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Paris, Guillyn, 1751. 8vo. Uniformly bound in three very nice contemporary full sprinkled calf bindings with five raised bands and richly gilt spines. Vol. 1 missing top 5 mm. of spine. Small paper-label pasted on to upper part of spines, indicating the inventory number in an estate library. Small worm-tract in lower margin of vol. 3, far from affecting text. A very nice set. (12), 456, (24) pp. + 8 folded plates; (36), 365, (3) pp.; (8), 400 pp. + 4 folded plates. Rare second edition, first with all three volumes published simultaneously, of arguable one of the most important and influential 18th century book on gastronomy. Here Menon for the first time explicitly describes the recently invented “nouvelle cuisine: a tendency to put food and nutrition on a scientific basis, its functions in the body, reducing the number of varieties offered at a meal, lighter foods and bringing simpler presentations to the table. Menon embraced a comprehensive approach to the culinary customs of his era, extending beyond mere food preparation and presentation. His works highlighted the significance of action, strategy, and demeanor, emphasizing that these aspects were equally crucial. His books served not only as guides to gastronomic practices but also as manuals for proper conduct and manners. For instance, in this present work, he incorporated a diagram illustrating the meticulous organization of dishes discussed throughout the books. Menon had what we would today call a holistic approach to gastronomic practices of his day that went well beyond the preparation and presentation of food. Several of his titles make clear that action, strategy and deportment were just as important. His book were as much about ways of acting as they were about food itself, like style-guides for gastronomic mores and manners. For instance, in his Nouveau traite, there is a diagram showing the careful arrangement of dishes that are described in the course of the books. "François Menon was the most influential and prolific French cookbook author of the eighteenth century. During his time, today's familiar categories of French cooking were emerging, and Menon was a master of them all: nouvelle cuisine (a term that each generation redefines); haute or classical cuisine; and cuisine bourgeoise. He even wrote the first French cookbook devoted specifically to a woman cook (La cuisinìere bourgeoise)... Menon first described the new cuisine in detail in the third and final volume of Nouveau Traité de la cuisine (New Treatise on Cooking, 1742). In contrast to traditional cooking, he wrote, the key to nouvelle cuisine was delicacy. Sauces were lighter but at the same time more nourishing; seasonings aimed to enhance rather than mask lead ingredients... Menon not only wrote about the practicalities of nouvelle cuisine; he was also concerned with philosophy, linking his mission closely to that of the leading thinkers of the Enlightenment: to advance and disseminate knowledge that allows humankind to live in a state of nature perfected." (Willan, The Cookbook Library, pp. 218-19). Vassallo, Catalogo dei libri esistenti nella pubblica biblioteca di Malta p. 118.

New York, Macmillan, 1924. 8vo. In the original cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Minor wear to extremities and hinges a bit weak, otherwise a very fine copy. (blank), X, (1), 394, (blank) pp. First edition of Commons' landmark work, in which he developed his 'theories of the evolution of capitalism and of institutional change as a modifying force alleviating the major defects of capitalism' (New Palgrave). Together with Thorstein Veblen and Wesley Clair Mitchell, Commons was one of the three founders of American Institutionalism.'He sought to demonstrate the importance for economic theory of collective action in all its varieties. These included not only the state but also a host of voluntary associations, such as the corporation and the trade union; in fact, collective action conceptually embraced all institutions, since Commons defined an institution as "collective action in control of individual action"' (IESS)'Although Commons' institutionalism had different emphases from that of Thorstein Veblen, for example, in that Commons stressed reform of the capitalist framework, they shared a view of economics as political economy and of the economy as comprising more than the market' (The New Palgrave, vol.1, p.506).John Rogers Commons (1862-1945) was an institutional economist and labor historian who became a significant contributor to most pieces of social and labor legislation in the 20th century. He was the first American economist and social scientist to dedicate himself to improving labor conditions, believing that labor injustice not only impacted workers, but also the stability of society.

Paris, Moutard, Panckoucke, 1780. 4to. Extract from "Mémoires fe Mathematique et de Physique, Présentés à l'Academie des Sciences par divers Savans", Tome IX. With titlepage to vol. IX. Pp. (2), (167-) 264 and 4 folded engraved plates. The memoir has also its own titlepage. Fine and clean. Wide-margined. First printing of this monumental memoir (the invention of the TORSION BALANCE) dealing with the best way to construct a magnetic compass. The paper contains the design of a torsion suspension declination compass and the demonstration that the forces of torsion is proportional to the angle of twist. Coulomb received the prize awarded by the Academy for this paper drafted by the Academy in 1777 (he shared the prize with Van Swinden). - "The importance of this memoir for Coulomb's career is that it CONTAINED ELEMENTS OF ALL HIS MAJOR PHYSICAL STUDIES: the quantitative study of magnetism, torsion and the torsion balance, friction and fluid resistance, and the germ of his theories of elasticity and magnetism."(DSB)."Coulomb’s first writings on torsion were presented in his Academy prize-winning memoir of 1777, "Recherches sur la meilleure maniere de fabriquer les aiguilles aimantées."......... his simple, elegant solution to the problem of torsion in cylinders and his use of the torsion balance in physical applications were important to numerous physicists in succeeding years. In chapter 3, Coulomb developed the theory of torsion in thin silk and hair threads. Here he was the first to show how the torsion suspension could provide physicists with a method of accurately measuring extremely small forces. He showed that within certain angular limits, torsional oscillation consisted of simple harmonic motion. He examined the parameters relating the angle of twist to the length, diameter, and elastic properties of the torsion thread. In the range of simple harmonic oscillation Coulomb demonstrated that the force of torsion was proportional to the angle of twist. He used this principle in measuring small magnetic forces and also called attention to its use in measuring other forces, notably those of fluids in motion. Eventually he was able to measure forces of less than 9 x 10-4 dynes.""Coulomb’s major memoirs in electricity and magnetism are his 1777 memoir on magnetic compasses, the famous series of seven electricity and magnetism memoirs read at the Academy from 1785 to 1791, and several magnetism memoirs prepared after the French Revolution. In his electrical studies Coulomb determined the quantitative force law, gave the notion of electrical mass, and studied charge leakage and the surface distribution of charge on conducting bodies. In magnetism he determined the quantitative force law, created a theory of magnetism based on molecular polarization, and introduced the idea of demagnetization (basically, that combinations of magnetic poles can "cancel" each other)."(DSB).Parkinson "Breakthroughs": 1777:P

Kiöbenhavn, uden ang. af trykker, 1755-80. 4to. 11 samt. ensartede hellæderbind af flammet kalv. Rig rygforgyldning og ophøjede bind på rygge. Tome-og titelfelter i skind. Forgyldte bordurer på permer. Kapitæler på nogle få bind bind lidt slidte, nogle hjørner lidt stødte. 10 kobberstukne titelblade og 1 bogtrykt. Trykt på svært skrivepapir. Indvendig ren og frisk. Pragteksemplar af "Fundationerne" som har tilhørt Adam Gottlob Moltke til Bregentved og til hvem flere af bindene er dediceret. På alle for-og bagpermer er Moltke's store forgyldte, kronede hjerteskjold. Komplet eksemplar af Hans de Hofmans store værk, som indeholder en del plancher i form af portrætter, kort og genealogiske tabeller, bl.a. portræt af Tycho Brahe, store vignetter m.m.

