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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Paris, Chez Treuttel et Würtz, 1824. Lex 8vo. Both volumes bound completely uncut in one near contemporary brown half calf with ornametal spine. A bit of wear to capitals, corners, and hinges. Occasional brownspotting. Overall a very nice copy. (Text-vol.:) (4), XVI, 410, (4, - 1 blank leaf + 1 leaf of book binder instructions) pp. + 16 plates, some folded; (2), 45 pp. + 32 plates (numbered 1-21 and A-K). Complete in two vols. w. all 38 lithographed plates. Very rare first edition of the work in which the deciphering of the hieroglyphs was fully presented for the first time. In 1822 Champollion had read his "Lettre a M. Dacier" before the Academie des Inscriptions, and for the first time presented the key to reading hieroglyphs. His monumental work "Précis du système hiéroglyphique" appeared two years later, and in this richly illustrated work he presents his definitive, expanded analysis, and finally corrects the misleading mistakes of the other Egyptologists, counting also Thomas Young. Jean Francois Champollion (1790-1832), the father of Egyptology, is credited with actually deciphering the inscription on the famous Rosetta Stone, translating it, and breaking the mystery of the ancient hieroglyphic script; he is therefore accepted as the founder of Scientific Egyptology, -a title primarily justified with the publication of this work.The Rosetta Stone was found in 1799 by French Troops and was immediately brought to England, where it has been ever since. The stone was (and is) of the utmost importance to the understanding of the Egyptian language, the principles of which were totally unknown up to this point. Because the hieroglyphic inscription on the stone is accompanied by a Greek and a Demotic one with the same contents, Champollion was able to crack the code of the hieroglyphs and to read a language that had not been read for far more than a millennium. Champollion was an extraordinary philologist, who, by the age of sixteen, besides Greek and Latin, mastered six ancient Middle Eastern languages, among these Coptic, the knowledge of which, unlike that of Egyptian, was never lost. As the first, Champollion realized the connection between the Coptic and the Egyptian language, and was able to identify many of the Egyptian words on the Rosetta Stone, as he could read them with their Coptic equivalents. He was the first to believe that both Demotic and hieroglyphs represented symbols, and not sounds as earlier presumed. After that he quickly realized that each single hieroglyph could represent a sign, and he began compiling a hieroglyphic alphabet. In his "Précis du système hiéroglyphique" he could finally, in 1824, prove that the glyphs represented sounds as well as concepts, according to context. Champollion is the constructor of our present code of the hieroglyphic alphabet. "Further study enabled him to discover the values of a number of syllabic hieroglyphic signs, and to recognize the use of hieroglyphs as determinatives. In cases where the Greek text supplied him with the meaning of hieroglyphs of which he did not know the phonetic values, his knowledge of Coptic enabled him to suggest values which he found subsequently to be substantially correct. Further reference to determinatives and the importance of parallel passages and texts will be made later on in his work. Between 1822-24 CHAMPOLLION worked incessantly, and was enabled to modify much of his earlier views, and to develop his Alphabet, -and he evolved some rudimentary principles of Egyptian Grammar. The results of his studies at this period he published in his "Précis du Système Hiéroglyphique", Paris, 1824, wherein he took special pains to inform his readers that his system had nothing whatever to do with that of Dr. YOUNG." (Wallis Budge, The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, pp. 224-25). "... Ces mémoires réunis formèrent le grand ouvrage publié aux frais de l'Etat en 1824 sous le titre "Précis du système hiéroglyphique des anciens Égyptiens", didié au roi." (N.B.G. Vol. 9, p. 650).

Marosvásárhely, Kali Simon, 1843. 8vo. In a simple contemporary half calf with gilt ornamentation to spine forming five compartments. Later paper title-label with gilt lettering pasted on to spine, partly detached in right margin. Light wear to extremities. Stamp to front free end-paper. First leaves evenly lightly browned. An overall fine and clean copy. XLIV, 386 pp. + 2 folded plates, one with 12 folding flaps with partial grey colouring. The rare first edition of Bolyai’s important work on the foundations of mathematics, being his last major work. It is in part based on his ‘Az arithmethica eleje’ (1830), in many aspects a rudimentary and introductory work, and the second volume of his magnum opus ‘Tentamen juventutem studiosam elementa matheseos purae’ (1832-33) – but here, for the first time, expanded and fully expounded. As with Bolyai’s other works, it was unappreciated by his contemporaries: “He can be taken as a precursor of Gottlob Frege, Pasch, and Georg Cantor; but, as with many pioneers, he did not enjoy the credit that accrued to those that followed him” (DSB). His work was considered mathematically incomprehensible by his colleagues and only his students and his son, János Bolyai, understood and appreciated it. Probably because of lack of interest from Bolyai’s contemporaries, all of his works are now rare, the present work being no exception. It has appeared only once at auction the past 30 years.In 1796, Farkas Bolyai (1775-1856) traveled to Germany, first to Jena and then to Göttingen, where he studied until 1799. It was at this time that Bolyai began his lifelong friendship with Carl Friedrich Gauss, also a student at the University Göttingen, who was already intensely engaged in mathematical research. Bolyai’s interest in the foundations of geometry dates from this period, especially in the so-called Euclidean or parallel axiom, to which Kastner and Seyffer, as well as Gauss were devoting their attention. Bolyai maintained a correspondence with Gauss that, with interruptions, lasted all their lives. Bolyai accepted the position of professor of mathematics, physics, and chemistry at the Evangelical-Reformed College