Numerous woodcuts in the text. Much Greek printing. 5 p.l., liii, 168 pp. 8vo, cont. panelled calf, remains of label on spine. Oxford: Sheldonian Theatre, 1706.

First edition of Halley’s translation of Apollonius’s “cutting off a ratio” from an Arabic manuscript. This text of Apollonius, like Books V-VII of the Conics, survives only in Arabic, and in this case the Arabic remains unpublished.

“Much of Halley’s scholarship was exercised upon the works of Apollonius of Perga, one of the greatest mathematicians of antiquity, and indeed of all time, who flourished in the latter part of the third century B.C. One... More about Apollonii Pergaei De Sectione Rationis Libri Duo ex Arabico MSto. Latine Versi. Accedunt eiusdem...

[filled-in by a cont. hand: Dincourt d’Hangard]. Dont la vente se fera le Lundi 9 Mars 1789, & les jours suivans. ix, [1], 11-20, 270 pp., 1 leaf, [271]-316 pp. (“Tables des Auteurs”); 18 pp. (“Supplement”); 26 pp. (“Liste des Prix”). 8vo, cont. sheep (blank corner of title & pp. 181-84 torn away), spine gilt, red morocco lettering pieces on spine. Paris: Née de la Rochelle & Belin Junior, 1789.

[bound with]:

(LE VAVASSEUR DE LA HÉRONNIERE). Catalogue des Livres de la Bibliothèque de feu M. Le Vavasseur de la Héronniere; Composé d’articles précieux, tant par les Editions que par les Reliures. Dont la Vente commencera Lundi 20 Avril... More about Catalogue des Livres choisis et bien conditionnés du Cabinet M***

A fascinating collection of about 85 booksellers’ catalogues, mostly German, dating from 1795 to 1840, all coming from the Wittelsbach library of the dukes and kings of Bavaria. Mostly 8vo or small 8vo, bound in the original wrappers or boards, some stitched as issued, some self-bound. Germany: 1795-1840.

A collection of about 85 publishers’ and booksellers’ catalogues coming from the Wittelsbach library at Tegernsee, the “summer home” library of the royal family of Bavaria. This collection offers an excellent view of how the royal family of Bavaria acquired new books for their personal reading pleasure and use. The kings and dukes of Bavaria... More about

Numerous charts, diagrams, facsimiles, maps, ports., & tables. 15 vols. in 14. Large 4to, orig. blue printed stiff wrappers bound in cont. red morocco & marbled boards, spines nicely gilt, t.e.g., others uncut. Copenhagen: Libraria Gyldendaliana, 1913-29.

This is a particularly handsome and well-bound set of the magnificent and rare definitive edition of the collected works of Tycho Brahe. It is limited to 225 sets (of which only one hundred sets were for sale) and is printed on fine thick paper. Edited by the great scholar Dreyer, who wrote the standard biography of Brahe, this edition contains all of Brahe’s published writings... More about Opera Omnia. Edited by J.L.E. Dreyer

Woodcut title-page, woodcut initials, & printer’s woodcut device on recto of final leaf. 4 p.l., 169 (i.e., 269), [3] pp. Small folio, 17th-cent. vellum over boards (foot of spine a little worn). Venice: V. Valgrisi for N. Bevilacqua, 1559.

First edition, issue with the dedication to Pope Pius IV, of Colombo’s only work, containing his discovery of pulmonary circulation. “This historic breakthrough in his demonstration of the lesser circulation through the lungs secures his place of importance in the line culminating in Harvey’s demonstration of the circulation of the blood sixty-nine years later.”–Heirs of Hippocrates 304.

Colombo was a one-time colleague and friend of Vesalius, whose chair of anatomy and surgery Colombo took over in 1544. He was critical of Vesalius’s illustrations and text of the Fabrica and planned to produce an illustrated anatomy with figures by Michelangelo, but this project was never realized although the two had collaborated on anatomical investigations. Colombo was the first anatomist to criticize Vesalius for errors of anatomy. “In 1559 Colombo published his own unillustrated text, De re anatomica, consisting of fifteen books…Colombo seems to have eschewed the deep Galenic learning shared by other leading contemporary anatomists, but to judge from the De re anatomica he more than compensated for this by his rich experience in dissection, vivisection, autopsy, and the practice of surgery. Quite naturally the Fabrica provided the main framework for his studies, and he made numerous improvements in Vesalius’s descriptions besides reporting a number of new discoveries of his own. The many pathological and anomalous observations he described likewise reflect his wide experience and attention to detail. He also had a strong interest in physiology and seems to have been unsurpassed among his contemporaries in his skill at vivisection… More about De Re Anatomica Libri XV

One scroll measuring 277 x 3830 mm. Ink, brush, & wash in red, blue, black, and brown, on paper newly & expertly backed. Japan: after 1853.