London [recte: Amsterdam, M.M. Rey], 1773. 8vo. Bound in one beautiful contemporary full mottled calf binding with five raised bands to richly gilt spine; triple gilt line-borders to boards and inner gilt dentelles. Edges of boards with single gilt line. All edges gilt. Corners abit bumped and a bit of overall wear. Inner hinges a bit weak. Internally very fine and clean. All in all a very fine copy indeed. (4), 210; 176; 167 pp. With all three half-titles, all three title-pages and all three indexes, as well as the introduction. The rare first edition, first issue (though Tchermerzine mentions an unknown 2-volume-edition form the same year - this edition has never been verified), of one of d'Holbach's most important works, his influential "social" and political continuation of his seminal main work "Systeme de la nature" - the bible of materialism. D'Holbach (1723-1789), who was raised by a wealthy uncle, whom he inherited, together with his title of Baron, in 1753, maintained one of the most famous salons in Paris. This salon became the social and intellectual centre for the Encyclopédie, which was edited by Diderot and d'Alembert, whom he became closely connected with. D'Holbach himself also contributed decisively to the Encyclopédie, with at least 400 signed contributions, and probably as many unsigned, between 1752 and 1765. The "Côterie holbachique" or "the café of Europe", as the salon was known, attracted the most brilliant scientists, philosophers, writers and artists of the time (e.g. Diderot, d'Alembert, Helvetius, Voltaire, Hume, Sterne etc, etc.), and it became one of the most important gathering-places for the exchange of philosophical, scientific and political views under the "ancient régime". Apart from developing several foundational theories of seminal scientific and philosophical value, D'Holbach became known as one of the most skilled propagators and popularizers of scientific and philosophical ideas, promoting scientific progress and spreading philosophical ideas in a new and highly effective manner. D'Holbach was himself the most audacious philosophe of this circle. During the 1760's he caused numerous anticlerical tracts (written in large, but not entirely, by himself) to be clandestinely printed abroad and illegally circulated in France. His philosophical masterpiece, the "Système de la nature, ou des lois du monde physique et du monde moral", a methodological and intransigent affirmation of materialism and atheism, appeared anonymously in 1770" (D.S.B. VI:468), as did the social and political follow-up of it, the famous "Systême social" in 1773. That is to say, Mirabeau whom he had used as the author on the "System of Nature" in 1770 is not mentioned in the "Social System", on the title-page of which is merely stated "By the Author of "Systême de la Nature". As the theories of d'Holbach's two systematic works were at least as anticlerical and unaccepted as those of his smaller tracts, and on top of that so well presented and so convincing, it would have been dangerous for him to print any of them under his own name, and even under the name of the city or printer. Thus, "Systême de la Nature" appeared pseudonomously under the name of the secretary of the Académie Francaise, J.B. Mirabaud, who had died 10 years earlier, and under a fictive place of printing, namely London instead of Amsterdam. "He could not publish safely under his own name, but had the ingenious idea of using the names of recently dead French authors. Thus, in 1770, his most famous book, "The System of Nature", appeared under the name Jean-Baptiste Mirabaud." (PMM 215), and so the next "System" also appeared in the same manner three years later.In his "Systême de la Nature", d'Holbach had presented philosophical materialism in an actual system for the first time and had created a work that dared unite the essence of all the essential material of the English and French Enlightenment and incorporate it into a closed materialistic system; on the basis of a completely materialistic and atheistic foundation, he provided the modern world with a moral and ethic philosophy, the effects of which were tremendous. It is this materialism and atheism that he continues three years later in his next systematic work "Systême social", through which politics, morality, and sociology are also incorporated into his system and take the place of the Christianity that he had so fiercely attacked earlier on. In this great work he extends his ethical views to the state and continues the description of human interest from "Systême de la Nature" by developing a notion of the just state (by d'Holbach calle "ethocracy") that is to secure general welfare. "Système social (1773; "Social System") placed morality and politics in a utilitarian framework wherein duty became prudent self-interest." (Encyclopaedia Brittanica). "Holbach's foundational view is that the most valuable thing a person seeking self-preservation can do is to unite with another person: "Man is of all beings the most necessary to man" (Sysème social, 76; cf. Spinoza's Ethics IVP35C1, C2, and S). Society, when it is just, unites for the common purpose of preservation and the securing of welfare, and society contracts with government for this purpose." (SEP).As the "Systême de la Nature" had been condemned to burning in the year of its publication, so the "Systême social" was on the list of books to be confiscated already in 1773, and it was placed on the Index of the Church in August 1775. As the "Systême de la Nature", the "Systême social" is thus also of great scarcity. Another edition of the work appeared later the same year, in 12mo. Tchermerzine says that "Il ya une édition, que nous ne connaissons pas, en 2 vol. in-8. C'est sans doute l'originale." The present edition was reprinted the following year, in 1774.Tschermerzine VI:246; Graesse III:317; Barbier IV:622 (only listing later editions).