at Marosvásárhely in 1804, where he taught until his retirement in 1853. Meanwhile, he continued his research, concentrating on the theory of parallels. He sent a manuscript on this subject, Theoria parallelarum, with an attempt to prove the Euclidean axiom, to Gauss in 1804. The reasoning, however, satisfied neither Gauss nor himself, and Bolyai continued to work on it and on the foundations of mathematics in general. “In 1829 Bolyai finished his principal work, but because of technical and financial problems it was not published until 1832–1833. It appeared in two volumes, with the title Tentamen juventutem studiosam in elementa matheseos purae, elementaris ac sublimioris, method intuitiva, evidentiaque huic propria, introducendi, cum appendice triplici (“An Attempt to Introduce Studious Youth Into the Elements of Pure Mathematics, by an Intuitive Method and Appropriate Evidence, With a Threefold Appendix”). While writing the Tentamen, Bolyai had his first difficulties with his son János. In spite of warnings from his father to avoid any preoccupation with Euclid’s axiom, János not only insisted on studying the theory of parallels, but also developed an entirely unorthodox system of geomentry based on the rejection of the parallel axiom, something with which his father could not agree. However, despite misgivings, Bolyai added his son’s paper to the first volume and thus, unwittingly, gave it immortality. In 1834, a Hungarian version of Volume I was published. The Tentamen itself, the fundamental ideas of which may date back to Bolyai’s Göttingen days, is an attempt at a rigorous and systematic foundation of geomentry (Volume I) and of arithmetic, algebra, and analysis (Volume II). The huge work shows the critical sprit of a man who recognized, as did few of his contemporaries, many weaknesses in the mathematics of his day, but was not able to reach a fully satisfactory solution of them." (DSB) Neverthless, when it is remembered that Bolyai worked in almost total isolation, his works are a most remarkable witness to the sharpness of his mind and to his perseverance. Not in Sommerville

Ihenae (Jena), Rhodius (Rödinger), 1556. 4to. In contemporary blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards with three raised bands and two clasps. Wear and soiling to extremities. Pigskin partly detached to upper part of boards. Previous two owner's names in contemporary hand to title-page. A few occassional underlignings and marginal annotations in contemporary hand throughout. Small worm-tract affecting last 20 leaves, internally generally fine. (10), 367 pp. Rare first printing of Martin Luther's early letters from 1507 to 1522, spanning the years from the celebration of his first Mass to his removal to Wartburg Castle after the Diet of Worms. Among them is a notable letter Cardinal Albrecht, Archbishop of Magdeberg and Mainz accompanying a copy of the 95 Theses, composed on the very day (October 31st, 1517) when Luther affixed the Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg and Luther's first letter to Erasmus, penned on March 28th, 1519. These letters provide a most interesting perspective into Martin Luther's personal and public reflections on crucial aspects of the early days of the Reformation. The collection encompasses correspondence with figures such as Emperor Charles V, Pope Leo X, King Henry VIII, Georg Spalatin, Philip Melanchthon, Frederick, Elector of Saxony, Andreas Karlstadt, Cardinal Tommaso de Vio Cajetan and many others. The present work was edited by Joannes Aurifaber (1519-1575), Luther’s private secretary, who lived with Luther at the time of his death: “Joannes (Vinariensis; 1519–1575), was born in the county of Mansfeldt in 1519. He studied at Wittenberg where he heard the lectures of Luther, and afterwards became tutor to Count Mansfeldt. In the war of 1544–45 he accompanied the army as field-preacher, and then lived with Luther as his famulus or private secretary, being present at his death in 1546. In the following year he spent six months in prison with John Frederick, elector of Saxony, who had been captured by the emperor, Charles V. He held for some years the office of court-preacher at Weimar, but owing to theological disputes was compelled to resign this office in 1561. In 1566 he was appointed to the Lutheran church at Erfurt, and there remained till his death in November 1575. Besides taking a share in the first collected or Jena edition of Luther’s works (1556), Aurifaber sought out and published at Eisleben in 1564–1565 several writings not included in that edition. He also published Luther’s Letters (1556, 1565), and Table Talk (1566). This popular work, which has given him most of his fame, is unfortunately but a second or third hand compilation.” (Encyclopedia Britannica). A second volume was published as “Secundus tomus epistolarum” in 1565. Adams L1805 BM STC German, 1455-1600,; p. 535

(Paris), Gallimard, (1957). Bound uncut and with the original printed wrappers, aslo the backstrip, in a magnificent full black morocco binding with more than 100 calf onlays in seven different tones of red/orange, forming three hypnotizing circles on each board. Gilt title to spine, all edges gilt, and bright red suede end-papers within cream calf borders. Housed in a matching black morocco chemise with gilt title and red and grey paper covers, with suede on the inside, and a slipcase of the same paper and with black morocco edges. The binding is signed J.P. Miguet and dated 2003. One of the morocco onlays on the back board, towards the spine, has a tiny tear at the edge. Otherwise the binding is in splendid condition. Also internally, the copy is near mint. Apart from the backstrip, which has been mounted and slightly restored, it is completely clean, fresh, and crisp. Elengant, blindstamped super-exlibris to inside of front board. Nr. 35 out of merely 45 numbered copies on Hollande van Gelder - first paper (premier papier), followed by another 1.145 numbered copies on other kinds of paper - of Camus' great collection of stories, which are considered among the best of his works. Together, these stoires cover the entire variety of existentialism - or absurdism. There is general consensus that the clearest manifestation of the ideals of Camus can be found in the present work.

