Four folding engraved plates. xxxviii, [2], 184 pp. 4to, cont. mottled calf, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: David l’aîné, 1749.

First edition of one of Alembert’s most important books. “During the late 1740’s, d’Alembert, Clairaut, and Euler were all working on the famous three-body problem, with varying success. D’Alembert’s interest in celestial mechanics thus led him, in 1749, to publish a masterly work, the Recherches sur la Précession des Equinoxes…The precession of the equinoxes, a problem previously attacked by Clairaut, was very difficult. D’Alembert’s method was similar to Clairaut’s but he employed more terms in his integration... More

One fine folding engraved plate & one large astronomical woodcut illus. in the text. 19 [i.e. 31] pp. Small 4to, modern wrappers. N.p.: 1681.

First edition of this rare and highly detailed anonymous observation of the famous comet of 1680-81. Apart from its brightness, this comet is notable as the first to be observed using a telescope (by Gottfried Kirch in Coburg). Other well-known observers included Robert Hooke, Flamsteed, Newton, and John Evelyn.

The author of this work clearly had a scientific background; he provides very detailed descriptions of the appearance of the comet, its path, and significance. The fine folding plate... More

80 pp. 8vo (216 x 135 mm.), early 20th-cent. cloth-backed marbled boards & orig. printed wrappers mounted on stubs, gilt title on spine. Paris: Bonnefons Delavialle, Ch. Paillet; London: Treuttel & Wurtz, Jarman; Amsterdam: Dufour & De la Chaux; Brussels: Danot; Berlin: Logier & Simon Schropp; Vienna: Schabacher, [1826].

A fascinating and rare auction catalogue of an extensive and influential collection of Asian artifacts belonging to a “F. Sallé,” with many contemporary pencil annotations in the margins. We have been unable to ascertain his first name, but Sallé appears in numerous early 19th-century Parisian auction catalogues as the commissaire-priseur.

This was the greatest collection of Chinese materials after that of the renowned sinophile Henri Léonard Jean Baptiste Bertin (1720-92), powerful ministre d’Etat under Louis XV and XVI. Most of Bertin’s collection was dispersed in 1792 without a catalogue; in 1815, a catalogued auction (Lugt 8637) was held to sell off the final portion of the collection. More

Numerous fine woodcut initials, diagrams, tables, & maps in the text. Woodcut printer’s device at end. 14 p.l., 18 leaves, [6] leaves, 30, xxxi-cxxvi leaves, 4 leaves. Folio, cont. Flemish blindstamped calf binding over wooden boards (rather well rebacked, a few unimportant stains), rolls of medallion heads & foliage forming a double panel, orig. clasps and catches, metal corner guards. Cologne: J. Prael for P. Quentel, 1537.

[bound after]:

ANSELM, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. In Omnes Pauli Apostili Epistolas enarrationes. Title within fine woodcut border by Anton Woensam of Worms. Some fine large woodcut initials. 8 p.l., 531 pp. Folio. Cologne: E. Cervicornus for G. Hittorp, 1533. More

One folding engraved plate (short tear with no loss of image). xxxii pp. Large 4to, attractive modern decorated paper over semi-stiff boards. Rome: “Typis Komarek,” 1744.

First edition and rare; this work on lunar eclipses marks the beginning of Boscovich’s most prolific period of mature scholarship. In the years 1742-44, Boscovich “turned his attention in astronomy to a comprehensive survey of the theoretical foundations and instrumental practice and resources of practical, observational astronomy, and in the years 1742 through 1744 he published a series of works that deal with these matters in a spirit of severioris critices leges.”–D.S.B., II, p. 328. More

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

Six folding engraved plates. Title in red & black. 1 p.l., 308 pp. 8vo, cont. mottled sheep, flat spine nicely gilt, contrasting leather lettering piece on spine. Lausanne & Geneva: M.M. Bousquet, 1744.

