and he played an important role in spreading a taste for "Callimachean" poetry in Rome.In his time, Parthenius was primarily famous as a poet, but unfortunately none of his poetic works have survived, and only some small fragments have been preserved. What we have in their place is the prose treatise "Erotica Pathemata", which has survived in merely one manuscript, probably written in the mid 9th-century. In 1531 Froben printed the editio princeps of both the original Greek text and the Latin version of it, and only in 1675 did it appear again. The Froben editio princeps is of great scarcity.The "Erotica Pathemata" is a little prose treatise consisting of thirty-six love stories, all with tragic or sentimental endings. The work was dedicated to Cornelius Gallus, and was, Parthenius explains, meant as "a storehouse from which to draw material"."The very concatenation of poetry and prose is interesting, and perhaps important. It could be that the "Erotika Pathemata" were first collected by Parthenius for his own use as a poet. But the collection of prose anecdote by a poet also locates Parthenius in the same tradition as Callimachus ...; Nicander ... ; and Euphorion of Chalcis ... . Parthenius' is in fact the only prose work by a Hellenistic poet to survive entire. It proclaims its purpose as utilitarian, and begins with an epistolary introduction in which Parthenius offers his work to the poet Gallus as potential raw material for hexameter and elegiac poetry. This detail is of some importance for literary history. The loss of the poetry - not only of Parthenius, but also of his friends in Rome, of Gallus, Cinna, and the other "neoteroi" - is admittedly grievous; but the treatise, and particularly the implications of the dedication, offers some insight of their own into literary production in Rome in the middle of the first century BC. It is a period about which we should like to be better informed, the age of the supposed epyllion, of nascent elegy, and of experimentation with new Greek genres. The dedication suggests, on the one hand, intriguing possibilities for the sort of narrative poetry, both hexameter and elegiac, which Parthenius might have expected Gallus and his friends to write; and on the other the text can be read (and may also have been intended to be read) for pleasure as a prose work in itself. Thus regarded, it raises questions about the hellenistic historiography in which the stories were embedded, about the diverse kinds of mythography written in the hellenistic period and the two-way relationship between mythography and poetry; about the types of stories it contains, the manner in which they were generated, the structure they exhibit, the messages about social life which are encoded within them. And not the least intriguing question concerns its relationship to the Greek novel, a genre which seems to have been gaining momentum in the first century BC, and other sorts of prose fiction. Stylistically too, the work should be of interest to historians of Greek prose. It is preserved by a lucky accident in a single manuscript, possibly because its Atticism pleased the Byzantines' ear as much as it appealed to their penchant for story-telling, and it is one of the very few surviving works of Greek prose from the middle of the first century BC. Indeed it is one of few extant works of its genre, the mythographical or paradoxographical handbook, preserved from any period." (Lightfoot, Parthenius of Nicea. The Poetical Fragments of the "Erotika Pathemata". Edited with introduction and commentaries. 1999, pp. 2-3). As such, the "Erotica Pathemata", along with its author, apart from being of pivotal importance to the study of the ancient novel (the earliest examples of which date from exactly this perioed), Greek prose, and the Greek language ("Parthenius' Greek is of no little interest in view of the dearth of surviving material which is comparable in genre and date" - Lightfoot, p. 283), also plays a central role in Hellenistic literature and is of decisive character to the development of Roman prose and poetry in the 1st century BC. "It was Parthenius who taught me Greek -Yes, a freed prisoner-of-war, whose giftWas perfect elegiacs, faultless poems.He gathered brief love-stories, so that GallusCould turn them into song. Parthenius sleepsWatched over by sea-deities, by Glaucus,Panopea, Melicertes - Ino's son -Beside a river graved in celandine." (Virgil - see Lightfoot, p. (97)).