[Cambridge], Printed for Leonard Greene (+ 2nd part: Cantrell Legge, Printer to the Vniuersitae of Cambridge), 1610. Small folio. Nice contemporary English full calf binding with 6 raised bands to spine, compartments gilt. Blindstamped line-borders and gilt ornamented centre-pieces to boards. All edges of boards gilt. Title-label removed from spine, gilding to edges of boards occasionally worn off. Wear to extremities. Inner hinges open into the cords, binding still tight, but boards don't close properly. 18th century inventory number to verso of fist leaf. Owner's inscription, dated "Ups. 1749" (i.e. Uppsala) to title-page. Old owner's name cut off from top of title-page, far from affecting lettering. Occasional minor browning or soiling, but all in all very nice and clean. Several woodcut ornamental vignettes and initials. 1 (blank, except for signature-mark "A"), 3 ff + pp. 1-196, 2 ff. (separate dated title-page for "The second booke of this commentarie vpon the diuine prophesie of Daniel" + dedication) + pp. 197-520, 8 ff (Table of the questions & Controversies + errata) + final blank. Fully complete. Several mispaginations. The very rare first edition (in the even scarcer variant-version with L. Greene's name as publisher in imprint) of Willet's highly praised commentary on on the prophesies of Daniel, which contains much valuable information and constitutes an important study of these, handling the most difficult questions and knotty controversies and introducing new writers and commentators. According to Lowndes, "This is considered the most valuable of all of Willet's productions."The work is highly praised in all bibliographies and studies on the subject. It seems to be the best work on the the prophesies of Daniel and indispensible for the study of these."A work of much information, as it contains the opinions of many authors on each point of difficulty. The author has written comments on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Samuel, Romans, Jude, and some detached parts of books; but in none does he discover more skill or judgment than in the present work." (Williams's C.P., 5th ed., 290, quoted by Allibone, A Critical Dectionary of English Literature..., Vol III, 1871)."All these works [i.e. the Commentaries and Expositions] of Willet, though somewhat tedious, contain valuable matter. He possessed a very considerable acquaintance with the Scriptures, and with the languages in which they were written. The work on Daniel is considered as the most valuable. " (Orme: Bibl. Bib., 469, quoted by Allibone, A Critical Dectionary of English Literature..., Vol III, 1871).Andrew Willet (1562 -1621), born in Ely, was an important and famous English clergyman and controversialist. A prolific writer, he is known for his anti-papal works and his Calvinist, conforming and non-separatist views. He was very well known in his time, and much admired. He appeared as a witness against Edward Dering before the Star-chamber. Joseph Hall eulogised him in "Noah's Dove", and Thomas Fuller modeled 'the Controversial Divine' of his "Holy State" upon him. - For more information on Willet, please see the 7 column entry on him in the Dictionary of National Biography.Lowndes V:2927.

Paris, 1898. 8vo. Contemporary half calf with five raised bands, gilt spine. Single gilt lines to boards. Capitals and corners worn. Inner hinges a bit weak. With Eugen Zabel's book plate to inside of front board, a postcard depicting Edmond Rostand's residense at Cambo, obviously posttamped on verso, pasted on to front free end-paper, contemporary newspaper-clipping about the numerous performances of "Cyrano von Bergerac" around the world pasted in to hinge of fly-leaf, where the presentation-inscription (for Eugène Zabel) is written, and finally, the original handwritten address in Rostand's hand, cut out from the envelope in which the book was sent to Zabel, is pased into hinge of half-title. Internally nice and clean. First edition, 136th thousand (same year as the first), presentation-copy "à M. Eugène Zabel/ très cordial envoi, -/ remerciement, -/ et sympathie./ Edmond Rostand/ Octobre 98" of Rostand's masterpiece, which against all odds became one of the most popular plays of the century and an overnight success throughout Europe.At the end of the 19th century in France, as well as in the rest of Europe, the industrialization was the force that dominated almost all aspects of society, i.e. everything from politics and sociology to science, art, philosophy, etc. And thus, also literature and theatre in this period were products of this new power. This meant that the trend that became prevailing within literature and drama was that of realism, which in France soon developed into naturalism. In the midst of this all-encompassing emphasis on objective documentation of everyday life which rejected romance, idealization and dreaming of any kind, emerged suddenly a work that no one could believe would have any success whatsoever, but which against all odds became the hugest dramaturgical success of the period and a theatrical monument that has been remembered ever since and which still stands as thus: Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac", the unlikely play about romantic heroes, fairy-tale like maidens, medieval-inspired sword-fights, about poetry, love, and art. The play had been taken on already in 1897, when the manuscript was finished, but the directors of the theatre regretted their decision immediately, not least due to the public reaction to the "outdated" romantic comedy-drama, which nobody would want to go see, and thus they severely cut the budget so that Rostand had to pay for all the costumes himself. Even the actor playing the main part, a leading actor at the time, regretted having taken the part, and Rostand is reported to have apologized to him for involving him in this "disastrous adventure". "Therefore, when the curtain rose on "Cyrano de Bergerac" for the first time on December 28, 1897, expectations were low. The audience, however, was about to be pleasantly surprised. From the hero's last first majestic entrance to his last farewell, he transfixed his viewers. Theatergoers cheered Cyrano's triumphs, sighed at his suffering, laughed at his witty wordplay, and cried as his fate became known. A full hour after the curtain fell, the audience was still applauding thunderously. It is not easy to explain why Rostand's play confounded everyone by becoming one of the century's greatest smash hits. Perhaps the answer lies in "Cyrano de Bergerac's" stark contrast to the grimly realistic plays of its day, which often focused on modern society's darkest problems. The figure of the swashbuckling Cyrano dueling his way across the stage and stunning his compatriots with his verbal cleverness took Paris by storm. In fact, many critics, both of Rostand's time and later, attributed the play's tremendous success to its romanticism, or emphasis on idealism and heroism." (Glencoe Literature Library, Study Guide for Cyrano de Bergerac).The work immediately became a huge success and within a very short amount of time, it had been translated into almost all European languages and was performed at theatres throughout Europe.Eugen Zabel was a famous literary critic and author, who at the time of "Cyrano de Bergerac" was editor of the "Nationalzeitung". He was born in Königsberg in 1851 and died in Berlin in 1925. In his youth he wrote poems, and after his move to Berlin, he worked as a journalist, critic, and writer. He did a lot of work on Russian themes, both political, historical, topographical, and literary, and he became closely connected to the country. He was highly respected for his liiterary criticism and his opinions, though often controversial, played an important role in public opiniation.