First edition of this important book in which Cheseaux (1718-51), grandson of Crouzas and a fellow the Royal Society of London, first stated what was to become known as “the paradox of Cheseaux”: “With an infinite and uniform distribution of stars throughout space, the night sky should shine with a brightness corresponding to their average surface brightness.” A number of notable astronomers have struggled with this problem, including Halley, Olbers... More

One folding engraved plate. 2 p.l., xxxii, 444 pp. 8vo, attractive antique calf-backed marbled boards, flat spine gilt. Paris: Valade, 1776.

First edition of this uncommon book on the varying appearance of the rings of Saturn. “From 1764 to 1783 he [Dionis] wrote a series of important memoirs on the application of the most recent analytic methods to the study of the principal astronomical phenomena (eclipses, occultations, reductions of observations, determination of planetary orbits, etc.)…All these works are dominated by an obvious concern for rigor and by a great familiarity with analytical methods…their reexamination in the light of present possibilities of calculation... More

Seven folding engraved plates. 2 p.l., xxxx, 738 pp., 1 leaf of errata; 2 p.l., lvi, 680 pp. Two vols. Large 4to, attractive cont. marbled sheep, flat spines richly gilt, green morocco lettering pieces on spines. Paris: la Veuve Valade, 1786-89.

First edition and quite scarce on the market. “From 1764 to 1783 he [Dionis] wrote a series of important memoirs on the application of the most recent analytic methods to the study of the principal astronomical phenomena (eclipses, occultations, reductions of observations, determination of planetary orbits, etc.). Revised and coordinated, these memoirs were reprinted in the two-volume Traité analytique des mouvements apparents... More

Architectural woodcut title border; a large woodcut of Urania & the author beneath a celestial sphere, repeated in the “Cosmographia” section; a large woodcut of a water-clock, repeated; 280 other woodcuts in the text; and numerous large initials & headpieces. 8 p.l., 207 (i.e. 209) leaves, one leaf of errata. Folio, most attractive early 18th-cent. mottled half-sheep & mottled boards (first two leaves a little discolored), spine gilt, pale brown & green morocco lettering pieces on spine. Paris: [G. Morrhe & J. Pierre], 1532.

First collected edition, and a magnificent large copy of this beautiful book, containing the first printings of many of Finé’s texts; this is his... More

Each title within the same architectural woodcut border, two folding woodcut plates in the second part (the 2nd plate is numbered p. 33), & numerous woodcuts in the text of geometrical & surveying problems. 8 p.l., 88 pp.; 2 p.l., 33 pp. Two parts in two vols. Small 4to, modern vellum-backed paste-paper boards. Nuremberg: S. Halbmayer, colophon dated “1626.”

First edition, and complete with both parts, of this posthumously published work. Galgemair (1564-1619), who had been a student of both Apian and Mästlin at Tübingen, wrote a series of books on scientific instruments.

The first part of this book describes the precursor to the sector and proportional compass that is today known as the reduction compass; a full-page woodcut of the instrument appears on A2r. There are 100 examples of the uses of the instrument, most with illustrations. The first examples provide geometric solutions to problems of a more abstract nature, while the latter address practical problems, such as how much gold foil a goldsmith needs to cover a round roof at the top of a tower, heights and distances of buildings, etc. The uses for the architect and cartographer are obvious. More

Four folding plates (three are engraved & the moon map is lithographed). xxiii, 446 pp., 1 leaf of errata. 8vo, cont. slick boards. Munich: I.J. Lentner, 1812.

First edition of this varied and interesting book, reflecting the author’s wide-ranging interests. Gruithuisen (1774-1852), studied philosophy, medicine, and natural history, and was first appointed professor of medicine at the University of Munich and was later made professor of astronomy at the same institution. Gruithuisen wrote on many subjects and his works are well-known for their numerous new observations and thoughts.

The present work contains chapters on physiology, electricity, geology, optics, and astronomy. In this book, the author describes his discovery that light comes out of the eyes of animals (see Gorin, History of Ophthalmology, p. 97). More