Paris, Stephanus (Estienne), 1544. Folio. Contemporary full vellum with some wear. Six raised bands to spine and large blindstamped centrepieces to boards. Capitals and upper part of back board worn and torn; but binding still fine and solid. Some dampstaining, especially to beginning and end, though mostly marginal. Back end-paprs quite dampstained. A worn, but still nice copy with mostly bright and clean pages. Bookplate to inside of front board and old owner's inscriptions and a pasted-in catalogue-description to front free end-paper. Numerous large foliated and grotesque initials and headpieces and large woodcut printer's device on title-page (basilisk) and verso of final leaf (the so-called device 10) . (4), 361 (misnumbered as 353, and including blank P5), 181, (5) ff. The rare editio princeps of one of the most beautiful and elegant of all renaissance printings, namely Estienne's magnificent volume of "Church History", which constitutes the first major Greek text produced by Estienne as the King's Printer in Greek and the work which marks the first appearance of a full text in the fist font of the Royal Greek types (the so-called "grecs du roi") - "These cursive Greek types are universally acknowledged as the finest ever cut." (Schreiber). This is also the first book in which appear the splendid matching initials and headpieces, which are considered "among the best of the printed decorations used in the sixteenth century" (Updike). In 1542, Francois I appointed Estienne his new printer in Greek, and at the same time he commissioned Claude Garamond to cut a new Greek font intended specifically to be used to print Greek books from then unpublished manuscripts in the Royal Library at Fontainebleu. The first text selected for printing by Estienne was the great "Ecclesistical History", which marks a new era of book printing. Garamont's new Royal Greek types, the later so famous "grecs du Roi", used for it, were based on the handwriting of the Cretan Angelo Vergezio's (a well-known calligrapher), with its many ligatures; the capitals were influenced by roman letters that Garamont had already cut. One of the particularities of these fonts was the introduction of accents and breathing marks, made with the use of kerned letters. Garamont's skill can clearly be seen in the ligatures and the treatment of the abbreviations.The work is very difficult to find complete. Schreiber: 77.

[London, Taylor & Francis], 1913. 8vo. Original printed wrappers. The fragile wrappers are detached, but fully intact. Merely tiny parts of the thin backstrip lacking. Three small tears to front wrapper, no loss, as well as a couple of creses. Back wrapper with a slight bend to the corner and minor fading to extremities. Pp. (9)-31. Scarce first edition, off-print issue with presentation-inscription, of Bohr's seminal first work on nuclear physics, being the work that lays the foundation for his atomic theory (published before his "On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules"), in which he is able to conclude "that a hydrogen atom contains only 1 electron outside the positively charged nucleus, and that a helium atom only contains 2 electrons outside the nucleus ." "Bohr's 1913 paper on alpha-particles [i.e. the present], which he had begun in Manchester, and which had led him to the question of atomic structure, marks the transition to his great work, also of 1913, on that same problem. While still in Manchester, he had already begun an early sketch of those entirely new ideas." (Pais, p. 128). The present work must be considered one of the most important to the birth of modern atomic theory.The work is inscribed to renowned Danish physicist and meteorologist Dan la Cour (1876-1942), son of the great Poul la Cour (1846-1908), who is considered the "Danish Edison". The inscription reads as thus: "Hr. Docent Afdelingschef D. la Cour/ med venlig Hilsen/ fra/ Forfatteren." [In Danish, i.e.: "Mr. Assistant Professor Head of Department D. la Cour/ with kind regards/ from/ the author."].Dan la Cour was the assistant of Niels Bohr's father, Christian Bohr, and a well known scientist. From 1903, he was head of the department of the Meteorological Institute, and from 1923 leader thereof. From 1908 he was Associate Professor at the Polytechnic College. His original scientific works are highly respected, as are his original apparati for measuring earth magnetism which are considered highly valuable. "His original intelligence, which in many ways resemble that of his father, also bore fruit in his patenting of various inventions: the "Pyknoprobe", developed to quickly determine the different layers of the sea; a use of termite in quickly heating food and drinks out in the open under unfavourable weather conditions." (From the Danish Encyclopaedia - own translation). He wrote a number of important and esteemed works and was member of the Danish Scientific Academy as well as many prominent international scientific commissions of meteorology and geophysics (i.e. president of the International Geodetical and Geophysical Union). He was also honorary Doctor at the George Washington University. After finishing his studies in Copenhagen, Bohr went to Cambridge in order to pursue his studies on electron theory under the guidance of J.J. Thompson. Thompson, who was beginning to lose interest in the subject by now, did, however, not recognize the genious of the young Bohr, and as soon as he could, Bohr went to Manchester, where Ernest Rutherford had established a laboratory. "There, from March to July 1912, working with utmost concentration, he [i.e. Bohr] laid the foundation for his greatest achievements in physics, the theory of the atomic constitution." (DSB). Bohr's survey of the implications of Rutherford's atomic model had led him to attack the much harder problem which lay at the core of it, namely determining the exact nature of the relation between the atomic number and the number of electrons in the atom. "Bohr obtained a much deeper insight into the problem by a brilliant piece of work, which he - working, as he said, "day and night" - completed with astonishing speed" (DSB), that paper being the present "On the Theory of the Decrease of Velocity of Moving electrified Particles on passing through Matter", which thus constitutes his very first publication on the subject, published immediately after this dense period of 1912, in the Philosophical Magazine of January 1913. "The problem was one of