Franckfurt, Jacobi di Zetter, 1620. Folio. Old full vellum made out of manuscript vellum leaves (from 15th century with letters in red and black, 1 coloured initial, 2 columns, a bible-commentary). Re-backed, 3/4 of the old vellum-back preserved. Remains of blue and yellow ties. Fine engraved pictorial title (canons, equipment etc.), (12),145,(3) pp. and 15 double-page engraved plates, 8 showing artillery in function, technical descriptions, and diving equipments shown on plate 14 !!) - Second Part with fine engraved title (showing bombs and fireworks),(8),71,(5) pp. and 9 double-page engraved plates showing different kinds of fireworks. A few, mainly marginal brownspots and some faint browning to leaves. With exlibris from "Comit: Fuggeri 1630 (?)" in old hand on title. On fol. 2 a later rubberstamp: "Fürstliche Fuggersche Bibliothek in Augsburg". First German edition, complete with 24 engraved plates. The first part deals mainly with the artillery and its technical aspects and the second part with fireworks; the constituents and constructions are described on 71 pages and depicted. The diving equipments depicted on plate 14 in the first part consist of an inflated bladder which is attached to a belt and an iron-head with a long snorkel and some air-pumps used for diving activities.The Italian physician, alchemist and cartographer, Alexis of Piedmont or Girolamo Ruscelli, was born in Viterbo, Italy around 1500 (perhaps earlier), and died in Venice, Italy around 1565. He is (probably) the author of the important "Secreti", published in 1555, and the "Secreti Nuovi", published in 1567, the first of which was extremely popular and of considerable influence, the second of which must be said to be of the greatest interest, but apparently not very widely read. He also translated the Geography of Ptolemy into Italian, and his books on war and fire-works are now quite scarce. Most of his works were popular in his life-time and the century to come, and they were translated into Latin, German, French and Welsh. At a very early point he indicated the plan of a scientific academy, and he must be said to be a very interesting 16th century scientist.

(Oldenburg, Warner Berendts Erben), 1599. Folio. Contemp. full calf. Richly gilt spine. Titlelabel gone. Engraved ornamental title-page. (86),494,(18) incl. (2) blank. Profusely textillustrated with engravings and woodcuts among them the full-page portrait of the author, a full-page view of Oldenburg, 3 folded genealogical tables and the double-page engraved elevated plan of Oldenburg. Internally clean and fine. First edition. Hamelmann's Chronicon is the first book to be printed in Oldenburg (Brunet) and it is the historical source work for the "House of Oldenburg" whose descendents became kings of Denmark and emperors of Russia. -Adams H 30.

Dresden und Leipzig, Hilschern, 1736. + Dresden, Zimmermann, 1718. Folio. Bound in one contemp. full calf. Raised bands. Richly gilt compartments. Titlelabel with gilt lettering. Light wear to top of spine. A paperlabel pasted on lower compartment. Stamp on title-page. MIETH: Engraved, double-page frontispiece. (2),192,(2) pp., 32 double-page (or triple) folded engraved plates. Clean and fine. + GEISSLER: Engraved frontispiece. Title-page in red/black. (16),177,(4) pp. (pp. 5-13 a. 119 engraved), 3 engraved plates, 175 larger and smaller engravings in the text. The portrait of Geissler missing (supplied in xerox-copi). A few leaves with light browning. Mieth is third edition of his "Artilleriae Recentior Praxis", 1684. - Sloos. Warfare and the Age of Printing, 7048. - Rumpf, 1300.Geissler is first edition. - Sloos. Warfare and the Age of Printing, 7041. - Rumpf, 1120.

Wittenberg, 1791-1803). 8vo. 3 cont. full calf, gilt borders on covers. Backs formerly richly gilt, gilding now weak. The 3 textvolumes lacks, this is the atlas bound in 3 volumes with all 445 beautiful handcoloured engraved plates, where the details of the plants are cared for. Nissen: 1763. Pritzel: 8202. First edition. The numbering of the plates corresponds with that given by Nissen regarding the "1.Auflage".

Paris, 1529 (Colophon: 24 Mars 1524 pour Francoys Regnault) - Colophon: 2. Daoust (August) pour maistre Enguillebert de Marnef, 1524. Large 4to. (27 x 20 cm.). Contemp. full calf. Panelled covers with blindtooled rolls, inner panel with cornerpieces and in the middle an oval arabesque medaillon. 5 raised bands. Upper and lower compartments of spine repaired. 2 small nicks at bands on spine. light wear along fronthinge. Corners neathly repaired. Collation (Cronique et Histoire): Title-page with large and broad ornamental woodcut borders consisting of 6 pieces. A large printers woodcut device. Ff (4) + Ff 106. Colophon on folio CVI (106, some misfoliation - signatures correct). - Collation (Croniques Charles VIII): Title-page printed in red and black inside large ornamental woodcut borders. In the middle printers woodcut device.Ff (4) + Ff 54. Colophon on LIIII (54 - many misfoliations - signatures correct). On F (4) Arms of France in a large woodcut. Some annotations in a contemporary hand. - Both work with many large initials in woodcut. Lower margins throughout browned and with some repairs, some leaves in the middle having some heavy wormtracts in lower margins. Some corners at end restored. In the second work a wormtract in outer margins, but decreasing toward end. Upper right corners with a faint dampstain. Scarce early editions of these works that only later obtained the name of "Memoires", and they are a major primary source for 15th century European history. Commines is called "the first critical and philosophical historian since classical times" and "the first truly modern writer"."In 1498 (fifteen years after the death of Louis XI of France), Commines's work was completed (first published in 1524 in Paris), and is considered a historical record of immense importance, largely because of its author's cynical and forthright attitude to the events and machinations he had witnessed. His writings reveal many of the less savory aspects of the reign of Louis XI, and Commines related them without apology, insisting that the late king's virtues outweighed his vices. He is regarded as a major primary source for 15th century European history."The Mémoires are divided into "books", the first six of which were written between 1488 and 1494, and relate the course of events from the beginning of Commines' career (1464) up to the death of King Louis. The remaining two books were written between 1497 and 1501 (printed in 1528), and deal with the Italian wars, ending in the death of King Charles VIII of France."Brunet II,189-190. - Adams 2441 and Adams 2443 (but not quite the same collation). - Tchemerzine III, 452-54 (but differences in collations).

Paris, L. Hachette et Cie, 1860-1914. 4to. Bound in 88 uniform contemporary half calf bindings with 5 raised bands (except for two volumes in half cloth). (Each year up to 1894 in 2 parts, 1895-1914 each year in one volume). Some top of spines with wear, some traces of use, otherwise a fine set. Profusely illustrated with large wood-cuts (full-page, half-page and smaller) and maps. A fine set of Eduard Charton's famous weekly magazine dedicated to travel and exploration. He described in detail most of the great expeditions which marked the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the last great period of exploration by Western travelers, including the discovery of the source of the Nile in the early 1860s to the conquest of the South Pole by the end of 1911.

