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Berlin, A. Hirschwald, 1847. 8vo. Uncut in the original printed wrappers. Previous owner's name (Kurt Egon Deutsch) to half-title. Wrappers a bit discoloured and frayed, and spine missing small part of paper. Spine skewed. Internally with light marginal brownspotting, otherwise a good copy. Housed in a cloth clam-shell box. XII, 228 pp. + 1 engraved plate. Rare first edition, here in the original printed wrappers, of Dieffenbach’s landmark work in which he helped popularize aether as an anesthetic and, for the first time, applied “ether anesthesia for plastic operations. Dieffenbach made his first use of the anesthetic in reconstructing a nose. Dieffenbach’s work helped bring about the early acceptance of anesthesia in Germany.” (Garrison & Morton). After the successful use of ether as a surgical anaesthetic Dieffenbach famously stated that: "The wonderful dream that pain has been taken away from us has become reality. Pain, the highest consciousness of our earthly existence, the most distinct sensation of the imperfection of our body, must now bow before the power of the human mind, before the power of ether vapor." The present work was published shortly before Dieffenbach died. Here he recorded his results of his practical experience with etherization:“He expressed the opinion that since ether was able to obviate completely even the most intense pain during capital operations, it afforded the greatest possible relief to the patient; but for the surgeon […] it merely made the matters more difficult. He stressed the dangers of etherization: its liability to produce apoplexy and haemorrhage, the possibility of instantaneous death through overdosage, the tendency to increased post-operative bleeding, the slow healing of wounds where much tissue had been lost. He found indeed, that the post-operative condition of the patients who had been etherized was in general less favourable than of patients operated upon without ether.” (Davison, The Evolution of Anaesthesia). Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach (1792 -1847), German surgeon, specialized in skin transplantation and plastic surgery. His work in rhinoplastic and maxillofacial surgery established many modern techniques of reconstructive surgery. His endeavours comprehended subcutaneous operations such as tenotomy, the surgical division of a tendon. Before the discovery of blood typing and blood matching, Dr. Dieffenbach researched blood transfusion, Dieffenbach performed the first successful myotomy for the treatment of strabismus on a seven-year-old boy with esotropia. He settled in Berlin, where he focused his attention on plastic and reconstructive surgery.He soon won recognition as a leading plastic surgeon. In the following years he published a large number of writings describing his methods of operation, above all in the field of rebuilding surgery. In 1829 he was made chief physician to the surgical department of the Berlin Charité. At this period he turned his attention to the recently introduced subcutaneous operations like tenotomys and other methods of treating orthopaedic disturbances. He also concerned himself with blood transfusions, with the healing of stuttering and blinking. Shortly before his death he authored the last, and most famous and influential, of his medical dissertations introducing painless plastic surgery. Waller 2443 Garrison & Morton 5659.1

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.

Egypt, ca. 1870ies. Folio-oblong (365 x 280 mm). 146 albumen prints mounted verso and recto on 73 ff. Bound in contemporary half cloth. With traces of paper-label to inner margin of front board. Label of the stationery shop "Maison Martinet, Albert Hautecoeur, bd des Capucines, 12, Paris" pasted on to upper outer corner of pasted down front end-paper. Paper creased and some leaves symetrically perforated, not affecting photos. Two photos with tears and a few photos partly detached from paper. Some photos are slightly discoloured and toned but are in general in good condition. Extraordinary collection containing 146 albumen prints depicting landscapes and animated scenes of Egypt including some of the very earliest photographs of the newly opened Suez Canal. The photographs also document a period in Egyptian history, where the country began to gain independence and autonomy from Ottoman rule; Constantinople had granted Egypt the status of an autonomous vassal state or Khedivate in 1867, and completion of the Suez Canal gave Britain a faster route to India which in turn made Egypt increasingly reliant on Britain for both military and economic aid. Most photos are signed by the greatest local photographers of the time: the Zangaki brothers, Bonfils, Arnoux, Beato, Fiorillo, Béchard and Sébah. Active in the second half of the 19th century, these photographers of diverse origins such as French, Italian, British, Ottoman and Greek all established a studio or a branch in Egypt, in Alexandria, Port Said and Cairo. The Suez Canal was one of the most ambitious engineering projects of the 19th century. It was designed to create a waterway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, linking Europe and Asia and providing a faster and more efficient route for shipping goods between the two continents. Construction of the canal began in 1859 and took over ten years to complete. Hippolyte Arnoux is best known for his remarkable photographs of the Suez Canal in Egypt. Arnoux's photographs of the Suez Canal were groundbreaking in their time and remain an important documentation of the construction of one of the world's most significant engineering endeavors. He was hired by the French government to document the construction of the canal, and he spent several years in Egypt taking photographs of it. He used a large-format camera, which allowed him to capture incredible detail and clarity in his images. Arnoux's photographs of the Suez Canal were not only important documents of the construction of the canal, but they also played an important role in the popular imagination of the time. They helped to promote the idea of progress and modernity, as well as the importance of colonialism and European expansion in the world. Zangaki's portrait photography also received much acclaim. His portraits were known for their ability to capture the essence of his subjects, conveying their personality, character, and emotions, and his portraiture work also demonstrated his mastery of lighting, composition, and posing.Zangaki's landscape photography is another notable aspect of his work. He and his brother captured breathtaking images of Egypt's natural landscapes, such as the Nile River, the desert, and the countryside. Their images were notable for their use of contrast, shadows, and light, creating a unique atmosphere that evoked the beauty and mystery of Egypt's landscapes. Their work contributed significantly to the early days of Egyptology, as it allowed European scholars and archaeologists that were not in a position to travel to examine the monuments and artifacts. The present collection forms a fine testament to one the most interesting periods in modern Egyptian history and to the cradle of Egyptian photography.

Kiøbenhavn [Copenhagen], 1779-80. 8vo. Two nice contemporary half calf bindings with four raised bands and gilt leather title label to spines. Volume one lacking one cm of upper part of spine. Volume two with a small tear to lower part of spine. Both volumes with light brown spotting throughout, however, mainly affecting first and last five leaves of both volumes. A fine set. (12), 575; (8), 775, (3, - errata) pp. The extremely scarce first Danish edition of Adam Smith's seminal main work, "the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought" (PMM 221), the main foundational work of the era of liberal free trade. This publication constitutes the first Danish work worth mentioning in the history of economic thought - in spite of the great interest in political economy that dominated Danish political thought in the last quarter of the 18th century. The value of Smith's work was not immediately recognized in Denmark at the time of its appearance and a quarter of a century had to go by for its importance to be acknowledged and for Danish political economy to adapt the revolutionizing theories of Adam Smith. Few copies of the translation were published and sold, and the book is now a great scarcity. As opposed to for instance the German translation of the work, Smith concerned himself a great deal with this Danish translation. As is evident from preserved correspondence about it, he reacted passionately to it and was deeply concerned with the reaction to his work in Scandinavia (see "Correspondence of Adam Smith", Oxford University Press, 1977).- As an example, Smith writes in a letter to Andreas Holt on Oct. 26th, 1780: "It gives me the greatest pleasure to hear that Mr. Dreby has done me the distinguished honour of translating my Book into the Danish language. I beg you will present to him my most sincere thanks and most respectful Compliments. I am much concerned that I cannot have the pleasure of reading it in his translation, as I am so unfortunate as not to understand the Danish language." The translation was made by Frants Dræby (1740-1814), the son a whiskey distiller in Copenhagen, who mastered as a theologian and was then hired by the great Norwegian merchant James Collett as tutor to his son. There can be no doubt that Dræbye's relation to the Collett house had a great impact upon his interest in economics. In the middle of the 1770'ies, Dræbye accompanied Collett's son on travels throughout Europe, which took them to England in the year 1776, the same year that the "Wealth of Nations" was published for the first time. Through the Colletts, Dræbye was introduced to the mercantile environment in England and here became thoroughly acquainted with English economics and politics at the time. It is presumably here that he gets acquainted with Adam Smith's freshly published revolutionary work. When Dræbye returned to Denmark at the end of 1776, he was appointed chief of the Norwegian secretariat of the Board of Economics and Trade. He began the translation of the "Wealth of Nations" that he brought back with him from England immediately after his return."WN [i.e. Wealth of Nations] was translated into Danish by Frants Dræbye and published in 1779 (three years after the first English edition). The translation was initiated by Andreas Holt and Peter Anker, who were acquainted with Smith. Dræbye was a Dane who lived mainly in Norway, reflecting the fact that Norway was much more British-oriented than Denmark proper (Denmark and Norway were united until 1814, when Sweden took Norway away from the Danes; in 1905 Norway became an independent state). Norwegian merchants lived from exporting timber to Britain and tended on the whole to be adherents of a liberal economic policy, whereas the absolutist government in Copenhagen was more German-oriented and had economic views similar to those in contemporary Prussia." (Cheng-chung Lai (edt.): "Adam Smith Across Nations", p. (37)). The last quarter of the eighteenth century in Denmark was dominated by a lively discussion of monetary policy and the institutional framework best suited to realize that policy. There was a vital interest in questions of economic concern, and contemporary Danish sources refer to the period as "this economic age" and state things such as "never was the world more economically minded" (both from "Denmark and Norway's Economic Magazine"). During this period, Smith's revolutionary ideas did not play a major role, however, and only at the beginning of the 19th century did Danish politicians and economists come to realize the meaning of Smith's views. "Without exaggeration it can essentially be said that a quarter of a century was to pass from the time of the publication of the book in Denmark before Danish political economy fully made Adam Smith's theories and points of view its own. It took so long a time because the economic conditions as a whole in the years from 1780-1800 did not make desirable or necessary the changing of their concepts. That glorious commercial period had to pass before it was understood that we had altogether too little help in our own natural resources and that a different course was, therefore, necessary. Only when one had come so far could the new thinking find a nourishing soil so that it could develop strength with which to push aside the old ideas."(Hans Degen: "On the Danish Translation of Adam Smith and Contemporary Opinion Concerning It." Translated by Henrietta M. Larson. In: Adam Smith Across Nations, p. 51). This first Danish translation is one of the very earliest translations of "Wealth of Nations"; it is only preceded by the German (1776-78) and the extremely scarce French (1778-79). As a comparison, the Italian translation does not appear until 1790-91, the Spanish 1792, the Swedish 1800-1804, the Russian 1802, etc.Adam Smith Across Nations: A4 - nr. 1. "All five books were translated; appears to be a complete translation. The long letter from Governor Pownall to Adam Smith (25 Sept. 1776) is added as the Appendix (vol. 2, pp. 683 ff.)."