immediate interest for Rutherford's laboratory: in their passage through a material medium, alpha particles continually lose energy by ionizing the atoms they encounter, at a rate depending on their velocity. Their energy loss limits the depth to which the particles can penetrate into the medium, and the relation between this depth, or range, and the velocity offers a way of determining this velocity. What Bohr did was to analyze the ionizing process on the basis of the Rutherford model of the atom and thus express the rate of energy loss in terms of the velocity by a much more accurate formula than had so far been achieved-a formula, in fact, to which modern quantum mechanics adds only nonessential refinements" (DSB). In the present work, Bohr was thus able to conclude: "In this paper the theory of the decrease of velocity of moving electrified particles in passing through matter is given in a form, such that the rate of the decrease in the velocity depends on the frequency of vibration of the electrons in the atoms of the absorbing material." as well as the seminal words that have been formative for the birth of the modern atomic theory: "Adopting Prof. Rutherford's theory of the constitution of atoms, it seems that it can be concluded with great certainty, from the absorption of alpha-rays, that a hydrogen atom contains only 1 electron outside the positively charged nucleus, and that a helium atom only contains 2 electrons outside the nucleus ". Bohr continues: "These questions and some further information about the constitution of atoms which may be got from experiments on the absorption of alpha-rays, will be discussed in more detail in a later paper." (pp. 30-31 of the original paper) - the last sentence referring directly to his three part "On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules", in which he went on to present his postulates of the orbital structure of the electrons and their quantized radiation. Rosenfeld, Bohr Bibliography No. 5. Rosenfeld, Dictionary of Scientific Biography II, pp. 240-41. Pais, Niels Bohr's Times, pp. 117-31.

Lisboa Occidental, na Officina de Joseph Antonio da Sylva, 1730. Folio (29 x 195 mm). In recent green half calf with five raised bands and gilt lettering and ornamentation to spine. Title-page mounted and with repair to outer margin, no loss of text. Last leaf with repair to lower outer corner, also with no loss of text. First and least few leaves with brownspotting. Very light browning in margins throughout. Title printed in red and black, woodcut initials and head-pieces. A fine and clean copy. (14), 716 pp. (Here with the often missing half title, but wanting the final blank). Rare first edition, here with the often missing half title, of the first general history of Brazil – “This work is extremely copious in the details of its foundation as a colony, its successive governors, its churches, its monasteries and convents” (Sabin). "This first edition is becoming rare, and is much sought after by Brazilians [...] since it is the first history of Brazil to have been printed, and since it was written by a Brazilian" (Borba de Moraes). The author's purpose was to narrate the events that had taken place in Brazil with the help of "truthful reports", these largely from Jesuit sources, and "modern information" given by those who had traveled in the vast Brazilian territory. This was the only history of Brazil available to Pitta’s contemporaries, since most of the others composed in the first two centuries of colonization remained in manuscript form until the nineteenth century. Rocha Pitta was born in Bahia in 1660 and died in the year 1738. At the age of 22 he left the University of Coimbra, where he took his degree, to return to Bahia, where he got married. He made up his mind to write a history of Brazil, and he spent years in collecting documents in the Monasteries of Brazil and Portugal, where he went in order to study French, Dutch and Italian for the purposes of his history. “In 1728, after 40 years of study, he began to print his history, which appeared in 1730. It was universally well received, and King John V. appointed him a member of the household in consequence, yet in a few years the Portuguese government publicly prohibited its being read under the severest penalties.” (Sabin).Sabin 72300 Borba de Moraes (1983), p. 748

St Petersburg, I. I. Glazunov, 1868. 8vo. In contemporary half calf with with embossed boards. Three raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Spine with wear. Small label pasted on to top left corner of pasted down front free end-paper. Removed stamp to half-title and title-page with stamp and a a few number written to top of title-page. A few light occassional underlining in pencil, otherwise internally fine and clean. (1)-515, (1), IV pp. Rare first Russian translation of Adam Smith's 'The Theory of Moral Sentiments'.The translator, Pavel Bibikov (1831-1875), also translated the 'Wealth of Nations' in 1866, both being part of his series the Library of Classical European Writers. Bibikov regarded the two works as complementing each other, as he remarks in his preface to this translation, "the works reinforce each other. That is why, having published in Russian Adam Smith's great work of political economy, I decided to translate and publish his other work, which is no less remarkable, and yet known even less to Russian society than the first" (p. 5). "Bibikov's translation, probably done via French, remained the only Russian version available until 1997". (National Library of Scotland).Adam Smith developed a comprehensive and unusual version of moral sentimentalism in his Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759, TMS). He did not expressly lay out a political philosophy in similar detail, but a distinctive set of views on politics can be extrapolated from elements of both TMS and his Wealth of Nations. Although these economic doctrines had not been unheard of in Russia prior to the rise of Anglophile feelings at the beginning of the nineteenth century, "it was not until interest and admiration for things British was firmly rooted that classical economics could secure its ground in Russia" (Tanaka, The Controversies Concerning Russian Capitalism - An Analysis of the Views of Plekhanov and Lenin), this processes coincided with the present publication which became important in the spreading of Adam Smith's economic principles in Russia. OCLC only locates three copies.