Amsterdam, Marc-Michel Rey, 1769-70 and 1770. Bound in two fine uniform cont. hcalf., raised bands, gilt back, tome-and title-labels gilt. (Chappe in the first volume and Kracheninnikow in the second). 2 htitles, 2 titles. (4),VIII,(4),686 pp. 7 engraved plates (incl. folded frontispiece) and 5 folded tables. - 2 htitles, 2 titles (each with engraved vignette). (4),XVI,439;(4),492 pp. + Avis au Relieur, and 7 folded engraved plates, 2 large folded engraved maps. Printed on fine clean writing-paper. These two separate works were issued by the same printer at the same time, but are independent treatises. They both remain fundamental texts of Siberian scholarship, and both are some of the first descriptions at all of the areas concerned. First issued in Paris 1761 together with an atlas. Chappe: second edition of his work. Kracheninnikow: the third edition, but the first translated directly from the Russian and approved by a member of the Academy in St. Petersbourg. The first French, the first English and the first German editions were only issued in abridged form. The first Russian edition appeared in 1755. Kracheninnikow joined the Russian scientific expedition to East Siberia, lead by Gmelin, and he was the only member of the expedition to penetrate Kamtchatka; he stayed there for four years. The work contains a detailed description of the North-east Coast of America, Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands and thus constitutes one of the first descriptions at all of these parts of the world. Sabin 38304. - Brunet I:1798.

Torino, Bocca, 1887 + 1888. Royal 8vo. Bound uncut w. the original wrappers of both works in one very nice a bit later (ab. 1920) red hcalf w. five raied bands to back. Single gilt lines to raised bands and gilt title on spine. A bit of soiling to wrappers, which have minor lacks to the inner hinges, where they are mounted onto hinge-strips. Front-wrappers w. stamp from "Fratelli Bocca Editori". A bit of brownspotting, mainly to first work. A very fine and attractive copy of these two works, very finely bound together. XII, 334, (2) + X, (2), 170, (2) pp. Two rare and important first editions by the famous Italian mathematician, logical philosopher, pioneer of symbolic logic, and a founder of mathematical logic and set theory, Giuseppe Peano, uniting his first publication in logic with his introduction of the basic elements of geometric calculus. The present "Calcolo geometrico secondo l'Ausdehningslehre de H. Grassmann" contains a twenty-page long preliminary section on the operations of deductive logic, which constitutes Peano' s very first publication on the subject for which he is most famous, namely logic. This work appeared the year before his seminal "Arithmetices Principia...", in which he further improves his logical symbolism, which is introduced in the preliminary section of the present work. "This section, which has almost no connection with the rest of the text, is a synthesis of, and improvement on, some of the work of Boole, Schröder, Peirce, and McColl." (D.S.B. X:442).In the other present work, "Applicazioni geometriche del calcolo infinitesimale", Peano introduces the basic elements of geometric calculus and gives new definitions for the length of an arc and for the area of a curved surface. This important work (in which not only his geometrical calculus is introduced, but in which he also presented several new geometrical discoveries) is based on his lectures on infinitesimal calculus and its application to geometry from 1885. "The treatise "Applicazioni geometriche del calcolo infinitesimal" (1887) was based on a course Peano began teaching at the University of Turin in 1885 and contains the beginnings of his "geometrical calculus" (here still influenced by Bellavitis' method of equipolences), new forms of remainders in quadrature formulas, new definitions of length of an arc of a curve and of area of a surface, the notion of a figure tangent to a curve, a determination of the error term in Simpson's formula, and the notion of the limit of a variable figure. There is also a discussion of the measure of a point set, of additive functions of sets, and of integration applied to sets. Peano here generalized the notion of measure that he had introduced in 1883." (D.S.B. X:443). Peano (1858 -1932) studied mathematics at the University of Turin, where he was employed just after graduating (1880), and where he stayed almost all of his life, devoting this to mathematics. After having graduated with honours, he was employed to assist first Enrico D'Ovidio, and then the renowned Angelo Genocchi, who possessed the chair of Infinitesimal calculus. In 1890 Peano became extraordinary professor, and in 1895 ordinary professor, of infinitesimal calculus at the Unversity of Turin. Cellerino (Guiseppe Peano e la sua scuola. Catalogo monografico): Nr. 2 + 3. 2: "Il più alto raggiunto dai matematici del XIX secolo nell'elaborazione della teoria delle funzioni di insiemi, è il V capitolo del libro di Peano..." F.A. Medvedev."

1997. Small folio. Entire volume of no. 6619 of Nature, in the original illustrated wrappers, with the cloned sheep Dolly on the front wrapper. Very minor signs of wear to corners and capitals. Original label with address of original buyer to front wrapper. An excellent, clean and fresh copy. Pp. 810-13. [Entire volume: 753-844, 44 pp. (Classified) + 3 subscription-leaves]. Richly illustrated. The scarce volume of Nature, in which the completey groundbreaking article on Dolly the sheep, the first mammal in history successfully cloned fron an adult body cell, appears for the first time. This seminal paper constitutes a milestone in the history of genetics, a spectacular scientific breakthrough, which not only provided the modern world with a wealth of new medical advances and sparked a revolution in our understanding of mammal reproduction, ageing, genetics in general, etc., but also raised a storm of ethical questions, pushing our boundaries of man's abilities to play God. "Dolly was an important milestone, inspiring scientists to continue improving cloning technology as well as to pursue new concepts in stem cell research. The endgame was never meant to be armies of genetically identical livestock: Rather, researchers continue to refine the techniques and combine them with other methods to turbocharge traditional animal breeding methods as well as gain insights into aging and disease." (George Seidel, in The Conversation)."[I]n February 1997, Ian (now Sir Ian) Wilmut and his research team at the Roslin Institute announced Dolly’s birth in the prestigious science journal "Nature". This provoked political and ethical debates that have never truly stopped... issues relating to cloning technology remain crucial to debates over biomedical research and its regulation.The announcement - with a description of the method used to bring Dolly into existence - triggered a feverish worldwide response because of the possible implications for human cloning. It was immediately obvious that SCNT could, in principle, be used to create human babies. Across the world, many countries banned human cloning - often with significant punishments, such as lengthy jail terms, even for attempting such a thing." (Russell Blackford in The Coversation)Dolly is now the symbol of modern medical technology, of our exitement with mankind's ability to create specific kinds of life as well as the symol of the fear of a "brave new world". "It’s been 20 years since scientists in Scotland told the world about Dolly the sheep, the first mammal successfully cloned from an adult body cell. What was special about Dolly is that her "parents" were actually a single cell originating from mammary tissue of an adult ewe. Dolly was an exact genetic copy of that sheep - a clone." (George Seidel, in The Conversation)."Before the decades of experiments that led to Dolly, it was thought that normal animals could be produced only by fertilization of an egg by a sperm. That's how things naturally work. These germ cells are the only ones in the body that have their genetic material all jumbled up and in half the quantity of every other kind of cell. That way when these so-called haploid cells come together at fertilization, they produce one cell with the full complement of DNA. Joined together, the cell is termed diploid, for twice, or double. Two halves make a whole....In contrast, Dolly was produced by what's called somatic cell nuclear transfer. In this process, researchers remove the genetic material from an egg and replace it with the nucleus of some other body cell. The resulting egg becomes a factory to produce an embryo that develops into an offspring. No sperm is in the picture; instead of half the genetic material coming from a sperm and half from an egg, it all comes from a single cell. It's diploid from the start....To date, the most valuable contribution of these somatic cell nuclear transplantation experiments has been the scientific information and insights gained. They’ve enhanced our understanding of normal and abnormal embryonic development, including aspects of aging, and more. This information is already helping reduce birth defects, improve methods of circumventing infertility, develop tools to fight certain cancers and even decrease some of the negative consequences of aging - in livestock and even in people. Two decades since Dolly, important applications are still evolving." (George Seidel, in The Conversation).