Kiøbenhaffn, (Melchior Martzan og Salomon Sartor), (1632-) 1633. Folio. Bound in a splendid recent full calf pastish binding with five raised bands. Gilt floral ornamentation to spine and boards ruled in gilt. End-papers renewed. First 10 leaves with marginal repairs. A few leaves in the New Testament (last part) closely trimmed in upper margin, occassionally touchly text. Last 10 leaves with marginal repairs. Internally with occassional miscolouring and brownspotting, but an overall nice copy. Engraved title-page and the engraved portrait of Christian IV, all by the royal engraver Simon the Pas. Without the half-title, which merely contains the printed words "BIBLIA / Paa Danske", which is almost never present. (21 - not counting the engraved title-page and the portrait), 353 (i.e. 354 due to the erroneous double pagination 353), 226, 159 ff. A nice copy of the scarce first edition of the last (i.e. the third) of the Danish folio-bibles, known as "Christian IV's Bible", being a slightly revised edition of the Bible of 1589 (Frederik II's Bible). Christian IV is the most famous Danish king ever to have lived, and the Christian IV bible is extremely sought-after. The numerous woodcut illustrations are the same that were used for the Frederik II's Bibel from 1589. The four engraved leaves - the portrait and the three title-pages - are by Simon de Pas. Despite already having two beautiful folio-bibles, Denmark's supply of Bibles was insufficient for the nation's needs. In many parishes only the church had a copy, with a few more in the homes of the wealthy. This shortage was particularly severe in Norway due to its distance from the capital, which limited the benefits of initiatives from the King. Funds were raised from churches in Zealand and Norway, with Norway contributing generously. Two printers, Melchior Martzan and Salomon Sartor, were employed, with Martzan overseeing corrections and sales. Norwegian churches' significant contributions were rewarded with copies equivalent to their donations, while Zealand's lesser contributions received no compensation. Biblioteca Danica I, 9. Thesaurus II, 378. Birkelund, 41. Darlow and Moule, 3160.

Hafniae (Copenhagen), Melchior Matzan, Joachim Moltke, 1641. Small folio. Bound in an newer absolutely exquisite full mottled calf pastiche-binding with five raised bands and gilt title-label to richly gilt spine. Gilt ornamental borders with gilt corner-pieces to boards, all edges of boards gilt, and inner gilt dentelles. Title-page restored at inner hinge, far from affecting print. Some leaves slighly dusty and some mostly light brownspotting. Overall very nice indeed. The folded plate neatly re-enforced at the foldings, from verso, and on stub. "Dupl" written in hand to upper right corner of title-page and with two stamps to verso: "Museum Britannicum" and "British Museum Sale Duplicate 1787". (8), 72 pp. + large folded engraved plate of the horn. Exceedingly scarce first printing of one of the most important works in Scandinavian history. Worm’s monumental 1641-treatise is the first and single most important work on what is arguably the most famous Danish cultural artifact, namely the first Golden Horn, and constitutes our primary source of knowledge of that now lost treasure. 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. Although the first was by far the most important, both findings are now a fundamental part of Danish cultural heritage. In 1802 the horns were stolen, and the story of this theft became 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 mistook 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. 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 the ones lost in the ship wreck, however, and as mentioned 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 earrings that are still preserved are thought to have been made with gold from the horns, but this is all that we have now have 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. The plate in the present work constitutes our main source of knowledge of the appearance of the first horn and is the single most important depiction of it, forming the basis of the reproductions. "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" [1643]). 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 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 a 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). This monument of Danish cultural history is incredibly scarce in the trade. We have never seen a copy before, and there is not a single auction record traceable.

Roma, Apud Antonium Bladum Asulanum (on colophon), 1531, mense Septembri. 4to. Sown, uncut and unbound. Title-page and a few other leaves with a bit of minor brownspotting; overall a very nice and well-preserved copy of this beautifully printed, extremely scarce work. Two quires with loose leaves. Floriated large initial at beginning. [32] ff. (being title-page, 29 ff. text, 1 f. errata, 1 f. blank). The exceedingly scarce second edition (the "Rome text") of "[t]he most famous of all medical poems" (Garrison & Morton), the poem which gave to the disease syphilis its name, being the most important edition of the work, the first complete edition (with the two lines of the first book printed for the first time - not found in any other contemporary editions of the work), the only authoritative version of the text to appear contemporarily, and by far the rarest edition - with only four known copies at the time of the official bibliography (Baumgartner and Fulton, 1935) (whereas the first edition from the year before, 1530, was known in 30 copies) - our copy also with the final blank leaf (H4), "not preserved in any copy examined" (Baumgartner & Fulton, p. 38)."The edition published at Rome (no. 2) in the following year is a finer piece of printing, AND IT IS EVIDENTLY A MUCH RARER WORK SINCE ONLY FOUR COPIES HAVE BEEN TRACED, WHILE AT LEAST 30 COPIES OF THE VERONA EDITION (i.e. the first edition) ARE KNOWN." (Baumgartner & Fulton, p. 37). Apart from the work itself being of the greatest impact on the history of medicine, giving to Syphilis its name and epitomizing contemporary knowledge of the illness, and the author being one of the most renowned physicians of the Renaissance, being compared in scope and excellence to Leonardo da Vinci, the present work in the present second edition has yet another feature, apart from its utmost scarcity, which contributes to its excellence; it is printed by the excellent Italian printer Antonio Blado, whose works are scarce and very sought after."Textually, as well as typographically, this is the most important edition of Fracastoro's poem, since, unlike those which follow, it bears evidence of having been supervised by Fracastoro himself, the two lines which had been omitted from Bk. I of the Verona edition being here included (verses 1 and 2 on leaf C2b) in exactly the form in which they were written on the vellum copy of the 1530 edition mentioned above (see end of note)... Among his other achievements in typography Antonio Blado can claim the distinction of having issued the most beautiful edition of Fracastoro's poem of any of the sixteenth century. The format is larger than that of the Verona edition and the fount of large italic type seems particularly well suited to Fracastoro's even lined verses. As with the other editions of this period the capitals are in Roman throughout; the ornamental capital (Q) at the beginning of Bk. I is particularly well executed. Bks II and II have spaces at the beginning for an illuminated initial.THE BOOKS OF ANTONIO BLADO ARE APPARENTLY AS RARE AS THEY ARE EXCELLENT, AND THEY HAVE LONG BEEN SOUGHT AFTER BY ITALIAN COLLECTORS. Blado was born in 1490 at Asloa in northern Italy. In 1515 Blado settled in Rome where he remained until his death in 1567. He was a bold and original printer, who, as Fumagelli points out, almost invariably undertook new things, never reprinting classics, and only occasionally , as in the case of Fracastoro's poem, reprinting the work of a contemporary. In 1532 he issued the first edition of Machiavelli's "Il Principe", and in 1549 he became official printer to the Papal See..." (Baumgartner & Fulton, p. 39)."Girolamo Fracastoro (1484-1553), a Veronese of thick-set, hirsute appearance and jovial mien, who practiced in the Lago di Garda region, was at once a physician, poet, physicist, geologist, astronomer, and pathologist, and shares with Leonardo da Vinci the honour of being the first geologist to see fossil remains in the true light (1530). He was also the first scientist to refer to the magnetic poles of the earth (1543). His medical fame rests upon that most celebrated of medical poems, "Syphilis sive Moribus Gallicus (Venice, 1530), which sums up the contemporary dietetic and therapeutic knowledge of the time, recognizes a venereal cause, and gave the disease its present name..." (Garrison, History of Medicine, p. 233).The magnificent medical poem is about the main character, a young shepherd called "Syphilis", who induces the people to forsake the Sun God, who in return bestows upon man a new, horrible plague, which Fracastoro names after the shepherd. "It epitomized contemporary knowledge of syphilis, gave to it its present name, and recognized a venereal cause. Fracastorius refers to mercury as a remedy." (Garrison and Morton).The work must be described as seminal, and its great influence and importance has continued throughout centuries. As stated in the bibliography by Baumgartner and Fulton, which is devoted exclusively to the poem, "[t]he full extent of the influence exerted by a work which has received such wide recognition cannot be adequately estimated without searching bibliographical analysis", and thus they have traced 100 editions of Fracastoro's Syphilis-poem, including translations into six languages. 18 of these appeared in the 16th century, but it is curious to see, how the work continues to resurface up until the 20th century. Almost 200 years after the work originally appeared, Italy witnessed a great revival of Fracastoro and his poem, and the first Italian translation appeared in 1731, with a preface by the great Enlightenment philosopher Giambattista Vico, and by 1739 five Italian editions had appeared. Another revival of the work took place as late as the 20th century, with four new English translations appearing between 1928 and 1935."Le poème de Fracastor sur la Syphilis restera toujours un chef-d'oeuvre, parce que le pinceau est large, l'imagination hardie, la versification harmonieuse, et que le poète agrandit son sujet ingrat en remontant aux cases celestas, en montant la main des Dieux s'appersantissant pour punir la terre; la fiction, surtout, qu'il a imagine pour retrace la découverte du mercure, est un tableau digne des plus grands maîtres." (Achille Chéreau, Le Parnasse medical francais, 1874, p. xv). Baumgartner & Fulton, A Bibliography of the Poem of Syphilis sive Moribus Gallicus by Girolamo Fracastoro of Verona: no. 2 (our copy follows exactly the collation given here - and also has the final blank leaf mentioned but not found in any of the examined copies).Garrison and Morton: 2364. "There is every reason to believe that the first edition of 1530 was personally supervised by Fracastoro as it was passing through the press. The printer, however, omitted two verses in the first book, which have been inserted in manuscript, apparently by Fracastoro himself, in the copy on vellum now preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale. As these two lines are included in the Rome edition of the following year, it is likely that Fracastoro also supervised this, the second edition, and that this should be regarded as the authoritative text, since there is no evidence of textual changes in seven subsequent editions during his life."