Rome, Nicoloò Angelo Tinassi, 1672. Small 8vo. Near contemporary full calf biding with five raised bands to richly gilt spine. All edges of boards gilt. Hinges, capitals and corners with wear. Cords showing at front hinge, but still tight. Slight spotting to margins of title-page and some scattered brownspotting (not heavy). Overall a fine, unrestored copy with wide margins. Book plate to inside of front board and an old library stamp (Académie de Chirurgie) to title-page. (26), 455, (1) pp. Engraved frontispiece. The rare first edition of the first book devoted entirely to surgical anatomy. Genga's milestone work founded the discipline of anatomical surgery; it was frequently reprinted and remained a widely used manual for decades after its first appearance. Genga furthermore, in the tract appended to this work (i.e the "Breve Discorso" on the circulation of the blood, pp. 420-448), showed himself to be one of the first Italians to accept Harvey's theory on the circulation of blood. "Though anatomy was hitherto cultivated with much success as illustrating the natural history and morbid states of the human body, yet little had been done for the elucidation of local diseases, and the surgical means by which they may have been successfully treated. The idea of applying anatomical knowledge directly to this purpose appears to have originated with Barnardin Genga, a Roman surgeon, who published in 1672, at Rome, a work entitled "Surgical Anatomy, or the Anatomical History of the Bones and Muscles of the Human Body, with the description of the Blood-vessels". This work, which reached a second edition in 1687, is highly creditable to the author, who appears to have studied intimately the mutual relations of different parts." (Encyclopaedia Britannica). This foundational work, Genga's first work, was extremely influential and widely used. It was reprinted a number of times within the following decades. The first edition of it is of great scarcity. Most of the bibliographies only have later editions, and one of the few copies that are listed on OCLC is incomplete, lacking the title-page. We have only been able to locate one copy at auction within the last 40 years (in 1979). Heirs of Hippocrates: 337 (1687-edition)Wellcome III:102 (only later editions)Garrison-Morton: 387 ("First book devoted entirely to surgical anatomy").

Oxford, Sheldonian, 1686. Folio. Recent full calf with 6 raised bands, ruled and blind-stamped in antique style, morocco label. (8),343,30,(1),(11) pp. Engraved allegorical frontispiece dated 1685, 188 copper engraved plates. Slight browning and small stain at the top. Three plates with a minor tear. First edition of the first large English work on ichtyology. The work was a collaboration between Willughby and John Ray, and includes essays on the definition of fish, on their anatomy, and on theory physiology. The work devides fish according into the Aristotelean categories of Cetacei, Cartilaginei, and Spinosi, and includes a description of the reproductive organs and a rejection of the theory of reproduction through spontaneous generation. (Norman Sale 872). The plates were engraved by Poul van Sommers. Wood p.629. Nissen 4417. Wing W-2879.