Leipzig, Ambrosius Barth, 1916. 8vo. Uncut in the original printed wrappers. Top part of spine loosening, but fully intact and completely unrestored. A bit of dusting to wrappers. Front wrapper with some mild brownspotting to upper part and left margin. Lower right corner has been bent, leaving a crease. A few nicks to extremities. Title-page with light brownspotting to upper margin and an old owner's name across the middle ("Ernst Helmut Klein"). 64 pp. First issue of the first edition in book form, being, not an offprint of the"Annalen der Physik" journal issue as often stated, but a separate edition of the paper, completely re-set and with significant changes and additions, including for the first time in print the "Einleitung" and the "Inhalt".The first issue is distinguished from the later reprints by the printing of "Sonderdruck aus dem "Annalen der Physik" Band 49, 1916", and "Druck von Metzger & Wittig in Leipzig. 314" to the verso of the title-page and "Metzger & Wittig, Leipzig" to the foot of the back wrapper. Furthermore, "This separate edition is printed on good, strong paper, the wrappers are of strong material too, and it is described now as 'the original edition' of this classic paper" (Weil). Einstein's seminal "General Theory of Relativity" has had an immense impact on all science, philosophy, and man's view of the world in general. Few other books of the 20th century can be said to have so basically altered the way that we view the world and our place in it. Determining space and time as being interwoven into a single continuum known as "space-time" and determining that there is no absolute space-time coordinate system - i.e. that there are no absolute positions in time and pace - established the fact that events that occur at the same time for one observer could occur at different times for another, i.e. all positions in space and time are relative. This general theory of relativity, here presented in its full exposition for the first time, in book form, is now a basic foundation for scientific thought."The theory of relativity has transformed astrophysics, and indeed the whole scientific outlook." (PMM)."Whereas Special Relativity had brought under one set of laws the electromagnetic world of Maxwell and Newtonian mechanics as far as they applied to bodies in uniform relative motion, The General Theory did the same thing for bodies with the accelerated relative motion epitomized in the acceleration of gravity. But first it had been necessary for Einstein to develop the true nature of gravity from his principle of equivalence...Basically, he proposed that gravity was a function of matter itself and that its effects were transmitted between contiguous portions of space-time... Where matter exists, so does energy; the greater the mass of matter involved, the greater the effect of the energy which can be transmitted. In addition, gravity affected light... exactly as it affected material particles. Thus the universe which Newton had seen, and for which he had constructed his apparently impeccable mechanical laws, was not the real universe... Einstein's paper gave not only a correct picture of the universe but also a fresh set of mechanical laws by which its details could be described" (R.W. Clark). "This paper was the first comprehensive overview of the final version of Einstein's general theory of relativity after several expositions of preliminary versions and latest revisions of the theory in November 1915. It includes a self-contained exposition of the elements of the tensor calculus that are needed for the theory. (T. Sauer in Landmark Writings in Western Mathematics). PMM: 408. - Horblit 26 c. - Weil 80. - Boni: 78,1 - Schilpp-Schields: 86.