Kiøbenhavn [Copenhagen], 1779-80. 8vo. Two very nice contemporary brown half calf bindings with raised bands, gilt ornamentations and gilt leather title- and tome-labels. Volume two with a bit of wear to upper capital. Corners slightly bumped. Pencil annotations to verso of title-page in volume one; title-page in volume two mounted to cover up a small hole caused by the removal of an old owner's name. Internally very clean and bright. All in all a very nice, clean, fresh, and tight copy. Engraved (by Weise, 1784) armorial book plate to inside of front boards (Gregorius Christianus Comes ab Haxthausen). (12), 575; (8), 775, (3, - errata) pp. The extremely scarce first Danish edition of Adam Smith's seminal main work, "the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought" (PMM 221), the main foundational work of the era of liberal free trade. This publication constitutes the first Danish work worth mentioning in the history of economic thought - in spite of the great interest in political economy that dominated Danish political thought in the last quarter of the 18th century. The value of Smith's work was not immediately recognized in Denmark at the time of its appearance and a quarter of a century had to go by for its importance to be acknowledged and for Danish political economy to adapt the revolutionizing theories of Adam Smith. Few copies of the translation were published and sold, and the book is now a great scarcity. As opposed to for instance the German translation of the work, Smith concerned himself a great deal with this Danish translation. As is evident from preserved correspondence about it, he reacted passionately to it and was deeply concerned with the reaction to his work in Scandinavia (see "Correspondence of Adam Smith", Oxford University Press, 1977).- As an example, Smith writes in a letter to Andreas Holt on Oct. 26th, 1780: "It gives me the greatest pleasure to hear that Mr. Dreby has done me the distinguished honour of translating my Book into the Danish language. I beg you will present to him my most sincere thanks and most respectful Compliments. I am much concerned that I cannot have the pleasure of reading it in his translation, as I am so unfortunate as not to understand the Danish language." The translation was made by Frants Dræby (1740-1814), the son a whiskey distiller in Copenhagen, who mastered as a theologian and was then hired by the great Norwegian merchant James Collett as tutor to his son. There can be no doubt that Dræbye's relation to the Collett house had a great impact upon his interest in economics. In the middle of the 1770'ies, Dræbye accompanied Collett's son on travels throughout Europe, which took them to England in the year 1776, the same year that the "Wealth of Nations" was published for the first time. Through the Colletts, Dræbye was introduced to the mercantile environment in England and here became thoroughly acquainted with English economics and politics at the time. It is presumably here that he gets acquainted with Adam Smith's freshly published revolutionary work. When Dræbye returned to Denmark at the end of 1776, he was appointed chief of the Norwegian secretariat of the Board of Economics and Trade. He began the translation of the "Wealth of Nations" that he brought back with him from England immediately after his return."WN [i.e. Wealth of Nations] was translated into Danish by Frants Dræbye and published in 1779 (three years after the first English edition). The translation was initiated by Andreas Holt and Peter Anker, who were acquainted with Smith. Dræbye was a Dane who lived mainly in Norway, reflecting the fact that Norway was much more British-oriented than Denmark proper (Denmark and Norway were united until 1814, when Sweden took Norway away from the Danes; in 1905 Norway became an independent state). Norwegian merchants lived from exporting timber to Britain and tended on the whole to be adherents of a liberal economic policy, whereas the absolutist government in Copenhagen was more German-oriented and had economic views similar to those in contemporary Prussia." (Cheng-chung Lai (edt.): "Adam Smith Across Nations", p. (37)). The last quarter of the eighteenth century in Denmark was dominated by a lively discussion of monetary policy and the institutional framework best suited to realize that policy. There was a vital interest in questions of economic concern, and contemporary Danish sources refer to the period as "this economic age" and state things such as "never was the world more economically minded" (both from "Denmark and Norway's Economic Magazine"). During this period, Smith's revolutionary ideas did not play a major role, however, and only at the beginning of the 19th century did Danish politicians and economists come to realize the meaning of Smith's views. "Without exaggeration it can essentially be said that a quarter of a century was to pass from the time of the publication of the book in Denmark before Danish political economy fully made Adam Smith's theories and points of view its own. It took so long a time because the economic conditions as a whole in the years from 1780-1800 did not make desirable or necessary the changing of their concepts. That glorious commercial period had to pass before it was understood that we had altogether too little help in our own natural resources and that a different course was, therefore, necessary. Only when one had come so far could the new thinking find a nourishing soil so that it could develop strength with which to push aside the old ideas."(Hans Degen: "On the Danish Translation of Adam Smith and Contemporary Opinion Concerning It." Translated by Henrietta M. Larson. In: Adam Smith Across Nations, p. 51). This first Danish translation is one of the very earliest translations of "Wealth of Nations"; it is only preceded by the German (1776-78) and the extremely scarce French (1778-79). As a comparison, the Italian translation does not appear until 1790-91, the Spanish 1792, the Swedish 1800-1804, the Russian 1802, etc.Adam Smith Across Nations: A4 - nr. 1. "All five books were translated; appears to be a complete translation. The long letter from Governor Pownall to Adam Smith (25 Sept. 1776) is added as the Appendix (vol. 2, pp. 683 ff.)."(PMM 221 - first edition)