Hafnia, Joachim Moltke, 1643 + Melchior Martzan, 1642. Small folio. Bound in a nice contemporary full calf binding with raised bands to richly gilt spine. Spine worn and corners bumped. A damp stain throughout, mostly faint. Title-page of "Danicorum Moumentorum" with a contemporary presentation-inscription to verso: "Ex donatione amici et fautoris nei Secretarii Rejersen./ Wedege." Contemporary handwritten corrections and additions to the Index. Engraved title-page (by Simon de Pas). (24), 526, (16) pp. + large folded woodcut plate (the Golden Horn). Large woodcuts in the text + (12), 36 pp. The text is in two columns, in Latin and runes. Captions and some runic letters printed in red. Scarce first editions of both of Worm's famous masterpieces on runes - 1) "Danicorum Monumentorum" being Worm's runic magnum opus, which not only constitutes the first written study of runestones and the first scientific analysis of them, but also one of the only surviving sources for depictions of numerous runestones and inscriptions from Denmark, many of which are now lost; 2) "Regum Daniae", which contains the highly important reproduction of The Law of Scania in runes as well as in Latin translation with commentaries. The "Danicorum Monumentorum", with its numerous woodcut renderings of monuments with rune-inscriptions - including the world-famous folded plate of the Golden Horn, which had been found only five year previously, and which is now lost - is arguably the most significant work on runes ever written, founding the study of runes and runic monuments. Most of the woodcuts were done after drawings by the Norwegian student Jonas Skonvig; they are now of monumental importance to the study of runes and runic monuments, not only because they appeared here for the first time in print, but also because many of the monuments are now lost and these illustrations are the only surviving remains that we have. Ole Worm (Olaus Wormius) (1588-1655) was a famous Danish polymath, who was widely travelled and who had studied at a range of different European universities. Like many of the great intellectuals of the Early Modern era, Worm's primary occupation was as a physician, for which he gained wide renown. He later became court doctor to King Christian IV of Denmark. In 1621, Worm had become professor of physics, but already the year before, in 1620, had he begun the famous collection that would become one of the greatest cabinets of curiosites in Europe (and one of the first museums) and which would earn him the position as the first great systematic collector (within natural history) in Scandinavia. It was his then newly begun collection that enabled him, as professor of physics, to introduce demonstrative subject teaching at the university, as something completely new. He continued building and adding to his magnificent collection, now known as "Museum Wormianum", throughout the rest of his life. Worm's fascination for antiquarian subjects not only resulted in his famous "Museum Wormianum", but also in a deep fascination with early Scandinavian and runic literature and the history and meaning of runestones. These monuments found throughout Scandinavia, were carved with runic inscriptions and set in place from about the fourth to the twelfth centuries. In most cases, they are burial headstones, presumably for heroes and warriors.Worm published works on the runic calendar, translations of runic texts and explications of folklore associated with the runestone histories. By far his most extensive and important work was the "Danicorum Monumentorum", which was the first serious attempt at scientifically analyzing and recording all 144 then known runestone sites in Denmark. With the King's blessing and support, Worm contacted bishops all over the country who were instructed to provide details and drawings of the barrows, stone circles and carved inscriptions in their regions.Many of the monuments recorded in this splendid work have since disappeared. Some of them appeared in the fire of Copenhagen, to which they were brought at the request of Worm himself. The book thus contains highly valuable data about missing sites in Scandinavian archaeology and is an invaluable source to anyone studying runes and runic monuments. Included in the work are Worm's three earlier, small treatises on runes, here collected for the first time and set into a systematic an scientific context, among them his 1641 treatise on the Golden Horn. For Danes, the Golden Horns, discovered on 1639 and 1734 respectively, with their amazing, complicated, and tragic story, constitute the Scandinavian equivalent to the Egyptian pyramids and have been the object of the same kind of fascination here in the North, causing a wealth of fantastical interpretations, both historical, literary, mystical, linguistic, and artistic. The two golden horns constitute the greatest National treasure that we have. They are both from abound 400 AD and are thought to have been a pair. A span of almost 100 years elapsed between the finding of the first horn and the finding of the second. Both findings are now a fundamental part of Danish heritage. In 1802 the horns were stolen, and the story of this theft constitutes the greatest Danish detective story of all times. The thief was eventually caught, but it turned out that he had melted both of the horns and used the gold for other purposes.Before the horns were stolen, a copy of the horns was made and