Copenhagen, Peter Haubold, 1673-80. 4to. Bound in four full mottled calf bindings from ab. 1800 with five raised bands to richly gilt spines. All edges of baords gilt. Bindings with some wear, especially to capitals, hinges, and corners. Old owner's inscription "AEM Schleisveig/ Paris 1 Juli 1889" to front free end-papers. Some brownspotting and browned leaves. Woodcut vignettes and initials. All four title-pages (part III & IV have a joint title-page) printed in red and black. (16), 316; (20), 376; (16), 174, 216; (8), 342 pp. With ab. 60 woodcut illustrations in the text, many of them quite large, two of them full-page, and all 62 engraved plates (of which two are on a folded leaf), four of which are folded. Fully complete, with all five volumes and all 62 plates. The very rare first edition of all five volumes of Bartholin's groundbreaking medical journal, which constitutes the first scientific periodical in Scandinavia and one of the very first medical periodicals in the world. Thomas Bartholin (1616-1680) was one of the leading physicians of his time, now remembered, among many other things, as the discoverer of the lymphatic system. He "was the most celebrated physician of his period in Denmark and perhaps in all of Europe". (Kronick, p. 81). He is considered "a typical representative of the "Curiosi naturae" of the 17th century with all their learning, diligence and insatiable spirit of curiosity... He belonged with all his heart to the learned period, and yet he made an anatomical-physiological discovery of high mark when he found, and demonstrated, a hitherto entirely unknown vascular system in animals, and later in man - the lymphatic." (Meisen, p. 25). He was a hugely influential and extremely productive man. Apart from his seminal discovery of the lymphatic system, he wrote a number of highly influential treatises, published a series of very influential anatomical papers, published his vast correspondence with other scientists, which has the character of a scientific archive at a time when there were not yet periodicals of natural science, provided us with the most extensive information about medicine in Denmark and about the conditions of the physicians, called attention to the significance of pathological anatomy, etc., etc., and "[y]et the greatest importance is to be attached to his "Acta medica philosophica Hafniensia", in 5 volumes, that was published from 1673 to 1680, when he died. It is a scientific periodical, wide in its scope, one of the first of its kind." (Meisen, p. 28). "The Copenhagen biologists, under the quickening influence of Thomas Bartholin, produced five volumes of transactions known as the Acta medica et philosophica Hafniensia, which is now very rare." (Hagenströmer)The leading contributors to the periodical, besides Bartholin himself, was the great Niels Steensen (Steno), Holger Jacobsen (Jacobaeus), Caspar Bartholin, Ole Borch (Borrichius), Ole Worm, Simon Paulli, Johan Rohde, Caspar Kölichen, etc., but the contributions were not confined to Danes or Scandinavians. For instance, the English anatomist Edward Tyson (1650-1708) also published here, as did several other internationally famous physicians and scientists. Interestingly, the "Acta Hafniensia", as it is known, has a great focus on the odd and curious, the astounding and marvelous, the unnatural and abnormal. Thorndike claims that "Monsters and freaks of nature receive perhaps the most attention." (vol. VIII, p. 234). However, the journal was far from limited to this. "Thomas Bartholin describes the male mandrill illustrated by three anatomical plates (Male genitalia) and a figure of the entire animal, which had died of disease in the Royal Menagerie. Holger Jacobsen describes the scorpion, the salamander, snakes, several birds, the heron and the parrot (based on dissections and figures by Steno). He also investigated the fascinating and unique anatomical puzzle of the tongue of the black woodpecker (with plate). He gives an exceptionally interesting account of the mole cricket, Gryllotalpa, which is important as being one of the first in which the elongated segmental heart of insects is described and figured. This memoir is a commendable piece of zootomical research, and it is all the more outstanding because the subject of it was an invertebrate (Cole). The most outstanding contributions in the entire periodical, however, are the 12 by Niels Steensen (Steno), which are all printed here for the first time. Steensen was the most gifted of Bartholin's disciples, and when he returned to Denmark in 1672, he immediately took up anatomical demonstrations and dissections, the fruits of which he published here, in the first three volumes of the "Acta Hafniensia". His contributions constitute important finds in the fields of The Brain, The Heart, The Muscles and General Embryology. "Steno's dissections of the muscles of the eagle, Aquila (1673) is one of the most remarkable essays in zootomy published up to his time, and it is perhaps more detailed and reliable than almost any other." (Cole). (Gosch 24).In the paper "Embryo monsto affinis Parisiis dissectus" (Gosch 15), we have the first known description of the "tetralogy of Fallot" (Garrison & Morton no 2726.1). "Bartholin was the most celebrated physician of his period in Denmark and perhaps in all of Europe. He was professor of anatomy at the University of Copenhagen and later became Dean of its Medical Faculty. The publication seems also to have associated with the activities of a scientific society, although there seems to be little evidence for Neuberger's statement that the "Acta" were the proceedings of this society. The preface to the translation of the "Acta" which are included in the "Collection Académique" gives the following account of its origins: "The Academy of Copenhagen was founded by Frederick III, who was aware how much glory it brought to him and to Denmark by encouraging the sciences and by attracting and holding scientists in his kingdom. One finds little to clarify the history of this academy, even in the five published volumes. The editing of the memoirs was principally under the care of Bartholin, the first Dane to publish medical observations. His aim was first to make a collection which embraced all parts of science; but, deterred by the immensity of the task, he limited himself to the different parts of medicine and to those observations that were offered to him. His sponsor was Count Griffenfeld, the grand chancellor of Denmark, who obtained an edict enjoining all Danish physicians to render exact correspondence with the Dean of the Faculty of Copenhagen and to inform him of all