London, Philosophical Transactions, 1807. 4to. Bound to style in recent plain blue wrappers. Offprint, with the separate printed title-page, from "Philosophical Transactions" 1807 - Part I. With author's presentation to title-page: "From the Author". Occassional brownspotting throughout and a small tear, not affecting text, to lower margin of B4. (2), 56 pp. + 1 plate. The exceedingly rare offprint, inscribed presentation copy, of Davy’s milestone paper in which he shows that electricity is capable of decomposing the most stable elements. The paper was central to any chemical affinity theory in the first half of the nineteenth century and Berzelius, one of the founders of modern chemistry, considered it "one of the best memoirs which has ever enriched the theory of chemistry”. Davy early concluded that the production of electricity in simple electrolytic cells resulted from chemical action and that chemical combination occurred between substances of opposite charge. He therefore reasoned that electrolysis, the interactions of electric currents with chemical compounds, offered the most likely means of decomposing all substances to their elements. “These views were explained in 1806 in his lecture “On Some Chemical Agencies of Electricity,” for which, despite the fact that England and France were at war, he received the Napoleon Prize from the Institut de France (1807). This work led directly to the isolation of sodium and potassium from their compounds (1807) and of the alkaline-earth metals magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium from their compounds (1808).” (Britannica). "Humphry Davy was one of the most brilliant chemists of the early nineteenth century. His early study of nitrous oxide brought him his first reputation, but his later and most importent investigations were devoted to electrochemistry. Following Galvani's experiments and the discovery of the voltaic pile, interest in galvanic electricity had become widespread. The first electrolysis by means of the pile was carried out in 1800 by Nicholson and Carisle, who obtained oxygen and hydrogen from water. Davy began to examine the chemical effects of electricity in 1800, and his numerous discoveries were presented in his Bakerian lecture to the Royal Society on November 20, 1806 (the paper offered here). His experiments, along the lines stated in this paper, lead to his discoveries of potassum and sodium in 1807 and the year after to barium, calcium and boron.” (A Source Book in Chemistry p. 243). Sparrow: Milestones of Science No 52. Wheeler Gift: 2511. (PMM 255)

Venice, Baptista de Tortis, 17 July 1485. Small folio (322x210 mm). Bound later in a full vellum binding of a a sprinkled antiphonary leaf. Five raised bands and gilt leather title labels to spine. Ink stains to lower back board. Hinges slightly cracked. Inner front hinge reinforced, also from verso af a1 - restoration also cracked. Small wormholes to first and last leaves, and first couple of leaves a bit frayed at edges. Two closed marginal tears to a1 and reattachment of upper blank part of a2 (ca. 1 cm, far from touching text). c2 with a closed tear and a restoration to lower blank part, not touching text. c7 with a closed tear, a bit crudely done, but no loss, and a restoration to lower blank part, not affecting text. A few leaves a bit brownspotted, but mostly nice, clean, and fresh. A4 possibly washed. Contemporary or near-contemporary underlinings, markings, inserted numberings, and marginal notes. 15 Handpainted initials in red and red/blue, of varying sizes, between ca. 1x1,5 cm and 4x3cm. Old owner's name crossed out to top of a1. 19th century owner's signature to inside of front board (Albert Priou). Text of varying length surrounded by 63 lines of commentary. 172 leaves (a-u8 x-y6). Last leaf (being the register) with large woodcut printer's devise. A beautiful and rare incunable-edition of Martial's Epigrams, being the seventh edition containing Domizio Calderini's (1446-1478) highly important commentary. With no known ancient or Medieval commentaries on Martial's work, Calderini's commentary, first printed in 1474 by Jacobus Rubeus in Venice, constitutes the earliest commentary on the Epigrams. In addition to the present work, Calderini produced extensive commentaries on the works of Vergil, Propertius, Juvenal and Statius, making him one of the most prolific humanist commentators on Latin poetry. Although Martial, in his own words, was known all over the world in antiquity, the interest in his poetry decreased significantly in the Middle Ages, perhaps as a result of the pronounced obscenity that characterises his poetry. However, things took a turn in the 15th century, and Calderini's commentary may well be considered one of the earliest scholarly treatments of the Epigrams. Containing the earliest reference to the codex as a format used for literature, Martial's Epigrams have played an immensely important role in the history of the book. With roughly one in eight of the epigrams concerned with books and reading, no work of classical literature gives a better insight into ancient book culture. ISTC im00308000; Hain *10819.

Bologna, Alessandreo Benacci, 1565. 4to. In contemporary blank cardboards with marbled paper back-strip. Ff 8-12 with small brown dot to lower outer margin, not affecting text. A fine copy. [4], 43 ff. + 1 blank. (Erroneously paginated f. 33 as 25 and f. 44 as 43). First edition of Commandino's translation, and accompanying mathematical additions, of Archimedes' work on floating bodies, being the foundational work of hydrostatics. Commandino's own mathematical additions include the very first attempt to fill the gap in the incomplete proof of propositions 2 in book II of the Latin translation made by the Flemish Willem Moerbeke in 1269. "This edition of Commandino remained the reference until the early twentieth century and the work of Heiberg after the discovery of the Archimedes palimpsest". (D.B.I)."In hydrostatics [Archimedes] described the equilibrium of floating bodies and stated the famous proposition - known by his name - that, if a solid floats in a fluid, the weight of the solid is equal to that of the fluid displaced and, if a solid heavier than a fluid is weighed in it, it will be lighter than its true weight by the weight of the fluid displaced. We owe to Archimedes the full exposition of the doctrine of levers and pulleys." (PMM, p. 44)The work consists of two parts: The first is to the effect that the pressure excerted by any part of a fluid on the fluid is downward. The second postulate states that the pressure of the fluid on a body placed in it is exerted upward along the perpendicular through the center of the body.However, Book II contained many sophisticated ideas and complex geometric constructions and did not have the appeal of Book I. Only after Greek geometry was combined with algebra, trigonometry, and analytical geometry, the present work being one of the earliest attempts to do this, and the field of mechanics reached the maturity to handle the concepts of equilibrium and stability that Archimedes introduced was Book II seriously studied. It then became the standard starting point for scientists and naval architects examining the stability of ships and other floating bodies."Archimedes left to posterity his famous treatise "On Floating Bodies", which establishes the physical foundations for the floatability and stability of ships and other maritime objects. Yet since this treatise was long lost and also simply ignored by practitioners, it took many centuries before Archimedes' brilliant insights were actually applied in ship design and ship safety assessment." (Nowacki, The Heritage of Archimedes in Ship Hydrostatics: 2000 Years from Theories to Applications).A Greek manuscript dating from about the ninth century and containing both books of On Floating Bodies was translated into Latin by the Flemish Dominican William of Moerbeke in 1269, along with other works of Archimedes from other manuscripts. The tracks of the Greek manuscript were lost in the fourteenth century, but Moerbeke's holograph remains intact in the Vatican library (Codex Ottobonianus Latinus 1850) [5, 8]. Moerbeke's Latin translation was the source of all versions of On Floating Bodies from his time until the twentieth century."In 1543 Tartaglia [...] the Moerbeke translations of On the Equilibrium of Planes and Book I of On Floating Bodies (leaving the erroneous impression that he had made these translations from a Greek manuscript, which he had not since he merely repeated the texts of the Madrid manuscript with virtually all their errors). Incidentally, Curtius Trioianus published from the legacy of Tartaglia both books of On Floating Bodies in Moerbeke's translation (Venice, 1565). The key event, however, in the further spread of Archimedes was the aforementioned editio princeps of the Greek text with the accompanying Latin translation of James of Cremona at Basel in 1544. Since the Greek text rested ultimately on manuscript A,On Floating Bodies was not included. A further Latin translation of the Archimedean texts was published by the perceptive mathematician Federigo Commandino [...], which the translator supplemented with a skillful mathematical emendation of Moerbeke's translation of On Floating Bodies (Bologna,1565) but without any knowledge of the long lost Greek text." (DSB)Adams, 1533 Riccardi, I, 42- 5Honeyman 131; Macclesfield 183D.B.I., XXVII, p. 604.Bibliotheca Mechanica 78Graesse I, 180.BM 000105842

Schleswig, Johan Holwein, 1658. Folio. Contemp. full vellum. Covers and spine fully intact but with some spots. and light wear along edges. It seems to be bound for a person with the initials W L E M (in gold letters on top of frontcover) and the year, 1658 (also in gold letters at bottom of frontcover). Engraved frontispiece (by G. Rothgiesser) and engraved portrait (Mandelslo). (32),248,(36) pp., 21 large textengravings by Rothgiesser and 1 double-page engraved map (ca 29 x 34 cm.) "Delineatio Indiæ Orientalis". Frontispiece a bit frayed in margins, no loss. Printed title-page a bit frayed at bottom, no loss. Last leaf with errata on verso frayed in margins, no loss of letters. Occassionally some browning to some quires in the first part. First edition of the complete German edition of the collected travels of Mandelslo, edited by Adam Olearius who was entrusted the editing after the original manuscript turned up after Mandelslo's death in Paris 1644.Birkelund, 55. - Thesaurus, 582. - Bibl. Dan. II,411-14.

London, Whittaker & Co. 1842-1850. 4to. 4 cont. full calf. Backs with 5 raised bands, richly gilt compartments, very slight wear to backs. Gilt double line borders on covers. All edges gilt. Front hinge on Vol. 4 professionally repaired. With 260 fine hand-colored lithographed plates, all with tissue guards. (Chabot's Zinc, Skinner st.) Practically with no offsetting or foxing, clean. List of subscribers in Vol. 1., also an alphabetical index withbound. Text to all plates, pages unnumbered. First and only edition. Very scarce in complete state as here. BMC NH. Vol. 1, p.291. has only 130 plates. Nissen 305. Pritzel 1400. "Most of the text was drawn from notes left by Miss Burnett's brother G.T.B." (The Library of the Stiftung fur Botanik, Liechtenstein. Sotheby's Sales Catalogue. 1975. No. 118).