Coloniae, Ioannem Gymnicum, 1591. 4to. Bound in a very nice contemporary full calf with five raised bands, rebacked with the contemporary spine. Richly gilt spine and gilt lines to edges of boards. Contemporary handwriting to top of pasted down front free end paper. Pp. 777-798 with wormholes in margin, not affecting text. A very fine and clean copy. (76), 798 pp.(As usual with the typopgraphical errors: pp. 139, 234, 267,353, 685, 768 are numbered as 339, 202, 263, 343, 645, 778. These errors are to be found in all published copies. See Einaudi 737). Scarce first edition of one of the earliest - and most important - works on coinage, dealing with weight and measure, as well as the value and devaluation of money. Apart from the seminal original contribution of Budel, this extensive work contains 29 contributions by earlier philosophers and theologians on the subject, - "a compilation of almost every earlier treatise on the subject" - which, in a true Renaissance spirit, makes it the very first compilation in economic history." "De Monetis et re numaria" remained the standard work on the subject for almost two centuries". (Nussbaum, A Note on the Idea of World Money). During the Renaissance, international banking saw a rise, which eventually resulted in a demand for one uniform European coinage. Budelius' thesis can be read as an ideological response to this demand, as he argued for precisely that: a unified market with one universal coinage. In this sense, his work anticipates by several hundred years many of the economic thoughts presented by the Classical economists during the second half of 18th century. Budelius discusses the metallic view and the abuse of adulteration and falsification, and then attempts an exposition of how money may be coined in the most practical way. He then goes on to deal with the problem of how a debtor will meet his obligations if the coinage has been debased since the time the debt was contacted or the loan received. He maintaind that the same bullion value must be repaid although the coin may be depreciated - a view that was generally accepted at the time.The third part of the work consists of a "compilation of almost every earlier treatise on the subject. In nearly all of them, the central problem is the same as the one discussed in the second book of Budelius' work". (Mariana ,The political economy of Juan de Mariana).The general thesis of Budelius' work is that the trading partners should seek to use only one currency and that the law of coinage and money's "natural state" (an early reference to how money behave in the market) should be unified. In the period of the Cologne War, Germany had several different currencies and laws in relation to coinage and minting of coins. This not only restrained the domestic trade in Germany, it also lead to armed conflict which again resulted in a more fragmented economy. Budelius's work can be read as an attempt to unify Germany (and the rest of Europe) under one currency, which also would serve the purpose of stabilizing the highly volatile curriencies during this period: "The widely cited Rene Budel (1591) held it "to be indubitable that a Prince in the midst of costly wars, and therefore in great necessity, can order that money be made out of leather, bark, salt, or any material he wants, if he is careful to repair the loss inflicted thereby on the community with good and better money". (Cambridge Companion to Economic Thought). In the sense of unifying Europe under one currency, Budelius seperates himself from not only Medieval monetary thinkers, but from his contemporary mercantilists as well: "The medieval literature on money is characterized by nascent nationalism, with the imagery of the body applied to the kingdom, and of money as the blood moving through its parts. Nicole Oresme’s De Moneta pointed out that if money is accumulated in the king’s treasury and withdrawn from circulation, it constitutes an abscess in the body." (Cambridge Companion to Economic Thought). His comments represent the synthesis of two traditions, one uncovering the theoretical possibility of fiat money, the other uncovering its practical usefulness, as means of raising revenues in emergencies, from examples taken from history. Budelius cites examples of copper petty coinage in Germany and the Low countries, and gives examples of siege money. From Maastricht in 1579 (copper), Vienna in 1529 (lead), tin in Neuss, and even paper siege money in Leyden in 1574. He then writes: "I hold this to be indubitable, as I recall a little earlier, that a Prince in the midst of costly wars, and therefore in great necessity, can order that money be made out of leather, bark, salt, or any material he wants, if he is careful to repair the loss inflicted thereby on the community with good and better money." The insights of Budel about token money were to be tested by some experiments in the coming years and were carried further by important theorists in the Renaissance and later. Budelius (1530-91), was a practitioner, a jurist by training, who worked as diplomat for the archbishop of Cologne, and later as mint-master in Westphalia for the duke of Bavaria. This is reflected in his practical and empirical approach to the economic challenges the Renaissance society was subjected to, unlike the more often seen theoretical and moral approach. Goldsmith 254Mattioli 451 Einaudi 737 Adams 3153; Smith, Rara Arithmetica 396: "A monumental work".

Brussels, 1712. Folio (512 x 315 mm). In contemporary half calf with seven raised bands. Spine and hindges with wear. Leather brittle and upper and lower 10 cm hindges detached. Two library labels pasted on to pasted down front end-paper. Upper margin of first three leaves blind-stamped. Handwritten (19th century hand) index mounted in on verso of first map and each map numbered. With 75 maps and plans, many double-page or folding: 24 cartes des Pays Bas, Carte générale de Brabant, Carte du Pays de Waes, Carte des Postes d'Allemagne, 48 plans des Villes, Sièges & Batailles (complete). 3 maps with minor marginal tear (outside plate), 2 with minor split to lower part of middle folding. A few maps at end with browning. A few plates (primarily 61, 50, 33, 25) heavily trimmed with slight loss to upper margin. An overall fine and clean copy. First edition of Fricx’s famous atlas consisting of topographical maps, plans of towns, fortresses, sieges and battlefields. Today Fricx is considered one of the most important map publishers in the Southern Netherlands in the 18th century. This collection of maps and plans of fortifications is also known under the title ‘Recueil des cartes des provinces meridionales des Pays Bas et des frontiers de la France. The first 24 maps form together a topographical maps of the Southern Netherlands, scale 1:115.000. Most of the plates were engraved by Jacob Harrewijn. These maps were based on military maps by French engineers and show an accurate representation of the topography. The importance of the map of the Spanish Netherlands is demonstrated by the fact that the 24 sheets were copied in Paris, Augsburg, and Amsterdam. The maps were also published separately. “The bookseller and printer, Eugéne Henri Fricx, was one of the most important map publishers of the Southern Netherlands in the 18th century. He lived in Brussels where he had his shop on Rue de la Madeleine. His activities in the field started in 1706 with the production of military plans of battles and sieges of the War of Succession. In the same year,he also stated the publication of the map of the Southern Netherlands in 24 sheets; it was finished in 1712, apart from the sheet Luxemborg, which was engraved in 1727. He employed Jean Harrewijn of Brussels as an engraver and Cornelis Marke of Middelburg as a contractor for the ‘enluminators’. Although he had children, his business was not continued after his death (about 1740). His map of the Southern Netherlands was copied by Covens & Mortier and sold until ca. 1780, when it was replaced by Ferraris’ Map of the Austrian Netherlands.” (Koeman II, Fri1) Koeman II, Fri1

