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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.)."

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, (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.

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.

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.

Venice, 1546. 4to. Contemporary full vellum. Neatly recased, endpapers renewed. A (mostly fairly faint) damp stain throughout and a marginal worm tract, far from affecting text. Inner blank margin of title-page re-enforced. Some contemporary marginal annotations. Woodcut title-vignette and woodcut printer's device to final blank verso. (4), 76, (4) ff. Scarce first edition of this milestone in the history of medicine, the foundational work of modern epidemiology, which was the first to state the germ theory of infection.This epochal work "establishes Fracastoro as one of the foremost scientists of all time, and earns him the title of founder of modern epidemiology. "De contagione" contains the first scientifically reasoned statement of the true nature of infection, contagion, and the germ theory of disease and is the foundation of all modern views on the nature of infectuous diseases... Fracastoro's influence is also clearly reflected in the work of such modern scientists as Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, and Robert Koch as they broadened and furthered man's knowledge of infectuous diseases." (Heirs of Hippocrates). "This book represents a landmark in the development of our knowledge of infectuous disease. Fracastorus was the first to state the germ theory of infection. He recognized typhus and suggested the contagiousness of tuberculosis. Haeser describes him as the "founder of scientific epidemology"." (Garrison & Morton).Faracstoro's theories on contagions and epidemics were far ahead of their time, but they were still widely respected. The magnificent theories here constitute the first correct illustrations of how contagions might spread: by simple contact as in scabies and leprosy; by "fomities" or inanimate carriers, such as clothing or sheets; and at a distance, without direct contact or carriers, as in plague, smallpox, etc., attributing their transmission to the action of the air - and his ideas on the spreading and controlling of epidemics were of vital importance to Renaissance man and to the further development of our knowledge within this field. The work furthermore gives the first accurate account of typhys as well as several other contageous diseases, together with the affirmation of the contagiousness of tuberculosis. With this work, Fracastoro was also the first to enunciate the modern doctrine of the specific characters and infectious nature of fevers. Heirs of Hippocrates: 101; G&M: 2528; Wellcome: 2393; Govi: 83.

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)

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").

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

(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.

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.