Tübingen, Hulderich Morhart, 1534. Small folio. Nice full vellum with yapp edges. A, exceptionally nice, clean, and fresh copy. One blank corner of f. 100 restored and small part of upper blank margin of last three leaves restored - far from affecting text. (7), (1 - blank), 133 ff + 1 leaf with portrait. With numerous woodcut astronomical illustrations and diagrams in the text and the woodcut portrai, which is attributed to Holbein the Younger. The rare first edition of Stoeffler's highly important commentary on Proclus' astronomical main work, "Sphaera", together with the Latin translation of the text by Ludovicus Schradinus (Ludwig Schradin). Proklos' astronomical main work constitutes one of the most important and influential works of Ptolemaic cosmology, and through Stoeffler's pivotal edition of the text with his seminal commentaries, the work comes to play a significant role in Renaissance astronomy. Through Stoeffler, Proclus' "Speara" came to be regarded as the most significant Renaissance alternative to the otherwise dominating "Tractatus de Sphaera" by Sacrobosco - it constituted a Platonic-humanistic and anti-scholastic alternative that gave it a unique role in the history of spherical astronomy, strongly influencing the likes of Kepler. Johannes Stoeffler (1452-1531), Professor of mathematics at the University of Tübingen, was a highly important and influential astronomer and astrologer, who counted both Melanchton and Sebastian Münster among his students. His commentary on Proclus' "Spaera" became extremely influential and was studied by the most important astronomers of the Renaissance. The work furthermore contains two important references to the discovery of America (f. 24r: "Ut est America provincia occidentialis vicina tropico Capricorni ... inventa per Columbanum Ianuensem" & f. 54v: "Hoc in primis, deprehendit Vespucius nobilis mathematicus, terram nusquam oceano ut illi crediderunt) à nostra omnino interceptam").

(On colophon:) Hagenau, Henrich Gran for Johannes Rynman, 1498, 20. August. Small quarto. A copy with wide margins. Newer (late 19th century) brown half calf w. gilt red title label and gilt ornamentation to back. Corners bumped. First leaf a bit soiled and with many old owener's names. Repair to upper part of first leaf, due to worm-hole, far prom affecting printed text. The two following leaves with small worm-hole to upper margin, far from affecting text. Occasional soiling and minor brownspotting. Many leaves with contemporary marginal annotations and occasional contemporary underlinings. The marginal annotations have been fully preserved when the book was rebound, and the margins have not been cut. Printed in double columns with 34 lines to each, and headlines; rubricated throughout. (12 (being title and Tabula), 1 (blank), 139) ff. - i.e. with all 152 ff., including the blank, which has been lacking in other identified copies. Exceedingly scarce incunable-edition (the first printed by Gran) of the first general handbook for parish priests, i.e. the first official parish handbook. Before Lochmaier's "Parrochiale curatorum", parish handbooks were usually written by the individual parish priests for their own use, as no reliable, official or general handbook existed. The "Parrochiale curatorum" describes all that a parish priest needs to know, and as such it is the first work to remedy the great lack of such a work, which had otherwise occasioned merely individual efforts.The first printing of the work appeared without place and without date, but not earlier than 1493. A reproduction of this edition appeared in Leipzig in 1497 (by Kachelofen), and in 1498 this, the third edition of the work, appeared in Hagenau. In 1499 Lotter produced yet an edition of the work, in Leipzig, and in 1500 Furter produced one in Basle. All these editions are scarce. The work continued to appear into the 16th century.Heinrich Gran (active en Hagenau 1489 - 1527) was a highly important German printer, who introduced printing to the German city of Hagenau, which in the 15th century was a city of much greater importance than it is today. Together with Mentelin and Eggestein, he was one of the pioneers of book-printing in Alsace. The great pioneering publisher Johann Rynmann of Augsburg was one of Gran's most important clients, and the present work constitutes one of their very early collaborations. Between 1501 and 1527, Rynmann financed 174 out of the 213 works that Gran produced during this period. Incunables by Gran are of great scarcity.Graesse IV:243. Hain II:10169.

Paris, Arthus Bertrand, (1841-42). Folio. (50 x 34 cm.). Contemp. hcloth. Marbled covers. Spine with gilt lettering. Light wear along edges. Corners renewed. Printed title-page (thick paper), 8 pp. of "Table Explicative des Planches" (of which 2 leaves are remargined) and 101 (of 102) fine engraved plates. 96 are in excellent original handcolouring and 5 are uncoloured. The lacking plate is: Carinairorïde Placenta (femelle), in the section of mollusques. Textleaves with some faint brownspots. Plates clean and fine, a few very faint marginal brownspots. First edition of the Zoological Atlas from the important voyage by Vaillant on board "La Bonite" in the Pacific, the result of which were published from 1840-66. The atlas was accompanied with 2 volumes of text in 8vo published from 1842-52, the textvolumes are not present here.The atlas comprises: Mammafieres, Oiseaux, Reptiles, Poissons, Crustacés, Insectes, Mollusques, Zoophytes and Vers.Wood, p.615. - BMC NH, 603, - Sabin, 98298. - Nissen ZBI,408.

[Kapitalut:] Balchik, Izdanie na Krist'o Ivanov, 1905. [Speech On the Question of Free Trade:] Sofia 8vo. In contemporary red half calf. Extremities with wear. Previous owner's name in contemporary hand to upper part of both title-pages. Light browning throughout and a few occassional underlignings in text, mainly in "A speech on free trade". [Kapitalut:] XXXVIII, 122 pp. [Rech za...:] 27, (1). The exceedingly rare first partial Bulgarian translation of Marx's 'Das Kapital', heft. 1. Translator Dimitar Glagoev, who eventually in 1909-10 made the first complete translation was the founder and leader of the Bulgarian Worker's Social Democratic Party became (or Narrow Socialists, or Tesniaki), became the the first Marxist propangandist in Bulgaria. The present publication is presumably printed in very low number and are of the utmost scarcity; OCLC locate no institutional holdings (We know of one copy in the SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, Bulgaria) and no copy has been up for auction the past 50 years.Extradited in 1885 by the Russian government, Blagoev returned to Bulgaria, settled in Sofia and began to propagate socialist ideas. In July 1891 on the initiative of Blagoev, the social democratic circles of Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Kazanluk and other cities united to form the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party (BSDP). The Marxist nucleus of the BSDP was opposed by a group, who were essentially opposed to making the social democratic movement into a party. In 1893 this group, led by Yanko Sakazov, founded a reformist organization, the Bulgarian Social Democratic Union. In 1894, Blagoev's supporters agreed to unite with the Unionists in the interests of working class unity and took the name Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party. Blagoev founder and became the leader of its left wing, which split from the BSDWP in 1903 to found the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Narrow Socialists). Under his guidance the foundations of the class trade-union movement was laid in 1904. Blagoev was also a prominent proponent of ideas for the establishment of a Balkan Federation, leading the Narrow Socialists into the Communist International in 1919, where the party changed its name to the Bulgarian Communist Party. However, during this period Blagoev and the party as a whole did not completely adopt Bolshevik's positions on the basic questions. This determined the party's policies during the Vladaya Soldiers' Rebellion of 1918 and the military coup of 9 June 1923 when the party adopted a position of neutrality. He was also an opponent of the failed September Uprising and thought that there were no ripe conditions for a revolution in Bulgaria yet.From 1897 to 1923 Blagoev directed the publication of the party's theoretical organ, the journal "Novo Vreme", which published more than 500 of his articles. The first complete Bulgarian translation were published in 1909/1910.

Leipzig, Weidmann, 1776-78. 8vo. Bound in two nice uniform contemporary half calf bindings with five raised bands, black title-label and gilt lettering to spine. Small paper-label to upper compartment (Catalogue-number from an estate-library). Light wear to extremities, otherwise a very nice 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

Paris, Chez la Veuve Desaint, 1788. 4to. Beautiful contemporary full mottled calf with richly gilt spine and gilt borders to boards. Double gilt line-borders to edges of boards. Binding with wear, especially to capitals, corners, and hinges - binding still tight, though. A tear to lower front hinge and small lack of leather to upper capital as well as corners. (a2&3) loose, but intact, present, and NOT supplied from another copy. Very minor scattered brownspotting to a few leaves, otherwise very fine and clean. In spite of wear, a nice and tight copy, which is completely unrestored. XII,512 pp. First edition of Lagrange's masterpiece, "which laid the foundation of modern mechanics, and which occupies a place in the history of the subject second only to that of Newton's Principia". (Wolf). In "Méchanique Analytique" Lagrange reformulated classical Newtonian mechanics in a purely analytical manner, whereas Newton derived his results geometrically, or synthetically, with the aid of figures. "Lagrange proposed to reduce the theory of mechanics and the art of solving problems in that field to general formulas, the mere development of which would yield all the equations necessary for the solution of every problem." (DSB). In his preface, Lagrange draws attention to the absence of diagrams in the book, which he believed the lucidity of his own presentation had rendered superfluous. Horblit/Grolier 61; Dibner 112; Sparrow 120; Norman 1257.