A contemporary copy of an official report concerning Commodore Perry’s first expedition, when he attempted to land on Japanese shores in 1853. Much of the scroll is wonderfully illustrated and contains a map tracking the American squadron’s path through Uraga Channel on its way to Edo. The scroll dramatically depicts two American steamships and concludes with the text of four internal government documents concerning the arrival of these foreign ships that contain the contents of high-level discussions on the... More about Ikokusen toraiki keibi haichi zumaki [Information on the Arrival of Foreign Ships, Illustrated...

Three folding engraved maps (two are handcolored, one with a split in the fold neatly repaired) & wood engravings in the text. xii, 214 pp. 8vo, cont. half-morocco & marbled boards (minor rubbing to binding). London: Smith, Elder, 1842.

First edition of Darwin’s most important geological work in which he proposed a theory of “subsidence” to account for the formation and structure of coral reefs, particularly the great depth of water through which they rose from the ocean floor to the surface and the perfect hemispheres they formed around low-lying islands.

Very good copy. More about The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs. Being the First Part of the Geology of the Voyage...

Two folding engraved plates. 2 p.l., 363 pp.; 2 p.l., 346 pp. Two vols. Large 4to, early 19th-cent. half-sheep & green marbled boards, flat spine gilt, red leather lettering piece on spine. St. Petersburg: Typis Academiae Imperialis Scientiarum, 1783-85.

First edition of this collection of 29 mathematical treatises by Euler; the first volume was published in the year of his death. This is a very uncommon book.

“Containing important papers on the theory of numbers, including his famous ‘Observationes circa Divisionem Quadratorum per Numeros primos’, also ‘de Criteriis Aequationis fxx + gyy = hzz, utrum ea Resolutionem admittat necne? Considerationes super Theoremate Fermatiano,’ etc.... More about Opuscula Analytica

Folding engraved frontis. port. of the dedicatee Count Franz Anton von Sporck & 20 folding engraved plates. 6 p.l., 180 pp., one leaf. Small 4to, cont. vellum over boards. Prague: “Typis Universitatis Carolo-Ferdinandeae in Collegio S. Jesu ad S. Clementem,” 1716.

First edition of this very uncommon book. Herberstein (ca. 1650-1720), Bohemian count, marshal of Styria, and arch-chamberlain of Carinthia, was a distinguished amateur mathematician who published a number of extremely rare and interesting works on various aspects of pure and applied mathematics over a 35-year period.

The present work is concerned with the mathematics of ballistics in which Herberstein provides a number of... More about Cyclodiatomia, qua pro Rei Tormentariae Incremento Motum, ac Tempus Projectorum mensurat, &...

4 p.l., xix, 164 pp. 8vo, cont. mottled calf by John Brindley, single gilt fillet round sides, the four corners of each cover elaborately gilt with Brindley’s characteristic dolphins surmounted by crowns within circular wreaths, spine divided into six compartments, five of which with the golden fleece device in gilt, green morocco lettering piece in remaining compartment. London: J. Brindley, 1728.

First edition; an extraordinary “illuminated” copy with the title-page, initials, and section headings all heightened in gold, and bound by John Brindley, bookbinder to Frederick, Prince of Wales and Queen Caroline. The initials along with the vignettes and typographical ornaments... More about Observations on the Small Pox: or, An Essay to discover a more Effectual Method of Cure

[Styria; ca. 1610-20].

An important document for the early history of iron ore mining, refining, and trading in the Erzberg region of Styria, the most important ore mining area of Central Europe. These activities have continued from Roman times and were especially important in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries.

This illustrated manuscript is a directory of the devices of all the iron mills likely active in the Sankt Gallen area in the early 17th century. These devices comprise a maker’s mark — usually a geometrically shaped symbol but sometimes in the shape of an object such as an imperial... More about Illustrated manuscript on paper, one blank leaf, 173 leaves, each with a full-page richly colored...

16 p.l., 394 (i.e. 392) pp. 8vo, cont. vellum over boards (minor browning). Paris: L. Billaine, 1664.

“This is the first edition of the earliest extant bibliography of bibliographies (despite the ‘curis secundis auctior’ on the title). It is basically an alphabetical list, arranged by authors’ first names, followed by eight intricate subject indices, among them one of publishers’ and booksellers’ catalogues. Appended is a very useful numismatic bibliography. The work enjoyed three later editions during the seventeenth century and provided the basis for Teissier…Labbé (1607-67), one of the most learned polymaths of his time, was a Jesuit professor of philosophy in... More about Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum curis secundis auctior