singularities in medicine and natural history observed in different parts of the kingdom. Bartholin had great hopes for this collection and one can truly find in the five volumes which he published many discoveries which would have been lost or perhaps not have existed if this correspondence had not brought them to light and encouraged him." The "Acta" consisted primarily in short original observations on medical and natural scientific subjects, although it also contained a few abstracts of books." (Kronick p. 81). Waller: 712 (listing only 39 plates)Wellcome: II, p. 108 (listing 61 plates)Gosch: III, pp 58-59 & I, pp. 137-38Hagströmer Library has only vols. I-IVBartholin papers: Gosch: Bartholin 30-43Steensen-papers: Gosch: Steno 15-26; Garrison&Morton: 2726.1Cole, F.J.: A History of Comparative Anatomy, pp 369-93Thorndike: History of Magic and Experimental Science, vol. VIII, Chapter 30Kronick, David A.: A History of Scientific and Technical Periodical 1665-1790, p. 57 & pp. 80-82Meisen: Prominent Danish Scientists through the Ages, pp. 25-28

London, Edward Griffin [John Haviland, Bernard Norton, and John Bill], Richard Whitaker [& John Norton], 1638. Folio. (Binding: 32x22 cm, leaves: 31,1x20,8 cm.). Contemporary full speckled calf binding with six raised bands and gilt red leather title-label to spine. Boards with blindstamped ornamental border. Scuff marks to boards and hinges worn, so bands showing. Large woodcut head- and tail-pieces, initials, printer's devices, and typographical ornaments (that have been of great significance to the Baconians in their attempts to establish Bacon as the author of the works attributed to Shakespeare). Roman and Italic lettering, and some Greek. Several neat inscriptions to front free end-papers and verso of frontispiece, in Latin, Greek, English, and German, dated 1704, 1740, and 1926, the last being a presentation-inscription for the renowned German Bacon-scholar and noted Baconian George J. Pfeiffer. Neat early 18th century inscription to top of title-page. Old description of the copy (1946) neatly pasted on to inside of front board. Vague minor damp-staining to lower margin throughout, far from affecting text, and mostly barely visible. A vague minor dampstain to margins of a few leaves at the beginning, also far from affecting text. All in all a lovely, clean and crisp copy on large paper. Full page engraved frontispiece-portrait + (14), 386 (pp. 177-78 omitted in pagination); (16), 475, (1) pp. Fully complete, with separate half-titles for the different works. Scarce first edition, first issue, on large paper - THE GREAT BOOK COLLECTOR VOLLBEHR'S COPY, GIVEN TO THE IMPORTANT BACONIAN G.J. PFEIFFER - of the monumental first collected edition of the works of Francis Bacon, containing the seminal first printing in Latin of not only his greatly influential "Nova Atlantis" ("The New Atlantis" - often referred to as "the blueprint for the founding of America"), but also his groundbreaking Essays ("Sermones Fideli") as well as his history of Henry VII ("Historiam Regni Henrici Septimi") and his Dialogue on the Holy War ("Dialogum de Bello Sacro"), published by Bacon's literary executor, his close friend William Ramsey, to whom Bacon bequeathed most of his manuscripts. This first edition of his works in Latin is of the utmost importance to Bacon-scholarship and has played a seminal role in the spreading of his works as well as the understanding of two of his greatest achievements, The Essays and The Nova Atlantis, which is usually referred to with its Latin title instead of the English.This magnificent copy with its wide margins contains several interesting inscriptions in different languages. One of them, 19th century, in German states that "This book is to remind you of the "15th Century Plot". When, in 1926, you showed to scholars his collection of 2000 incunables. He is also known as "Otto H.F. Vollbehr., [...]" - " Dated "N. York City 29/11 26" And in the same hand, the presentation inscription is continued: "This "little book" is being handed over in friendship to Mr. George J. Pfeiffer the famous "Bacon-scholar" in order for him to continue his fruitful studies [...]." -THE PRESENT COPY THUS EVIDENTLY BEING THE GREAT BOOK COLLECTOR VOLLBEHR'S COPY, GIVEN TO THE IMPORTANT BACONIAN PFEIFFER. "Vollbehr was a German industrial chemist turned book collector who at the close of World War I found himself with more assets than most. Either in his own collection or through consignment Vollbehr had control of thousands of incunabula. In 1926 Vollbehr came to the United States, bringing with him a collection of 3,000 incunabula to be exhibited at the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. After the exhibition in Chicago, Vollbehr traveled with the collection by train to several other cities. His last stop was in Washington, and over 100 of the books were exhibited in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress. Vollbehr proposed that if a benefactor would step forward to buy the collection for an American institution for half the asking price of $1.5 million, he would donate the other half. In addition, he would include a complete copy of the Gutenberg Bible printed on vellum as one of the 3,000 incunabula.The Gutenberg Bible which crowned Vollbehr's collection had had only three owners. The first owner was said to have been Johann Fust, who took it to Paris and sold it as a manuscript to a representative of the monks of Saint Blasius. It resided with the monks in the Black Forest until they had to move to St. Paul in Carinthia in the face of the Napoleonic army. Finally, in 1926, Otto Vollbehr purchased the three volumes from the monks for $250,000.In December 1929, a bill was presented to Congress proposing that public funds be used to acquire the Vollbehr collection for the Library of Congress. In June 1930 Congress passed the bill and President Hoover signed it into law. Between July 15 and September 3 the Vollbehr books arrived at the Library of Congress. The Bible, one of three known perfect copies printed on vellum, is one of only a few items that are permanently on display in the Library." (from the Library of Congress web-site). George J. Pfeiffer, Ph. D., of New York, graduate of Harvard University, and Vice-president of the Bacon Society of America, is considered one of the most important Bacon-scholars of his time. His thorough scientific studies convinced himself and many others that Bacon was in fact the author of the works attributed to Shakespeare. With THE FIRST PRINTING IN LATIN OF "NOVA ATLANTIS", Bacon's famous theories of his masterly utopian work became widespread and hugely