Copenhagen, Gyldendal, 1794-(1805). Folio-oblong (320 x 202 mm). With, detached, contemporary blank blue front wrapper and spine. Spine missing upper and lower 2 cm of the blue paper. First two leaves of text with traces of tape in inner margin, not affecting text. All plates very fine and clean in fresh contemporary handcolouring. [Part I:] 12 pp + 26 handcoloured plates - complete; [Part 2] 23 handcoloured plates - presumably lacking 2 plates. The exceedingly rare first edition of the very first Danish pattern book for embroidery. Except for the present copy, only one complete copy of part 1 is known; that copy is in the Royal Danish Library, which does not have part 2. Lilly Library holds an incomplete copy of part 1 (containing 24 plates) and the only other known copy of any part of part 2 (with 25 plates, presumably being complete). The work is so rare and known in so few copies, that no-one has been able to establish exactly what was published. We know that part 1 is complete as it is here, with 12 leaves of text and 26 plates. Part 2, however, is even scarcer with only one other copy to compare with, and whether that is complete, is uncertain. In all, our copy has 49 plates, as does the other copy known of parts 1 and 2 together (that in the Lilly Library). The work contains beautiful hand coloured plates with floral designs and ornaments for both wool foot rugs and for embroidery on silk clothing, handkerchiefs ect. Grosch was fully aware that he was treading new ground with the present publication; in the introduction he states that no comparable work has been published before and that he therefore had to make all designs and colour decisions himself, with no historical references to lean on.Grosch grew up in Lübeck. He moved to Copenhagen in 1790 to study at the Academy of Fine Arts, in an environment best characterized by French classical ideals. Here, he particularly admired the neoclassical works of Bertel Thorvaldsen. Grosch received the academy's small silver medal in 1793, but never succeeded in becoming a member of the academy. Heinrich August Grosch is considered an important forerunner of J. C. Dahl and Norwegian landscape painting in general. Through art, teaching, and educational writings, he made an important contribution to cultural life in Norway in the first half of the 19th century. Grosch executed graphic works of various nature; in addition to prospectuses, portraits, and renderings of ancient ruins, he also published textbooks on drawing, calligraphy and embroidery – the present work being the rarest and most progressive. Norsk Forfatter-Lexikon 1814-56., p. 218 (mentions both parts). Biblioteca Danica, Supplement 209 (part 1 only). See altso Charlotte Paludan & Lone De Hemmer Egeberg: 98 mønsterbøger til broderi, knipling og strikning, 1991.

[Blagoev-translation:] Sofia, [presumably 1910 but august 1909 stated on last leaf of preface] & [Ba [Blagoev-translation:] 8vo. In a contemporary full cloth binding with red leather title-label with gilt lettering to spine. Spine with wear and light soiling to extremities. Hindges a bit weak First 10 leaves with stain in margin, otherwise a good copy. (6), XXXI, (1), 675, (1) pp.{Bakalov-translation:] 8vo. In contemporary half calf with five raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Wear to extremities and hindges a bit weak Repair to inner margin of title-page. Internally fine and clean. XXX, (2), 598, (2) pp. + frontiespiece of Marx. Withbound is "Karl Marx and His Time": (1)-180 pp. A most interesting set consisting of the two first Bulgarian translations of Marx' 'Das Kapital'. Quite extraordinary in the history of translations of 'Das Kapital' two Bulgarian translation appeared, presumably, simultaneously and both translations seems to have been actively used though the 20ies and 30ies and they were reprinted simultaneously in 1930-31, both edited by Todor Pavlov. To our best knowledge Bulgarian is the only language which have had two complete translation published at the same time.The Bakalov-translation is certainly published in 1910. The Blagoew-translation, printed in Sofia, has often been referred to as being printed in 1909 and has occasionally been referred to as the first translation of the two, solely because his foreword was proceeded by "August, 1909". That the book was actually printed in 1909 has, however, recently been disputed. Both translators were well aware of each other and perhaps Blagoew simply wrote "August 1909" to gain primacy in being the first to have a complete translation published: "I was not able to prove this, but this is either a typo (unlikely) or was Blagoev's way to acquire primacy over the other translation from 1910, that of Georgi Bakalov" (Panayotov, Capital without Value: The Soviet-Bulgarian Synthesis). Translator Dimitar Blagoev, the founder and leader of the Bulgarian Worker's Social Democratic Party became (or Narrow Socialists, or Tesniaki), became the the first Marxist propangandist in Bulgaria. About the present translation Blagoev said: "The translation was made from Russian, but we can rightly say that it came from Russian as well as from Russian German and French. We all had four Russian issuesbut the basis for this was the last Russian translation, which was edited by G. P. Struwe, as it came closest to the original. In all this, however, we had to compare, almost line by line, with the original of the last, fourth German edition of Friedrich Engels and the French translation, which was specially reviewed by Marx himself."Blagoev was also a prominent proponent of ideas for the establishment of a Balkan Federation, leading the Narrow Socialists into the Communist International in 1919, where the party changed its name to the Bulgarian Communist Party. However, during this period Blagoev and the party as a whole did not completely adopt Bolshevik's positions on the basic questions. This determined the party's policies during the Vladaya Soldiers' Rebellion of 1918 and the military coup of 9 June 1923 when the party adopted a position of neutrality. He was also an opponent of the failed September Uprising and thought that there were no ripe conditions for a revolution in Bulgaria yet.A partial translation by Blagoev (only 122 pp) was published in 1905 and is of the utmost scarcity. Georgi Bakalov published his translation from the German, in his hometown Stara Zagora. The publisher was The Liberal Club, which was a printshop rather than a proper publisher. He was also a member of Bulgarian Social Democratic Party as of 1891 and, likely much similar to many of the early Bulgarian socialists, was active in education and socalled 'uchitelsko delo' (teachers' affairs). In 1891-93 he studied in Geneva and quickly befriended Plekhanov, whom he translated in the 1890s.OCLC only list no copies of either translation. We know, however, that a copy of both translations are held in the SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library (Bulgaria).

