MACQUER, Pierre Joseph.

Dictionnaire de Chymie, contenant la Théorie et la Pratique de cette Science, son Application à la Physique, à l'Histoire naturelle, à la Médecine, & aux Arts dépendans de la Chymie. Seconde édition, revue & considérablement augmentée.

Three vols. Small 8vo, cont. mottled sheep (some wear to ends of spines & corners, fore-edge of upper cover of Vol. III worn), spines gilt, brown & green morocco lettering pieces on spines. Paris: P. Fr. Didot jeune, 1777 [but probably 1778].

A pirated reprint of the authorised second edition of 1778, which was expanded to nearly twice the size of the first edition with an up-to-date account of chemistry and much new material. Although technical dictionaries had appeared earlier, this was the first attempt to cover the whole field of chemistry, pure and applied, in an encyclopedic manner. The introduction traces the progress of chemistry from its origins to the time of Stahl and Boerhaave. The book was an immediate success and it was several times reprinted and translated; it produced many imitators. There are substantial entries for glass and wine. Good set.

❧ Cole 867. D.S.B., VIII, pp. 618–624. Duveen p. 377. Neville, II, pp. 113–114–“Published without the index and the account of the order in which the articles should be read but with Didot’s imprint on the title pages. The date is clearly incorrect, for the text is copied from the Didot octavo and carries a reference to Macquer’s observation of 17 March 1778.”.

Price: $1,250.00

Item ID: 3253