Thirty-two folding engraved plates & one folding printed table. Title in red & black. 8 p.l., xlviii, [12], 193 pp.; 192, [14] pp. Two parts in one vol. Large 4to, cont. calf (rebacked, part of lower cover stained somewhat darker), coat-of-arms in gilt on both covers of Sir George Savile of Rufford. Leyden: J. & H. Verbeek, 1731.

First edition. This book contains the first description of the pyrometer, an instrument for measuring the expansion of solid bodies under the influence of heat. Like many of Musschenbroek’s books, the Tentamina contains fine illustrations and is concerned with experiments in measuring... More

8 p.l., 586, [38] pp. 4to, cont. calf (upper joint cracked at head, minor foxing at beginning & end), red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: W. Johnston, Keith, & E. Dilly, 1759.

First edition in English, with considerable additions based on his own experiments by the translator William Lewis, author of the Commercium Philosophico-Technicum (London: 1763-65). Neumann (1683–1737), contributed significantly to the establishment of Stahlian chemistry in Germany and its dissemination throughout Europe. “He distinguished clearly between pure and applied chemistry and insisted that the chemical approach to nature was vastly superior to the mechanical philosophy.”–D.S.B., X, p. 26... More

Twelve folding engraved plates. [1] leaf of ads, 1 p.l., xi, [1], 415 pp., [1] p. of ads. 8vo, 18th-cent. speckled calf (carefully rebacked by Aquarius), double gilt fillet round sides, spine richly gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: G. & J. Innys, 1719.

Second edition in Latin and an influential book on the Continent. Newton published this edition in Latin to reach the Continental audience which had been little influenced by his optical experiments. The edition served its purpose and caused numerous demonstrations of his theory of colors to be performed in Paris. Newton’s optical theories began... More

79 engraved plates. xi, 79, [1] pp. Large 4to, cont. sheep, flat spine gilt. London: I. & J. Taylor, 1797.

First edition and a nice copy from Schloss Tetschner, with the private library’s attractive stamp on verso of title. Nicholson (1765-1844), architectural writer and mathematician, “was probably the most prolific communicator on the technical aspects of architecture in the first half of the nineteenth century and his influence should not be underestimated. He wrote at least twenty-seven books and two collaborations, which all went into many reprints and which were still being republished and updated by others well after his... More

One folding engraved plate of apparatus. xxvii, 532, [5] pp. 8vo, cont. half-calf (a few small scuff marks, lower joint with minor crack at head), green morocco lettering piece on spine. London: G.G.J. & J. Robinson, 1790.

First edition. Nicholson (1753–1815), translator of Fourcroy and Chaptal, and editor of the first general scientific periodical in England published independently of the academies, was one of the important British figures in the new chemical movement. In this voluminous textbook on chemistry, dedicated to Cavendish, he explained both the phlogistic and antiphlogistic theories, as he considered them equally probable. “The text is divided... More

One folding engraved plate. iv, 245, [1] pp. 8vo, cont. half-cloth & marbled boards (ends of spine almost invisibly repaired), spine gilt. Berlin: T.H. Riemann, 1827.

First edition of this pioneering work which contains one of the most important discoveries in electrical science — “Ohm’s law” — the basis of the present system of electrical measurement. Ohm discovered the unit of resistance in an electrical current.

“In the field of electrical measurement Ohm was the great pioneer...Ohm’s great contribution — ‘The Galvanic Chain Mathematically Calculated’ — was to measure the rate of current flow and the effects of resistance on... More

Many full-page & double woodcut illus. Eight vols. 8vo, orig. blue patterned wrappers (somewhat discolored), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Osaka, Kyoto, Edo: Kawachiya Mohei et al., 1859.

First edition of a very scarce book, completed in 1844 but published 15 years later. This work is a summary of the author’s agricultural and technological writings over a 55-year period. Okura (1768-1856?), was one of the three most eminent agriculturalists of the Edo period. A reformer, he wrote more than 20 books on all aspects of agricultural improvement and technology; they were among the best of their... More

Numerous woodcut illus. in the text. 24; 27; 23 folding leaves. Three vols. 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers (cover of Vol. II a little stained), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Osaka, Kyoto, & Edo: Prefaces & Afterword dated 1802.

[with]:

—. Nokaeki kohen [Sequel to For the Farmer’s Benefit]. Numerous woodcut illus. in the text. 30; 35 folding leaves. Two vols. 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers (bindings a little soiled), orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Osaka, Kyoto, & Edo: Prefaces dated 1810 & Afterword dated 1802.

[with]:

—. Nokaeki zokuhen [A Second Sequel to For the... More

148 engraved plates (several double-page and one double-page & folding). 3 p.l., 15 leaves of explanatory text. 4to, cont. marbled sheep (joints well-repaired), flat spine gilt. London: J. Taylor, 1823.

The “Ninth Edition” and a fine copy. The first edition appeared in 1788. Pain “was constantly in print either with a new book — he published eleven between 1758 and 1793 — or with a revised enlarged edition of an earlier one. In America the demand for his books exceeded that of any other eighteenth-century English author…

“Intending ‘plainly and faithfully to answer the purpose of the manual artificer’, he... More

Title printed in red & black. 103 unnumbered leaves, one blank leaf. Small 8vo, modern vellum over boards. [Colophon]: Augsburg: M. Franck for G. Willer, [1568].

First edition of a Paracelsian rarity. Paracelsus' commentaries on the first five of Hippocrates' Aphorisms had been published the previous year in Cologne. The present edition comprises his commentaries on all 25 aphorisms of the first section, and on six of the second. They are followed by treatises on the medical uses of corals and the herbs hypericum (St. John's worts) and persicaria (peachwort). A slightly different version of the section on hypericum was published... More

One large folding engraved plate. 1 p.l., 44 pp. Large 4to, cont. half-sheep & marbled boards (minor foxing). Paris: de l’Imprimerie Nationale, 1793.

First edition. “This Mémoire on his monumental concept of masonry bridges with spans of 200 to 500 feet is the rarest of all Perronet’s works. Inspired by some of the great spans of the past (Verona 150ft or Pontypridd 178ft) he asks why, ‘dans un siècle ou les sciences & les arts ont fait de si grands progrès, ne pourroit-on pas se flatter d’en établir solidement qui ayent encore plus d’ouverture?’…

“Perronet is fascinated by the challenge... More

4 p.l., 88 pp. 4to, cont. vellum over boards, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Berlin: C.F. Voss, 1746.

[bound with]:

—. Fortsetzung derer Chymischen Untersuchungen, welche von der Lithogeognosie, oder Erkäntniss und Bearbeitung derer Steine und Erden specieller handeln. 4 p.l., 120 pp. 4to (light foxing). Berlin & Potsdam: C.F. Voss, 1751.

[bound with]:

—. Zweyte Fortsetzung derer Chymischen Untersuchungen welche von der Lithogeognosie oder Erkäntniss und Bearbeitung derer Steine und Erden in Anwendung derselben zur Bereiting feuerfester Gefässe und Tiegel specieller handeln nebst Tabellen über all drey Theile. One engraved plate depicting a furnace. 7 p.l., 148 pp. (minor foxing)... More