shipped to the King of Italy, but the cast which was used to make this copy was destroyed, before news had reached the kingdom of Denmark that the copies made from the cast were lost on their way to Italy, in a shipwreck. Worm's work constitutes not only the earliest description of the seminal first horn, but also the most important source that we now have to the knowledge of the horn. It is on the basis of the description and depiction in the present work that the later copies of the first horn were made. Both horns were found in Gallehus near Møgeltønder, the first in 1639, by Kirsten Svendsdatter, the second in 1734, by Jerk (Erik) Lassen.Kirsten Svendsdatter made her discovery on a small path near her house, initially thinking that she had stumbled upon a root. When she returned to the same place the following week, she dug up the alleged root with a stick, and took it for an old hunting horn. She brought it back home and began polishing it. During the polishing of it, a small piece broke off, which she brought to a goldsmith in Tønder. It turned out that the horn was made of pure gold, and rumors of Kirsten's find quickly spread. The horn was eventually brought to the King, Christian IV, and Kirsten was given a reward corresponding to the gold value of the horn. The king gave the horn to his son, who had a lid made for it so that he could use it as a drinking horn. An excavation of the site where the horn was found was begun immediately after, but nothing more was found - that is until 95 years later when Jerk Larsen was digging clay on his grounds - merely 25 paces from where Kirsten had found the first horn. The year was now 1734. The horn that Larsen found was a bit smaller in size and was lacking the tip, but it still weighed 3,666 kg. As opposed to the first horn, this second horn had a runic inscription. After the horn had been authenticated, it was sent to King Christian VI, where it was placed in a glass case in the royal art chamber, together with the first horn. Before being placed here, a copy was made of both horns. These copies were lost in a ship wreck, however, and the casts had already been destroyed. In the fatal year of 1802, the gold smith and counterfeiter Niels Heldenreich broke in to the royal art chamber and stole the horns. By the time the culprit was discovered, the horns were irrevocably lost - Heldenreich had melted them and used the gold to make other things, such as jewellery. A pair of ear rings that are still preserved are thought to have been made with gold from the horns, but this is all that we have left of the original horns. New horns were produced on the basis of the descriptions and engraved illustrations that were made after the finding of the horns. And thus, the plate used in the present works constitute our main source of knowledge of the appearance of the first horn. "The longest of the golden horns was found in 1639 and described by Ole Worm in the book 'De Aureo Cornu', 1641 (a treatise which is also included in his greater "Danicorum Monumentorum"). The German professor at Soro Academy Hendrich Ernst, disagreed with Worm’s interpretation of the horn. Ernst believed that the horn came from Svantevits temple on Rügen, while Worm interpreted it as a war trumpet from the time of Frode Fredegods, decorated with pictures, calling for virtue and good morals. Worm immediately sent his book to Prince Christian and the scholars at home and abroad. You can see in his letters, that not only did the horn make an impression, but also the letter and the interpretation. In that same year there were such lively discussions on the horn among the scholars of Königsberg, now Kaliningrad!In 1643 Worm reiterated the description of the golden horn in his great work on Danish runic inscriptions, 'Monumenta Danica'. In 1644, his descriptions of the horn reached for scholars and libraries in Schleswig, Königsberg, London, Rome, Venice and Padua. Several learned men wrote poems for him, and the golden horn was mentioned in an Italian manus. Map Cartoonist Johannes Meyer placed the finds on several of his map of South Jutland. When the Swedish commander Torstensson attacked Jutland in 1643, Peter Winstrup wrote a long poem in Latin addressed to the bishop of Scania (which at that time still belonged to Denmark), the poem was called 'Cornicen Danicus'. It was immediately translated into Danish, entitled 'The Danish Horn Blower'. He interpreted the horn and its images as an warning of war, and his interpretations were very hostile to the Swedish. Paul Egard and Enevold Nielssen Randulf were among some of the other scholars who interpreted the Golden Horn In the 1640s. They were both deans in Holstein, and had a more Christian interpretation of the horn.All these works were illustrated with copies of Worms depictions of the horn. The Golden Horn remained known throughout the 1600s, both in terms of interpretations of the horn and designs. The found of the short golden horn in 1734 renewed the interest of the meaning of the horns." (National Museum of Denmark). Thesuarus: 727 & 733 Rejersen: Holmens chef Wedege: Regiments-Quarteer-Mester