influential. It had originally been printed, posthumously, in English and appeared at the very end of his "Sylva Sylvarum" of 1626, where it was more or less hidden away and quite humbly presented by Rawley, who was responsible for his leftover papers. Rawley's introduction to the Latin edition of the work is quite different from that of the English edition and has had quite an impact upon the reception of the work, a work which came to inspire a totally new philosophical and political genre and which fundamentally changed the way that we view the world. The "Nova Atlantis" occupies a unique place within the works of Bacon; among many other things, it is the only overtly fictional product of his career (if one does not, like Pheiffer, believe that he is actually the true author of the Shakespearean works). The printing of this major work in the history of man's thought is quite interesting and fairly complicated. As mentioned, it appeared at the back of the larger, and much more conform, work "Sylva Sylvarum", which was published by his secretary and friend William Rawley shortly after Bacon's death. It does not, however, seem to have much in common with the "Sylva Sylvarum", and the "New Atlantis" was not even mentioned when that work entered the Stationers' Register on July 4th, 1626.The "Sylva Sylvarum" was being compiled during the last couple of years of Bacon's life, and there is evidence to conclude that "Nova Atlantis" was being translated into Latin at the same time, whereas it seems that the English version of it was written about a year or two earlier. Although the Latin translation was thus left lying around for quite some years before it was finally printed, perhaps due to the fact that it was an unfinished text, Bacon himself seems to have concerned himself a great deal with the Latin translation of the work (as well as the other works). The appearance of them in the "universal language" were, in the words of Bacon himself to be carried out 'for the benefit of other nations', a phrase which is paralleled in the text of "Nova Atlantis", as the father of Salomon's House remarks of his relation of the institution's working that 'I giue thee leave to Publish it; for the Good of other Nations'. And finally does this great work appear to the benefit of all men and all nations, in the universal Latin language, when in 1638 Rawley publishes the "Operum moralium", in which his "Essays" also appear in Latin for the first time, as does the History of Henry VII, and the Dialogue on the Holy War, two other greatly important works. The printed title of the "Operum Moralium" not only informs the reader which texts are included within the volume; Rawley also provides information on the texts themselves, dividing them into two distinct sections (with two separate title-pages). The first section consists of five translations which (apart from De sapientia) had never appeared in Latin translation before; the second section consists in the first part of the "Instauratio" (originally published in 1620). The second issue of the "Operum Moralium" furthermore has the reissued sheets of the last part of the "Novum organum".Rawley's prefatory letter tells us quite a bit about the way that he (and Bacon himself) would like the "Nova Atlantis" to be viewed, and for the first time the work is addressed in a direct and assertive manner, bringing it forth as an important philosophical work, now for the first time properly introduced. Rawley informs the reader that Bacon began the process of translating the Essays and the Nova Atlantis, because he wished his moral and political works not to perish. He goes on to explain the importance of the moral and political works being published in the "universal" Latin and groups the texts in a new way. He now makes a new category of text for the final two works, "De bello sacro" and "Nova Atlantis", calling them 'fragmentary', as opposed to the "Worke Unfinished" that he used for the English "Now Atlantis" of 1626/7, stating that this is at the request of Bacon himself: "And finally he ordered that two fragments be added, the Dialogue of the Holy War, and the New Atlantis: but he said that these were the three kinds of fragments.", giving to them a certain status of their own and a deliberate character that they had not possessed before. For the first time, the "Nova Atlantis", the hitherto hidden-away work that was never properly introduced, is now included in the general preface, which it was not in 1626/27, and the "Nova Atlantis" is given the central position within Bacon's works that it deserved - and that it has possessed ever since. This also explains the great impact of the first Latin version of the "Nova Atlantis" as opposed to the English version, which was far less influential. Not only is "Nova Atlantis" no longer just an unfinished work worthy of no more than being hidden away at the back of a larger work, it is now the central part of a seminal collection of works appearing for the first time in Latin "for the Good of other Nations"."Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was one of the leading figures in natural philosophy and in the field of scientific methodology in the period of transition from the Renaissance to the early modern era. As a lawyer, member of Parliament, and Queen's Counsel, Bacon wrote on questions of law, state and religion, as well as on contemporary politics; but he also published texts in which he speculated on possible conceptions of society, and he pondered questions of ethics (Essays) even in his works on natural philosophy (The Advancement of Learning).After his studies at Trinity College, Cambridge and Gray's Inn, London, Bacon did not take up a post at a university, but instead tried to start a political career. Although his efforts were not crowned with success during the era of Queen Elizabeth, under James I he rose to the highest political office, Lord Chancellor. Bacon's international fame and influence spread during his last years, when he was able to focus his energies exclusively on his philosophical work, and even more so after his death, when English scientists of the Boyle circle (Invisible College) took up his idea of a cooperative research institution in their plans and preparations for establishing the Royal Society.To the present day Bacon is well known for his treatises on empiricist natural philosophy (The Advancement of Learning, Novum Organum Scientiarum) and for his doctrine of the idols, which he put forward in his early writings, as well as for the idea of a modern research institute, which he described in Nova Atlantis." (SEP). Gibson: 196; Lowndes I:96.