Mirandulae, Ioannes Maciochius Bundenius, 1520 (on colophon). [Mirandola, Mazzocchi]. Small folio. Contemporary full vellum binding with handwritten title to spine. Author written in contemporary hand to lower edge. Binding professionally restored, at lower part of spine, edges of boards, and corners of back board. Free end-papers renewed. First leaf restored, with lower blank part supplied in later paper - no loss of text! This lower part was blank on both recto and verso. A bit of soiling to upper part of this leaf, as well as two old owner's inscriptions. First few leaves a bit browned, not heavily. Otherwise only light scattered browning. Some small marginal worm-holes to inner and lower blank margins, far from affecting text. All in all very fine, nice, and clean. Woodcut device to final leaf. (6), 208 ff. The seminal first edition of Gianfrancesco Pico's main work, the work which publicly introduces Greek scepticism to the modern world (i.e. the Reniassance) for the first time and thus comes to play a seminal role in the development of modern thought. With this work, Pico becomes the first modern thinker to specifically use the theories of Sextus Empiricus, foreshadowing the great "Sceptical Revolution" of the later Renaissance as well as the ideas of later modern thinkers such as Montesquieu. The "Examen" furthermore introduces other important critiques of Aristotle that were not generally known at the time (and works that had not yet been published) as well as a completely new sort of attack upon the theories of Aristotle that come to play an important role in later Renaissance Aristotle scholarship. "But his "Examen Vanitatis Doctrinae Gentium et Veritatis Disciplinae Christianae" is not only a criticism of human knowledge which can, as has been done, be compared with Montaigne. It is also a wholesale destruction of the whole world of human values, of that "regnum hominis" so dear to the Renaissance. And as such, it inclines one to think that it anticipated Pascal. [...]." (Garin, p. 135)The "Examen" is considered foundational in "anti-pagan" historiography of thought, "a work that deserves special attention here as the earliest example of an "anti-pagan" reaction in the Renaissance historiography of thought, and as the first in a line of publications preparing the way for the anti-apologists of the seventeenth century. ..." (Hanegraaff, "Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture", p. 81). It is due to this work that Gianfr. Pico is now remembered as "the first modern sceptic". "Joining the sceptical arguments of Sextus, which he quoted and used liberally, to Savonarola's negative view of natural knowledge, he presented the first text since antiquity utilizing Pyrrhonism, using it to illuminate knowledge by faith!" (Popkin, p. 24). Gianfr. Pico, a learned scholar and apt reader of classical texts, was the first Renaissance thinker that we know to have seriously studied and used the works of Sextus Empiricus, which were not printed until the 1560'ies, causing a revolution in Renaissance thinking. "No discovery of the Renaissance remains livelier in modern philosophy than scepticism". (Copenhaver & Schmitt, p. 338). "The revived skepticism of Sextus Empiricus was the strongest single agent of disbelief". (ibid., p. 346)."The printing of Sextus in the 1560s opened a new era in the history of scepticism, which had begun in the late fourth century BCE with the teachings of Pyrrho of Elis. [...] Before the Estienne and Hervet editions, Sextus seems to have had only two serious students, Gianfrancesco Pico at the turn of the century and Francesco Robortello about fifty years later." (Copenhaver & Schmitt, pp. 240-41)."No significant use of Pyrrhonian ideas prior to the printing of Sextus' ""Hypotyposes" [in the 1560'ies] has turned up, except for that of Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola". (Popkin, p. 19). Giovanni Francesco [Gianfranceso] Pico della Mirandola (1470-1533), not to be confused with his uncle Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) was a highly important Renaissance thinker and philosopher, who was strongly influenced by the Neoplatonic tradition, but even more so by the preaching of Girolamo Savonarola, whose thought he defended throughout his life. Just like his uncle, Gianfr. Pico devoted his life to philosophy, but being a follower of Savonarola and having a Christian mission, he made it subject to the Bible. He even depreciated the authority of the philosophers, above all of Aristotle.It is in the "Examen", Gianfr. Pico's main work, that his sceptical arguments are developed to their fullest extent, and it is here that he not only discusses at length Pyrrhonism, based on Sextus' "Hypotyposes"( which were only published more than 40 years later), and deals in detail with Sextus' "Adversus Mathematicos" (also only published more than 40 years later), propounding his own ideas and attacking Aristotle, he also provides lengthy "summaries" of Sextus' texts, which seem more like actual translations than interpretations or paraphrases.As Charles Schmitt also shows, the younger Pico must have read Sextus in a Greek manuscript, as the texts of Sextus were not printed before the 1560'ies, when the Hervet- and the Estienne-editions appear, causing what we would call "´The Sceptical Revolution of the Renaissance", a turning point in the history of modern thought. Apparently, Gianfr. Pico used a codex that belonged to Giorgio Antonio Vespucci. It was during an enforced exile around 1510 that Gianfr. Pico set to work on his "Examen Vanitatis Doctrinae Gentium", which was published for the first time in 1520 and dedicated to Pope Leo X. The work was printed in a small edition by an obscure press in his own little principality at Mirandola, which explains its scarcity. In the "Examen" "Pico introduced the actual sceptical arguments of Sextus Empiricus, plus some newer additions, in order to demolish all philosophical views, especially those of Aristotle, and to show that only Christian knowledge, as stated in the Scriptures, is true and certain." (Popkin, pp. 20-21). But although he here carefully set forth the ancient sceptical criticisms of sensory knowledge claims and of the rational criteria that let us judge what is true and false, it is important to remember that he did not as such advocate scepticism, rather, he used it for his own means. Using the ancient sceptical arguments as ammunition to undermine the confidence in natural knowledge, his aim was to lead people to see that the only real and reliable knowledge is revealed knowledge. He denounces all pagan philosophical claims, attacks Aristotle's theory of knowledge with the arguments of Sextus, all the time regarding Christianity as immune to sceptical infection, because it does not depend upon the dogmatic philosophies that Sextus had refuted. In his use of Sceptical arguments, Gianfr. Pico was not only doing something completely new in a Renaissance setting (i.e. reviving and using sceptical arguments at all), he was doing something completely new as such. The original Pyrrhonian formulations were primarily directed against Stoic and Epicurean theories of knowledge, and traditionally they were not directed towards the all-overshadowing dominating theories of Aristotle. As such, Gianfr. Pico makes Aristotelianism more of an empirical theory than it was traditionally viewed, and also in this did the "Examen" come to have groundbreaking influence. He furthermore introduces several critiques of Aristotelianism that were not generally known at the time, such as that of Hasdai Crecas (15th century Jewish Spanish thinker), whose work had not yet been published and which only existed in Jewish manuscript, as well as that of the late Hellenistic commentator John Philoponous, who later came to play an important role in Renaissance readings of Aristotle. "As early as 1496 [originally printed 1497], in one of his first works, "On the Study of Divine and Human Philosophy", he distinguished divine philosophy, rooted in scripture, from human philosophy based on reason; he denied that Christians need human wisdom, which is as likely to hinder as to help the quest for salvation. By 1514 he had completed a longer and sterner work, "The Weighing of Empty Pagan Learning against True Christian Doctrine, Divided into Six Books, of Which Three Oppose the whole Sect of Philosophers in General, while the Others Attack the Aristotelian Sect Particularly, and with Aristotelian Weapons, but Christian Teaching is Asserted and Celebrated throughout the Whole". As its title suggests, the "Examen", published in 1520, hardened Pico's hostility to pagan philosophy. Just when Luther was making the Bible the sole rule of faith, Pico discredited every source of knowledge except scripture and condemned all attempts to find truth elsewhere as "vanitas", emptiness; profane knowledge is at best a distraction from the work of salvation, as some of the greatest Fathers had taught. Pico's purpose was sincerely religious and only incidentally philosophical; much of Renaissance scepticism remained true to his pious motives, though they were not fully appreciated for forty years after he wrote. By demolishing secular thought, Pico hoped to empty the human mind of reason and make a clear channel for God's grace; man's only intellectual security lay in church authority. Convinced of Christianity's unique value, he turned his uncle's eirenic learning to contrary purposes, working skillfully with Greek manuscripts to make his humanism a potent weapon against religious error. [...].Pico devoted most of his first three books to reproducing the arguments of Sextus Empiricus against the various schools of ancient philosophy; in Books IV and V he turned scepticism against Aristotle. His extensive borrowings from Sextus often come closer to translation than paraphrase or analysis, and his choices are therapeutic rather than theoretical. Aristotle had to go because he was the chief source of secular contagion among the faithful, and Sextus was the best medicine available. Pico regarded Christianity itself as immune to sceptical infection because it does not depend on the dogmatic philosophies that Sextus had refuted. [...]". (Copenhaver & Schmitt, pp. 245-46). The "Examen" marks a turning-point in the history of Renaissance thought and the development of modern philosophy. The importance of the revival of scepticism can hardly be over-estimated, and Gianfr. Pico's use of the sceptical arguments which he utilizes in the "Examen" would prove to be highly important and influential. But the revival that Gianfr. Pico is thus responsible for, not only comes to serve his own purpose, as history will prove, the sword is two-edged.Claiming in the "Examen" that "the works assigned to Aristotle were doubtfully authentic; his sense-based epistemology could not produce reliable data; his doctrines, often presented with deliberate obscurity, had been disputed by opponents and followers alike and had been criticized by Christian theologians; even Aristotle himself was uncertain about some of them. Aristotelian philosophy, the pinnacle of human wisdom, was therefore shown to be constructed on the shakiest of foundations. Christian dogma, by contrast, was built on the bedrock of divine authority and therefore could not be undermined by the sceptical critique. Or so he believed, unaware that scepticism, which he had revived as an ally of Christianity, would eventually become a powerful weapon in the hands of its enemies." (Jill Kraye: "Two Cultures: Scholasticism and Humanism in the Early Renaissance", in: The Philosophy of the Italian Renaissance). "Defended by ancient philosophers such as Sextus Empiricus, refuted by Augustine (De civitate dei (11,26): "Even if I am mistaken, I exist"; a clear anticipation of Descartes' cogito), Scepticism was revived in the Middle Ages by Nicholas of Autrecourt (whose works were burned by papal order in 1347). By the Renaissance, this tendency came to be linked with fideism (Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola, Erasmus, Montaigne, Gassendi, Daniel Huet, and Pierre Bayle, to name but a few), leading, in one way or another, to its modern culmination in Hume." (Black Swans, the Brain, and Philosophy as a Way of Life : Pierre Hadot and Nassim Taleb on Ancient Scepticism)."Gianfrancesco's most important philosophical work, probably written sometime after 1510 and published in 1520, was "Examen vanitatis doctrinae gentium", which is especially important because it marks the first serious attempt to adapt the Pyrrhonist (radically skeptical) philosophical ideas of the Hellenistic philosopher Sextus Empiricus to contemporary intellectual discourse." (Charles G. Nauert: "Historical Dictionary of Renaissance", 2004).See: Popkin: "The History of Scepticism. From Savonarola to Bayle", 2003; Schmitt: "Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola (1469-1533) and his critique of Aristotle", 1967; Copenhaver & Schmitt: "Renaissance Philosophy", 1992; Garin: Italian Humanism", 1965.Adams P:1156.

