Engraved vignette on title & four folding engraved plates. 2 p.l., xxvi, [2], 186, [2] pp. 4to, cont. marbled calf (extremities a trifle worn, preliminary leaves a bit discolored), spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: David l’aîné, 1743.

First edition, and a fine copy, of d’Alembert’s masterpiece on dynamics; this has become a scarce book on the market. “The Traité de dynamique, which has become the most famous of his scientific works, is significant in many ways. First, it is clear that d’Alembert recognized that a scientific revolution had occurred, and he thought that he was doing the job of... More about Traité de Dynamique, dans lequel les Loix de l’Equilibre & du mouvement des Corps sont...

Woodcut device on title, two folding printed tables, & one folding woodcut plate. 2 p.l., 306, 35, [1] pp. 4to, fine cont. vellum over boards (slightly warped). Basel: impensis Thurnisiorum, Fratrum, 1713.

First edition of “the first systematic attempt to place the theory of probability on a firm basis and is still the foundation of much modern practice in all fields where probability is concerned — insurance, statistics and mathematical heredity tables.”–Printing & the Mind of Man 179.

A very fine and large copy preserved in a box. More about Ars Conjectandi, Opus Posthumum. Accedit Tractatus De Seriebus Infinitis, et Epistola Gallicè...

Woodcut printer’s device on title, Gilbert’s woodcut coat of arms on verso, numerous woodcut diagrams & illus. in the text, & one folding woodcut plate (one fold with a careful repair). 8 p.l. 240 pp. Folio, cont. limp vellum (some occasional spotting, a few unimportant dampstains), ties gone. London: P. Short, 1600.

First edition, and a very fine and fresh copy, of the first major English scientific treatise based on experimental methods of research and the foundation work of magnetism and electrical science. Gilbert uses here for the first time the terms “electricity,” “electric force,” and “electric attraction.”

Book I “deals with the history of magnetism from the earliest legends about the lodestone to the facts and theories known to Gilbert’s contemporaries…In the last chapter of book I, Gilbert introduced his new basic idea which was to explain all terrestrial magnetic phenomena: his postulate that the earth is a giant lodestone and thus had magnetic properties…The remaining five books of the De magnete are concerned with the five magnetic movements: coition, direction, variation, declination, and revolution. Before he began his discussion of coition, however, Gilbert carefully distinguished the attraction due to the amber effect from that caused by the lodestone. This section, chapter 2 of book II, established the study of the amber effect as a discipline separate from that of magnetic phenomena, introduced the vocabulary of electrics, and is the basis for Gilbert’s place in the history of electricity.”–D.S.B., V, p. 397. More about De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno magnete tellure; Physiologia nova, plurimis...

Ten folding engraved plates. 31 pp. Large 4to, cont. half-calf & marbled boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: Printed by W. Richardson & S. Clark; and sold by J. Nourse & Mess. Mount & Page, 1767.

[bound with]:

MASKELYNE, Nevil. An Account of the Going of Mr. John Harrison’s Watch, at the Royal Observatory, from May 6th, 1766 to March 4th, 1767. Together with the Original Observations and Calculations of the Same…Published by Order of the Commissioners of Longitude. 28, lvi pp. Large 4to. London: W. Richardson & S. Clark, 1767. More about The Principles of Mr. Harrison's Time-Keeper, with Plates of the Same. Published by Order of the...

Folding engraved plate in Vol. IV. Five vols. Large 4to, handsome antique blue morocco-backed marbled boards, flat spines nicely gilt. Paris: J.B.M. Duprat & others, An VII [1798]-1825.

First edition and a complete set with all the supplements. In this monumental and fundamental astronomical work, Laplace -- the "Newton of France" -- codified and developed the theories and achievements of Newton, Euler, d'Alembert, and Lagrange. "Laplace maintained that while all planets revolve round the sun their eccentricities and the inclinations of their orbits to each other will always remain small. He also showed that all these irregularities in movements... More about Traité de Mécanique Céleste

Folding engraved plate in Vol. IV. Five vols. Large 4to (281 x 200 mm.), cont. polished calf, sides panelled in blind & gilt, spines decorated in blind & gilt, a.e.g.. Paris: J.B.M. Duprat & others, An VII [1798]-1825-1827.

First edition, a magnificent set on large and fine paper, complete set with all the supplements. This is the only large and fine paper set I have ever seen on the market.

In this monumental and fundamental astronomical work, Laplace — the “Newton of France” — codified and developed the theories and achievements of Newton, Euler, d’Alembert, and Lagrange. “Laplace maintained that... More about Traité de Mécanique Céleste

One folding engraved plate. iv, 245 pp. (lacking the errata leaf & leaf of ads). 8vo, cont. grey paste-paper boards (lower joint with short split at head & foot). Berlin: T.H. Riemann, 1827.

First edition, and a splendid association copy, 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. This copy belonged to the “Prince of Mathematicians” — Carl Friedrich Gauss — and has the “Gauss-Bibliothek” stamp on the title. It is quite exciting... More about Die galvanische Kette, mathematisch bearbeitet

Engraved arms of the Grand Duke of Tuscany on title, a large folding engraved plate, & a folding sheet with descriptive letterpress. Title in red & black. 1 p.l., 78 pp., 1 leaf. 4to, modern panelled calf. Florence: ex Typographia sub signo Stellae, 1669.

First edition of a fundamental work for the modern sciences of geology, crystallography, and palaeontology. In this book, Steno “described the composition of the earth’s crust in Tuscany and a famous diagram in his book shows six successive types of stratification: the first attempt ever made to represent geological sections. This was a sequence which he believed would be found all... More about De Solido intra Solidum Naturaliter contento Dissertationis Prodromus

Finely engraved title, repeated on *2 (both shaved at outer margin) incorporating a world map on Mercator’s projection; one folding woodcut & letterpress diagram (“the draught of the Meridians”); two engraved illus. of instruments (one full-page) in the text; & 27 woodcut illus., many of instruments, in the text (one shaved at outer margin with slight loss). 26 p.l., 472, 122 pp., 11 leaves (including Oo4 blank). Three parts in one vol. Small 4to, cont. calf (very neatly rebacked, sides a little rubbed). London: F. Kingston, 1610.

Second edition, corrected and enlarged, of the most important and most famous English book on the art of navigation, “a... More about Certaine Errors in Navigation, Detected and Corrected