Kbhvn., 1763-81. 4to. Indbundet i 9 samtidige helldrbd., hvoraf de 7 er i pragtfulde spejlbind med rig rygforgyldning. Stort eksemplar på skrivepapir (undtagen bd. 7 som kom senere, og som er på trykpapir). Bd. 2 og 7 afvigende i indbindingen. Med alle 296 kobberstukne prospekter, plancher, grundtegninger og kort samt det store Generalkort over Danmark, som ikke findes i alle eksemplarer. Enkelte kort repareret i foldningen, kun enkelte brunpletter (i bd. 2), ellers frisk og ren. Originaludgaven af Danmarks topografiske hovedværk.

Paris, Iean Roigny, 1556. Folio. In contemporary linp vellum, with three (of four) of the original vellum ties. Binding with wear and inner hinge weak, but in completely original state, with no restorations. Only some light scattered brownspotting and a worm-tract to inner margin, just occasionally touching a few letters. Book-plate to pasted-down front end-paper. A lovely copy. (4), CCXLIII ff. The scarce first edition of Saliat's translation of the complete Histories of Herodotus, being the extremely popular first French edition and arguably the most important French edition of the work ever published. Saliat's monumental 1556-translation of Herodutus was extremely influential end widely used and quoted. It greatly influenced the way that Herodotus was used and understood in Renaissance France. It was used by virtually all contemporary French intellectuals as the main reference - as for instance Sandys points out, it is from this that all of Montaigne's Herodotus-quotations are taken (Sandys, vol. II, p. 197). Pierre Saliat had published a small work in 1552 consisting the the first three books of Herodotus, and in 1556, his monumental translation of the complete work appeared; for the first time, all nine books were accessible in the French language. "Little is known of Saliat's life except that he had produced two previous translations from Latin, Erasmus' "On Methods of Instructing Children" and a collection of Roman speeches. Both translations of Herdotus are dedicated to the king, Henry II, and Saliat notes that the work on the first three books had taken him six years to complete and that it had taken him a further five years to translate the remaining six books. In the preface to the 1556 translation, Saliat compares at length the scale and grandeur of the Persian Wars with Henry's recent invasion of Germany. Henry's deeds are portrayed as greater than those described by Herodotus... [The preface] reads as a salutary encomium of Henry's military and political prowess." (Brill's Companion to the Reception of Herodotus in Antiquity and Beyond, p. 127). In short, Saliat views Herodotus' work as a manual for or collection of examples of warfare that is fully transferable to other times, rather than a mere memoralization of great deeds. Graesse: III:256.

London: Richard and John E. Taylor, 1849. Large 4to. (300x231mm). Original blank wrappers. Some small tears. Back strip proffesionally repaired with Japanese paper. With presentation-inscription by Faraday in ink on title page: "William Thomson Esq. | St. Peters College | from the Author." (2),41,(1:blank) pp. First edition, rare offprint-issue, of "one of the great classics of chemistry and physics". With an extremely attractive presentation-inscription from Faraday to William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin), who delivered the first mathematical exposition of Faraday's researches in electricity. Thomson provided an important theoretical direction for Faraday's interpretation of his own experiments and the two colleagues motivated and inspired each other to a degree that the research and knowledge of electricity they possessed and published would not have would have been reached until many years later. The paper itself is of the utmost importance, since much of Faraday's groundbreaking research published in 1831-1839 contained many shortcomings and errors which are corrected in this publication. "The corrected second edition of volume 1 is preferred, because the first edition (London 1839) contained many errors". (Neville, Historical Chemical Library)."In June 1849 William Thomson wrote to Michael Faraday suggesting that the concept of a uniform magnetic field could be used to predict the motions of small magnetic and diamagnetic bodies. [...] There had been an important exchange of ideas between the two, who had a common interest in explaining voltaic, electrostatic, magnetic, optical, and thermal phenomena. They meet every year between 1845 (where they became acquainted) and 1849". (Gooding, Faraday, Thomson, and the Concept of the Magnetic Field).In 1845 Thomson gave the first mathematical development of Faraday's idea that electric induction takes place through an intervening medium, or "dielectric", and not by some imprecise "action at a distance". He also devised a hypothesis of electrical images, which became a powerful agent in solving problems of electrostatics, or the science which deals with the forces of electricity at rest. It was partly in response to his encouragement that Faraday undertook the research in September 1845 that led to the discovery of the Faraday Effect, which established that light and magnetic (and thereby electric) phenomena were related.Faraday was also the direct cause of William Thomson's work on the transatlantic submarine telegraph cable. In 1854, Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent, which later would be termed the bandwidth. Thomson immediately looked into the problem and published his response the same month Faraday had published his observations. Thomson expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In 1855, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability. Thomson's