Florenze, (J. Cocchini) sub signo Stellae, 1667. 4to (230 x 165 mm). Early 19th century brown half calf, rebacked and neatly restored, preserving most of the early spine. Newer endpapers. Gilt spine with gilt leather title-label. "F.C.C.H" (Frederik Carl Christian Hansen) in gilt lettering to lower part of spine. Vague dampstain to lower and outer margins of first half of bookblock. Margins washed and leves K-P2 possibly neatly restored at blank margin without loss of paper and without touching text. Vague dampstain to plates also, mostly visible from verso, barely from recto. Woodcut arms of the Medici-family on the title-page.(2 blanks), (8), 123, (1 blank) pp. + 7 plates: 3 large folding woodcut plates numbered Tabula I-III and 4 full page engraved plates. With previous ownership signatures and dates to title-page: "Fr. C.C. Hansen / Professor anatomiae / Hafniae. / MCMii", being the Danish anatomist Frederik Carl Christian Hansen (1870 - 1934).- "Svend Petri. / 1934." - "Troels Kardel / 2019", being Troels Johan Dahler Kardel (1940 - 2024) - Doctor of Medicine and one of the most renowned 20th-century Steno scholars. As co-author, alongside Belgian scholar Paul Maquet, of a major critical edition and biography of Steno, Kardel played a key role in reviving scholarly interest in "Elementorum Myologiae Specimen" and reestablishing its significance within the history of science. Notably, Kardel was received in audience by Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, a testament not only to his scholarly standing but also to the cultural and spiritual relevance of Steno who is venerated in the Catholic Church and beatified in 1988. First edition, with an interisting provenance, of Steno’s landmark work in the history of science, introducing several groundbreaking discoveries across multiple fields of science, particularly anatomy, geology, and the philosophy of science. Steno was the first to demonstrate that muscles do not increase in volume when they contract. This refuted the longstanding Galenic theory and laid the foundation for modern muscle physiology. With the present work, Steno fully developed his developed his groundbreaking muscle theory and revolutionized our knowledge of how the muscles function. He also included comparisons between animal and human anatomical structures, helping to establish the discipline of comparative anatomy and opening new pathways for later evolutionary thought. It as also in the present work that Steno, through the dissection of a shark's head, successfully identified "tongue stones" as fossilized shark teeth, which directly contradicted earlier beliefs that fossils formed spontaneously in rocks. This marked a foundational moment in paleontology and stratigraphy helping to establish that fossils are remains of once-living organisms, thereby setting the stage for his later geological principles (in “De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento”, 1669), such as the principle of original horizontality and superposition.Steno studied rock formations and concluded that all rocks and minerals were once fluid, settling into horizontal layers over time. These layers could trap and preserve animal remains as fossils with older layers at the bottom and newer ones on top - a principle now known as Steno’s Law of Superposition. While others had suggested that fossils were once-living organisms, Steno advanced the idea by linking fossils to specific moments in Earth’s history and showing that rock layers formed gradually. His insights laid the foundation for modern geology and paleontology helping to reveal how life evolved over billions of years. “The first part of Stensen’s "Elementorum" elaborates upon the concepts introduced in his "De musculis et glandulis", laying the foundation of muscular mechanics. In collaboration with the mathematician Vincenzo Viviani, a pupil of Galileo, Stensen developed a geometrical description of muscular contraction, and attempted to show theoretically that muscles did not increase in volume during contraction. Dealing with his subject on a strictly mechanical basis, he gave a clear terminology for the parts of the muscle and characterized muscle and muscle fiber according to their geometrical structure. He recognized that muscle tension was the result of the individual forces of its constituent fibers and was thus able to refute the views of Borelli, who believed that a muscle’s hardness and swelling during contraction was due to the influx of nerve fluid. The remainder of the treatise includes Stensen’s account of his dissection of a shark’s head. In discussing the relationship of the shark teeth to similar-shaped fossil stones found in the Mediterranean, Stensen developed theories of how geological structures and fossils might be formed. This has been called the first outline of a scientific theory of the development of the earth. The Elementorum also contains two of Stensen’s embryological contributions, his recognition of the egg-producing function of the mammalian ovary and his description of the placenta in the viviparous shark.” (Norman 2012). “A Danish physician, geologist, and clergyman, Steno studied medicine at Copenhagen, Leiden and Paris. He settled in Italy, first as professor of anatomy at Padua and then in Florence as house physician to Grand Duke Ferdinand II. He served for at brief time as professor and royal anatomist in Copenhagen. Dissatisfied, he returned to Florence where he abandoned his scientific career and entered the priesthood, eventually becoming bishop.” (Heirs of Hippocrates) The present work is a superb testament to Steno’s multifaceted life and eclectic career, revolutionizing several different branches of science. His fundamental scientific method applied here also reveals Steno as, not only a brilliant observer, but also a methodological pioneer, who helped shape how science was conducted in the early modern period. Norman 2012 Garrison-Morton 577Osler 4021Waller 9223Barchas 1994

Paris, Plassin, 1798. 8vo. and folio (44 x 30) cm. Textvolumes bound in 4 contemporary half calf. Gilt spines with gilt lettering. Tome-label on volume one eroded. Stamp on title-pages. (4),LXVIII,368;(4),414;316,(120 = Tables);(4),328 pp. A few scattered brownspots. Atlasvolume bound in matching hcalf. Spine gilt and rubbed. Lower compartment of spine with wear and tear. Engraved portrai of Pérouse as frontispiece. Engraved pictorial titlepage with cupids and naviogational instruments (dessinée par Moreau le Jeune) and 69 engraved maps, plans and plates of which 32 are large folded engraved maps. Mild foxing to some parts of some maps, occasionally mild dampstains to some plates, marginal browning and some spotting. One map with a repair to folding. Second edition of the textvolumes (the first appeared the year before, 1797) and first edition of plates. (69 plates to the first, 70 to the second)."In 1785, Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte de la Perouse, began preparations for an extensive sea voyage. His aim was to explore the Pacific regions of North and South America, Asia and Australasia. The sponsor of the expedition was the French king, Louis XVI, who was inspired by Captain James Cook's Pacific voyages. Louis ordered the French expedition to show the world that France could also dominate in ocean exploration. The expedition consisted of two ships - La Boussole and L'Astrolabe. They carried a total of 225 crew, officers and scientists. The ships left France in August 1785 and sailed south around Cape Horn. The voyage was expected to last four years. During the voyage, La Perouse sent back regular reports to France. The expedition mapped coastlines and explored uncharted areas of ocean. The expedition's scientists also spent time onshore at various ports, observing the habits and customs of local people and collecting natural history specimens. The expedition's progess until September 1787 was published by the French government as Voyage de La Perouse autour du monde [La Perouse's voyage around the world]. It was reprinted many times and translated into several languages. In 1791, when La Perouse had not returned to France or made any contact by dispatch, the French government sent out a search party. It was commanded by Rear Admiral Joseph Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux and consisted of two ships, Recherche and Esperance.... The complete disappearance of La Perouse caught the imagination of the European public. Songs, stories and plays were written about the possible fate of the expedition, including a popular play called, Perouse, or, The desolate island..... It was not until 1964 that the wreck of La Boussole was finally discovered on Vanikoro's reefs. At last the fate of La Perouse and his crew was known. The expedition is commemorated in the name of a Sydney suburb on the shores of Botany Bay - La Perouse." (State Library of New South Wales, Website).Sabin, 38960.

Københaffn, (Hans Vingaard), 1557. 4to. Indbundet samlet i et senere enkelt hldrbd. fra omkr. 1850. Med brugsspor men repareret. Ad. 1: Titelblad trykt i sort/rød med sammensat træskåren ramme. (8),160,(1) blade - 2. Titelblad med træskåren ramme. (3),48 blade. - 3. Titelblad med træskåren ramme. (4),32,(12) blade (heraf de sidste 12 blade Apoteckerfortegnelsen). - 4. Titelblad med sammensat træskåren ramme. (7),20 blade. - 5. Titelblad med træskåren ramme. (5),10,(1) blade. Gennemgående i god stand, men her og der med brunpletter, brugspletter særligt på de første blade. Nogle af trykkene har et blankt blad til slut, disse er ikke tilstede i samlingen. Her foreligger samlet 5 af Danmark-Norges tidligste lægebøger, i alder kun overgået af Christian Pedersens 2 bøger fra 1533 og 1534 og Smiths egen "Ny vrtegaarddt" 1546. I modsætning til den samlede udgave fra 1577 ("Henrik Smids Lægebog"), blev disse udgivet separat, og er alle af største sjældenhed. De få eksemplarer, som har været udbudt på markedet de sidste 50 år, har næsten alle været ukomplette. De tre af værkerne er førsteudgaverne, mens "En Bog om Pestilintzis Aarsage" skulle, efter forfatterens egen oplysning på titelbladet, være anden udvidede udgave. Imidlertid er førsteudgaven, som siges at være udkommet 1535, ikke kendt i noget bevaret eksemplar.Lauritz Nielsen Nr. 1511,1512, 1507, 1505, 639. - Thesaurus Nr. 266, 267, 265 og 264. - Bibl. Danica I:798-99.