Kiøbenhaffn, Hans Støckelman oc Andreas Gutterwitz, 1575. Folio. Bound in a very nice mid 19th century brown half calf with five raised bands and gilt ornamentations to spine. Title-page printed in red and black and with large woodcut, verso with full-page woodcut portrait of King Frederik II. Small repaired cut-out to top of title-page and an old owner's annotation. Neat marginal annotations to some leaves and early annotations to back fly-leaf. Occasional light brownspotting, but overall an unusually well kept and fresh copy, printed on good paper. (36), 547, (33) pp. The very rare first translation into any language, being the seminal first Danish translation, of the first preserved full history of Denmark - to this day the most important of all Danish historical publications and a main work of European Medieval literature. This magnificent work furthermore contains the first known written narrative of the legend of Hamlet and served as the basis for Shakespeare's play. ""Hamlet" is based on a Norse legend composed by Saxo Grammaticus in Latin around 1200 AD. The sixteen books that comprise Saxo Grammaticus' "Gesta Danorum", or "History of the Danes", tell of the rise and fall of the great rulers of Denmark, and the tale of Amleth, Saxo's Hamlet, is recounted in books three and four. In Saxo's version, King Rorik of the Danes places his trust in two brothers, Orvendil and Fengi. The brothers are appointed to rule over Jutland, and Orvendil weds the king's beautiful daughter, Geruth. They have a son, Amleth. But Fengi, lusting after Orvendil's new bride and longing to become the sole ruler of Jutland, kills his brother, marries Geruth, and declares himself king over the land. Amleth is desperately afraid, and feigns madness to keep from getting murdered. He plans revenge against his uncle and becomes the new and rightful king of Jutland." ("Shakespeare's Sources for "Hamlet" " - Shakespeare-on-line). The patriotic "Danish Chronicle" (i.e. Gesta Danorum) by Saxo Grammaticus is without comparison the most ambitious literary production of medieval Denmark and the most important source for the early history of the nation, also being one of the oldest known written documents about the history of Estonia and Latvia. Its sixteen books describe the history of Denmark and the Danes as well as Scandinavian history in general, from prehistory until Saxo's own time (12th century). It offers crucial reflections on European affairs of the High Middle Ages, from a unique Scandinavian perspective, and constitutes a significant supplement to other Western and Southern European sources. Saxo Grammaticus (ab. 1150-1220) was probably a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the great Danish churchman, statesman and warrior. Saxo is remembered today as the author of the first full history of Denmark, in which he modelled himself upon the classical authors (e.g. Virgil, Plato, Cicero) in order to glorify his fatherland. The work dates from the end of the 12th century and was first printed, in Latin, in Paris in 1514 with 16th century re-issues following in 1534 (Basel) and 1576 (Frankfurt). In 1575, the very first translation of the work appeared, that into Danish, which came to play a significant role in the history of both the legends presented in the work and in Danish language and culture. This groundbreaking first printed translation of Saxo's chronicle was prepared by the Danish historian and philologist Anders Sørensen Vedel (1542-1616). Vedel was also the tutor of Tycho Brahe and his companion on Brahe's grand tour of Europe, where the two formed a lasting bond of friendship. Previous attempts had been made at translating Saxo's magnificent work (one by Christiern Pedersen, one by Jon Tursen), but none of them were printed and the manuscripts have also not survived; Vedel's translation is the only one that was finished and made it to print. Prompted by Absalon, Vedel began his translation in 1570, and it took him five years to finish the task of both translating and rewriting the original Latin text. While working on this grandiose production, he was given the income of a canon at Ribe Cathedral. Vedel's translation is one of tone of the most important Renaissance contributions to Danish literature and to the development of the Danish language. Vedel's work is not merely a translation, but a magnificent rewriting that should be considered a literary masterpiece in its own right. After Vedel's translation, Saxo remained the indispensable classic that overshadowed all other historical works, both as a source to the earliest history of Denmark and the Danes and as a source of the Nordic myths. Vedel's seminal translation predates the first English translation by more than 300 years and remained the only vernacular version of the text for centuries. The work consists of sixteen books that cover the time from the founders of the Danish people (Dan I of Denmark) till Saxo's own time, ending around 1185 (with the submission of Pomerania), when the last part is supposedly written. The work thus covers the entire history of Denmark until Saxo's own time, seen under a somewhat glorified perspective, from heathen times with tales of Odin and the gods of Valhalla to the times of Absalon, who probably directly influenced the sections on the history of his own time, working closely with Saxo himself. The work also contains the first known written narrative of the legend of Hamlet (Amleth, the son who took revenge for his murdered father). It is this narrative of Saxo's, which he based on an oral tale, that forms the basis for Shakespeare's "Hamlet", which takes place in Helsinore in Denmark. There is fairly certain evidence that Shakespeare knew Saxo's work on the History of Denmark and thus the legend