work on the cable consequently resulted in a complete system for operating a submarine telegraph that was capable of sending a character every 3.5 seconds. He patented the key elements of his system, the mirror galvanometer and the siphon recorder, in 1858.From 1831 to 1852, Michael Faraday published his "Experimental Researches in Electricity" in The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. These papers contain not only an impressive series of experimental discoveries, but also a collection of heterodox theoretical concepts on the nature of these phenomena expressed in terms of lines of forces and fields. He published 30 papers in all under this general title. They represent Faraday's most important work, are classics in both chemistry and physics, and are the experimental foundations for Maxwell's electro-magnetic theory of light, using Faraday's concepts of lines of force or tubes of magnetic and electrical forces. His many experiments on the effects of electricity and magnetism presented in these papers lead to the fundamental discoveries of 'induced electricity' (the Faraday current), the electronic state of matter, the identity of electricity from different sources, equivalents in electro-chemical decomposition, electrostatic induction, hydro-electricity, diamagnetism, relation of gravity to electricity, atmospheric magnetism, and many others."Among experimental philosophers Faraday holds by universal consent the foremost place. The memoirs in which his discoveries are enshrined will never cease to be read with admiration and delight; and future generation will preserve with an affection not less enduring the personal records and familiar letters, which recall the memory of his humble and unselfish spirit." (Whittaker, A History of the Theories of Aether & Electricity, p. 197).

Paris, L'Imprimerie de la République, AN VIII (1800). 4to. a. Imperial folio. Bound in 4 uniform contemp. blue hcloth with marbled boards. Gilt lettering on spines. Minimal wear to extremities. Atlas with small repairs to spine-ends. (2,= htitle),XII,491;(6, incl. htitle),516;(6, incl. htitle),562 pp. and 7 + 6 + 5 engraved plates (incl. 1 map), all with tissue-guards. Atlas volume (66 x 47 cm.): 4 pp. (incl. htitle) and 10 double-page folded maps and 6 engraved plates (landfalls - profiles). A fine clean copy, wide-margined. 1 leaf a bit brownspotted, 2 leaves a bit frayed in right margin, 2 leaves slightly brownspotted, 2 leaves with loss of a bit of lower corner. Atlas clean and fine, some minor marginal brownspots. First French edition of this classic work in geographical exploration, completing one of the most difficult surveys ever undertaken, that of the Pacific coast of North America, from the vicinity of San Francisco northward to present-day British Columbia. "This voyage became one of the most important ever made in the interests of geographical knowledge". (Hill).Sabin, 98441.Lada-Mocarski 55 (The original English edition).

Zürich, Verlag des Waysenhauses, 1774 -(77). Folio. Bound in cont. marbled boards. Gilt lettering on back. The marbled paper over boards as well as back and edges in some places torn, especially spine and corners. Kept in a fine morocco-backed box. Title-page with a large engraved vignette. (4), 129, (1) pp., 2 engraved plates (Tab. A+B) with 58 hand-coloured illustrations to Linné (C.L.J. Gesneri delin - Bullinger sculpsit) and 100 wood-cut plates (with 101 illustrations of plants (plate 47 verso with an illustr.). All in fine original hand-colouring. Printed on good paper, internally fine and clean. First (and only) edition of Schinz's reissue of 101 plates from Leonhart Fuch's "De Historia Stirpium", Basel 1542, a work which marks the birth of botanical illustration and perhaps the most celebrated and most beautiful herbal ever published. The selection by Schinz of 101 illustrations from Fuch's work (containing 512 plates) was printed with the original wood-blocks, which Schinz borrowed from Chorherr Gessner, in the possession of whom they were to be found. In talking about the girls and boys from the "Waysenhaus" colouring the plates, Schinz said (in the Vorrede): "Ich freute mich, da mir der Gedanke glücklicher Weise beyfil, dass mein Oheim Hr. Doctor und Chorherr Gessner die ganze Sammlung der Holzformen von den Pflanzenhistorie des Herrn Leonhard Fuchsen besitze, und dass diese zu einem Versuche in dieser projectirten Beschäftigung dienen könnten." In this way the plates are original, the prints taken from the original blocks (Originalstöchen) and hand-coloured in the years 1774-77. "The plates established the requisites of botanical illustration - virisimilitude in form and habit, and accuracy of significent detail." (A.G. Morton)."Fuch's plates in particular played a curious but important part in the development of systematic botany owing to the fact that they were extensively pirated and appeared in very many works during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and even later." (A.G. Morton)."Far more impressive in appearance, though less sensitive in execution, is the great folio herbal, De Stirpium, of Leonhart Fuchs, published in Basle in 1542. With its hundreds of full-page illustrations of plants, it deservedly ranks as the first of that long line of monumental flower-books which during the last four hundred years have poured from the printing-presses of Europe. Many other fine herbals - those for instance of the Italian Matthioli - were issued during the sixteenth century, but none was quite so lavishly illustrated." (Wilfrid Blunt in Great Flower Books p. 27). - Nissen No 1761 - Hunt No 640. Dibner No 19 (Fuchs) - Printing a. The Mind of Man No 69 (Fuchs).