London, Printed by G. James, for Henry Clements, 1713. 8vo. Contemporary marbled full calf boards, prettily rebacked in period style with gilt title-label, raised bands and gilt ornamentations to spine. During the re-backing, new end-papers have been inserted, but the original front end-paper , containing old owners' inscriptions, has been preserved and is still withbound. Three old owners' names to title-page, two of them crossed out. The title-page had been repaired at the outer margin, affecting three letters in the last three lines of the subtitle (To open a Method for rendering the/ SCIENCES more easy, useful, and/ compensious), namely the "he" in "the" and the "d" in "and" as well as part fo the double-ruled border, which has been drawn up again. The final leaf with a somewhat crode repair causing loss of some words towards the hinge. A small hole in A3, not repaired. A bit of brownspotting, mostly at beginning and end. With its flaws, still and overall acceptable copy of this extremely rare title. (10), 166 pp. The very scarce first edition of Berkeley's other magnum opus, his great work of metaphysics, second in importance only to his "Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge" (1710). The present work is not only a popularized version of the "Treatise", though it is a fact that it was more widely studied and more easily understood - being written as an almost Platonian dialogue between Hylas (Greek for "matter" - thought to be the representative for John Locke) and Philonous (Greek for "the lover of reason" - Berkeley's spokesman) - it also constitutes a thorough and elaborated explanation of Berkeley's central ideas and the emergence of many of the principal thoughts that we now associate with him and his anti-materialist philosophy."In this Treatise, which does not presuppose in the Reader, any Knowledge of what was contained in the former (i.e. the "Treatise"), it has been my Aim to Introduce the Notions I advance, into the Mind, in the most easy and familiar manner; especially, because they carry with them a great Opposition to the Prejudices of Philosophers, which have so far prevailed against the common Sense and natural Notions of Mankind.If the principles, which I here endeavour to propagate, are admitted true; the Consequences which, I think, evidently flow from thence, are, that Atheism and Scepticism will be utterly destroyed, many intricate Points made plain, great Difficulties solved, several useless Parts of Science retrenched, Speculation referred to Practise, and Men reduced from Paradoxes to common Sense" (Preface, pp. (7-8)).In the present work, Berkeley, one of the greatest thinkers of early modern philosophy, sets out to alter the direction of philosophy and set straight the boundaries of man's knowledge of himself and the world around him. He seeks to bring back man to common sense and to bring back science and knowledge to that which is essential and factual. In the present work he famously defends the idealism, because of which he is still considered one of the greatest metaphysicians ever. As his "Treatise" is remembered today for the famous phrase "Esse est percipi" - to be is to be perceived - so his "Dialogues" is remembered for the introduction of the perceptual relativity argument (stating that the same object can have different characteristics, e.g. shape, colour, etc., depending on the perspective of the observer, e.g. distance, angle, light, etc.). Furthermore, as Berkeley had used God in the "Principles" as the CAUSE or originator of our ideas of sense, in the "Dialogues" he brings God a very important step further, stating that our ideas must EXIST IN God when not perceived by us, thus seeing this as the warrant for the continuity of our ideas (God being unchanging). This leap (from claiming that God must cause our ideas to claiming that our ideas must exist in God) that Berkeley thus takes in the "Dialogues" is among the most important within his philosophy, guaranteeing continuous existence to physical objects. The work is considered the foremost representative of Berkeley's phenomenalism."George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, was one of the great philosophers of the early modern period. He was a brilliant critic of his predecessors, particularly Descartes, Malebranche, and Locke. He was a talented metaphysician famous for defending idealism, that is, the view that reality consists exclusively of minds and their ideas. Berkeley's system, while it strikes many as counter-intuitive, is strong and flexible enough to counter most objections. His most-studied works, the Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (Principles, for short) and Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (Dialogues), are beautifully written and dense with the sort of arguments that delight contemporary philosophers. He was also a wide-ranging thinker with interests in religion (which were fundamental to his philosophical motivations), the psychology of vision, mathematics, physics, morals, economics, and medicine. Although many of Berkeley's first readers greeted him with incomprehension, he influenced both Hume and Kant, and is much read (if little followed) in our own day." (SEP).Berkeley published his first important philosophical work, "Essay Toward a New Theory of Vision" in 1709, aged 24. The book was well-received and a second edition came out later that same year. The following year he published "A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge" , in which he sought to lay out a complete philosophical system based on the idea that the only existing entities in the world are ideas and the mind that perceives them. The work was not very well received, however. This did not affect his search for truth, though, and he continued the outlay of his philosophical system in his "Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous", which was printed in 1713. Though neither of the two works were well received and appeared in small numbers, they are by far the most important and enduring of all of his works. The view that he presents in the "Dialogues" is that which he called "immaterialism" (now "idealism"). He considered this anti-materialism the perfect answer to and refutation of skepticism and atheism, and his theories later became the foundation of much idealistic philosophy."Upon the common Principles of Philosophers, we are not assured of the Existence of Things from their being perceived. And we are taught to distinguish their real Nature from that which falls under our Senses. Hence arise Scepticism and Paradoxes. It is not enough, that we see and feel, that we taste and smell a thing. Its true Nature, its absolute external Entity, is still concealed. For, tho it be the Fiction of our own Brain, we have made it inaccessible to all our Faculties. Sense is fallacious, Reason defective. We spend our Lives in doubting of those things which other Men evidently know, and believing those things which they laugh at and despise..." (Preface, p. (6)).The first edition of this important work is very difficult to find. It was published in an edition together with the "Treatise" in 1734, which, though also scarce, is the edition of the work that most libraries and institutions have in their holdings, seeing that the first editions of both works are of even greater scarcity. We have only been able to locate three copies in libraries worldwide.

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

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

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

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

(Paris, Henricus Stephanus, 1513). Folio. Bound in a nice 18th century brown half calf with six raised bands to richly gilt spine. Corners slightly bumped and capitals worn, especially the lower one, where the capital band is showing and has loosened a bit. Inner hinge slightly weak. Front free end-paper with 18th century ink-annotation (title, year, etc.). A very light damp stain top the last portion of leaves, a bit heavier to the last two leaves. Otherwise internally very nice and clean. All in all a very nice copy, with only very light scattered brownspotting. Beautifully printed in two columns and in red and black throughout. Pp. 233-294. Second edition (following the original of 1509) of the final two parts of Estienne's typographic masterpiece "Quincuplex Psalterium", also known as the "First book of French Protestantism". These two final parts, which make up complete works in themselves, consist in the "Psalterium Vetus" - the Old Latin Psalter (i.e. the version used by the churches before Jerome's revisions) and the "Psaltarium Conciliatum", consisting in Lefevre's own version, based on the Vulgate text corrected according to the Hebrew text and using the Aristarchian signs. This spledid publication had an immense impact upon protestantism, early bible-scholarship, and theology in general and is famed because of its beauty, elegance, and typographical excellence along with its immense importance historically speaking. "Lefèvre's epoch-making work was awaited impatiently by the learned world, and is the topic of many a letter among the extant humanist correspondence of the period: thus, Cardinal Ximeèz, the future editor of the first polyglot Bible, in a letter to Charles de Bovelles, praises Lefèvre's scholarship and the usefulness of his "Psalterium". This famous volume is also Henri Estienne's typographical masterpiece and is commonly singled out as one of the outstanding monuments of early 16th-century French typography." (Schreiber). "Lefèvre agreed with Erasmus that theology must be based on accurate texts and translations of the Scriptures; as the title of the volume indicates, Lefèvre presents five different versions of the psalms" (Schreiber). As described, the present copy contains the final two. The three parts that were printed before those two, were all printed in three columns and consisted in the three versions of St Jerome, namely the "Psalterium Romanum" (Jerome's first version of the Old Latin Psalter according to the Septuagint), the "Psalterium Gallicum" (Jerome's second revision, first adopted by the churches of Gaul), and the "Psalterium Hebraicum" (Jerome's translation directly from the Hebrew). Schreiber nr. 8 (1509 ed.); Renouard 1509, nr. 1.; Mortimer 1, nr. 62 (present edition).