of Amleth. "This is the old, Norse folk-tale of Amleth, a literary ancestor of Shakespeare's "Hamlet". The Scandinavian legend was recorded in Latin around 1200 by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus and first printed in Paris in this beautiful 1514 edition. It is part of the collection of tales known as Gesta Danorum - a partly mythical history of the Danes. Saxo's Amleth story - a summaryKing Rørik of Denmark appoints two brothers, Horwendil and Fengo, as the rulers of Jutland. Horwendil slays the King of Norway, marries King Rørik's daughter Gerutha, and they have a son named Amleth. Consumed by envy of his brother, Fengo murders Horwendil and marries his wife Gerutha. Amleth then feigns madness, clothing himself in rags and spouting nonsense, to shield himself from his uncle's violence. In fact, the name 'Amleth' itself means 'stupid'.Yet Amleth's behaviour attracts suspicion, and the King attempts to trap him into admitting he has plans for revenge. First, a beautiful woman is used to lure him into betraying himself, but she proves loyal to Amleth. Then a spy is planted to eavesdrop on Amleth's conversation with his mother, in which she repents and he confesses his plans for revenge. Amleth detects the spy, kills him in a mad frenzy, throws his mutilated body in a sewer, and leaves it to be eaten by pigs. Fengo then deports Amleth to England with two escorts carrying a letter directing the King there to execute him. Amleth switches the letter with another one, which orders the death of the escorts and asks for the hand of the English Princess in marriage.Returning to Denmark, Amleth arrives disguised, in the midst of his own funeral, burns down the hall and hunts down his sleeping uncle. Because Amleth had wounded himself on his sword, attendants had made it harmless by nailing it to the scabbard (the sheath used to hold it). Amleth swaps this useless sword with Fengo's, succeeds in killing his uncle and next day is hailed as the King....Saxo's account has many of the defining features of Shakespeare's drama: a villain who kills his brother, takes over the throne and then marries his brother's wifea cunning young hero, the King's son, who pretends to be mad to shield himself from his unclethree plots used by the King to uncover the young man's secrets: a young woman, a spy planted in the Queen's bedroom (who is uncovered and killed), and two escorts who take the prince to England (also outwitted and killed)a hero who returns home during a funeral and finally achieves his revenge through an exchange of swords. There are equivalents for Shakespeare's central characters - old and young Hamlet, old and young Fortinbras, Claudius and Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. But Saxo has no ghost demanding vengeance, and the identity of the murderous uncle is known from the start. There is no Osric, no gravediggers or play within a play. The legend lacks a Laertes character and the young woman does not go mad or kill herself. Perhaps most crucially, Amleth lacks Hamlet's melancholy disposition and long self-reflexive soliloquies, and he survives after becoming king." ("Saxo's legend of Amleth in the Gesta Danorum" - The British Library.mht). "Saxo Grammaticus, (flourished 12th century-early 13th century), historian whose Gesta Danorum ("Story of the Danes") is the first important work on the history of Denmark and the first Danish contribution to world literature.Little is known of Saxo's life except that he was a Zealander belonging to a family of warriors and was probably a clerk in the service of Absalon, archbishop of Lund from 1178 to 1201. Saxo is first mentioned in Svend Aggesen's Historia Regum Danicae compendiosa (1185; "Short History of the Danish Kings") as writing the history of Svend Estridsen (d. 1076).The Gesta Danorum was written at the suggestion of Archbishop Absalon: its 16 volumes begin with the legendary King Dan and end with the conquest of Pomerania by Canute IV in 1185. The work is written in a brilliant, ornate Latin. It was his Latin eloquence that early in the 14th century caused Saxo to be called "Grammaticus." The first nine books of the Gesta Danorum give an account of about 60 legendary Danish kings. For this part Saxo depended on ancient lays, romantic sagas, and the accounts of Icelanders. His legend of Amleth is thought to be the source of William Shakespeare's Hamlet; his Toke, the archer, the prototype of William Tell. Saxo incorporated also myths of national gods whom tradition claimed as Danish kings, as well as myths of foreign heroes. Three heroic poems are especially noteworthy, translated by Saxo into Latin hexameters. These oldest-known Danish poems are Bjarkemaalet, a battle hymn designed to arouse warlike feelings; Ingjaldskvadet, a poem stressing the corruptive danger of luxury upon the old Viking spirit; and Hagbard and Signe, a tragedy of love and family feuds. The last seven books contain Saxo's account of the historical period, but he achieves independent authority only when writing of events close to his own time. His work is noteworthy for its sense of patriotic purpose based on a belief in the unifying influence of the monarchy. By presenting a 2,000-year-long panorama of Danish history, he aimed to show his country's antiquity and traditions. Saxo's work became a source of inspiration to many of the 19th-century Danish Romantic poets." (Encycl. Britt.) Laur.Nielsen 240. - Thesaurus 190.