Nürnberg, Christoph Riegels, 1697. Folio (355 x 250 mm). In a contemporary full calf binding with six raised bands and gilt lettering and ornamentation to spine, edges of boards gilt. Light wear to extremeties, corner's bumped and some of gilting worn of. Small paper-label to upper compartment of spine (catalogue-number in an estate-library). The large plate depicting the funeral procession with a few repairs and tears as usual. Plates with light occassional marginal brownspotting but overall a very good copy. Engraved titlepage (Boulanger Sculp.). 4 leaves (incl. printed title), 734, (66), 24 pp. 10 engraved portraits and 114 fine double-page engraved plates (1 triple-page), including the 4,5 m. long funeral procession of King Carl X Gustaf, folded 14 times and composed of 7 plates. Scarce first German edition, second overall (the first being in Latin published in 1696), of this profusely illustrated work on the Swedish Wars.The writing of this official history of the Swedish Wars with Poland and Denmark from 1655 to 1660 was entrusted by the King Charles XI to Samuel Pufendorf, the famous and important German jurist, political philosopher, economist, statesman and historian, who was made a baron in 1694, shortly before he died. He has played a great role in the development of the philosophy of law and political history. His famous work on the Swedish Wars is also famed for its impressive and excellent illustrations, -not least the 450 cm. long procession-plate. To illustrate the history, use was made of the original drawings by Erik Dahlberg, the Quarter-Master general of the Swedish Army, who was an eye-witness. The drawings were engraved by the same artists that Dahlbergh employed in Paris and later in Sweden for his "Suecia Antiqua", e.g. Boulanger, Cochin, Jean le Pautre, Perelle etc. etc. It includes views from Poland, Denmark, Germany and Norway. It is easy to trace the influence of Callot, as well as of Rubens in these splendid Cavalry scenes. Swedish Books No 38 Warmholtz: 4840Graesse V, 504

Lahde, (1806 - ca. 1814) + (ca. 1818-20 for the final three plates). Small folio (binding: 31,7 x 20,6 cm). Bound in an elegant pastiche half calf by Anker Kyster, with lovely gilt spine, old marbled paper boards and beautiful hand-made patterned end-papers. Bound with four of the exceedingly scarce title-pages/front wrappers for issues one, one/two three, and five, stating which plates were in the issue in question. Complete with all 34 magnificent engraved plates of costumes, all on large, good paper and in exquisite, precise original handcolouring. Most of the leaves measure 31 x 20,2 cm, one (En Brand Officer) measures 28x19,5. At the end are withbound the three final plates that were issued a bit later, with the complete ediiton of 1820. Thus making the final plate count 37. The three final plates all measure 28x20 cm. The two first plates have been neatly restored at upper right corner, far from affecting image. Otherwise, the copy is in magnificent condition. With the ex-libris of Oskar Davidsen to verso of front free end-paper. The exceedingly scarce first edition of Senn and Lahde’s (with the possible collaboration of Eckersberg) magnificent ”Klædedragter i Kjøbenhavn” (Costumes in Copenhagen), which is the first work devoted to costumes of the Danish capital and thus of seminal historical importance to the understanding of Copenhagen folklore at the brink of the golden age. The magnificent plates are of unusually high quality and differ from those of other works of this kind in being more artistically ambitious. The plates show attempts at depicting action and movement and portraying a certain situation. They are much less stiff than other costume plates of the period, and the features of the persons in the pictures show an intentional individualization. In short, they are much more closely related to the genre painting than would be expected. This highly important and extensive collection of Copenhagen costumes was made in Denmark, by foreigners and with an international aim. The Swiss painter and engraver Johannes Senn (1780-1861) spent 15 years in Denmark, from 1804 till 1819, and the German-born Gerhard Ludvig Lahde (1765-1833) came to Copenhagen in 1787 in order to attend the Art Academy and later became a Danish citizen. The two artists find themselves at the beginning of a period, in which national feeling, the strengthened sense of nationality, and a romantic view of nature are rapidly growing; a period in which the interest in “common” man and the people of a nation are becoming the centre of attention. Out of this grows the need to represent the people, the “real” population, to the rest of the world and to claim a specific sense of what it is to be, in this case, a Copenhagener. “Klædedragter i Kjøbenhavn” began appearing in 1806, and we know that by 1810, three issues with six plates in each (i.e. 18 plates) had appeared. The following three issues appeared shortly after, though not all containing six plates (the fifth issue, as is evident from the exceedingly scarce title/wrapper bound in the present copy, only contained four plates), amounting to 34 plates in all. These plates later appeared in Lahde’s “Elementarværk I Tegnekunsten (1817-18), and a selection of 12 plates were issued separately under the title “Karakteristiske Figurer eller Det daglige Liv i Hovedstaden” (1812). A further three plates were issued later (these three plates have been added to the present copy), and in 1820, all 37 plates appeared together. In 1830, the work appeared again, this time with 35 plates, under the title “Kjøbenhavns Klædedragter eller Det Daglige Liv i Hovedstaden”. Provenance: Oskar Davidsen, one of the most significant Danish book collectors, whose collection included virtually all illuminated and coloured Danish books. (Colas: 1721 for the later edition, not having the original)