![Stelleri Zodiacus Stellatus [manuscript title on spine]. John / SENEX SELLER, John, Edmund /...](/pictures/thumb/5560.jpg?v=1508791178)
An intriguing collection of 8 very rare early English astronomical charts by the London cartographers and instrument makers John Seller (c. 1630-1697) and John Senex (c. 1678-1740), offering the most up-to-date celestial information then available, with several of the charts based on the recent groundbreaking observations of the English astronomers..... More
Rare 1720 Spanish-language relacion of an eyewitness account by the Bishop of Marseille, Henri François Xavier de Belsunce de Castelmoron (1671-1766), concerning the Great Plague then sweeping Marseille. Belsunce de Castelmoron, who would become famous for his extreme bravery in staying in the city to attend to the sick and..... More
Rare first edition of this illustrated handbook of practical geometry and surveying equipment. The engineer supplies a panorama of the instruments used by city planners and surveyors in the early 18th C for leveling land, measuring dikes and embankments, calculating elevation and distance, etc. Following a primer on basic geometry..... More
First edition of this classic in the history of science, a nice large genuine example of the last of Kepler’s works to appear in his lifetime, and in the judgment of Prof. Owen Gingerich, “the chief vehicle for the recognition of his astronomical accomplishments.” — DSB, p. 304: It contains..... More
First edition of this important work on the measurement on light by “the father of photometry” (DSB) and the author’s first work on the subject. “Bouguer’s achievement was to see that the eye could be used, not as a meter but as a null indicator, i.e., to establish the equality..... More
Rare first edition of the polymath Poleni’s letters to his contemporaries on astronomy, mathematics, hydraulics and physiology, which establish the author’s place as one of the foremost Italian scientists of his day. The collection includes letters to J. G. Marinoni (on the recent eclipse of the sun, and experiments in..... More
Two important and generously illustrated botanical works produced by respected Linnaean correspondents at the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg. Amman’s Stirpium rariorum contains useful descriptions of 285 plants from Eastern Europe and “Ruthenia” (now Ukraine), enhanced with 35 clear engravings. According to Hunt, Amman “made a notable contribution..... More
Rare. First edition of the first work on logarithms to extend calculations to the seventh figure, celebrated for the accuracy of its computations as well as the legibility and elegance of its printing. Both made the work something of a 'logarithm bestseller,?' receiving editions in the major European languages soon..... More
Rare first and sole edition of this encyclopedic illustrated survey applying the latest mathematical methods to theoretical as well as practical sciences (e.g. geography), by the 22 year old cartographer Mayer. The work was published shortly before the author joined the Homann Cartographic Bureau, where he served as one of..... More
First German edition (translated from the 1748 French original) of Bianconi's letter addressed to Francesco Algarotti (1712-1764), author of Neutonismo per le donne (1733), which did much to popularize Newtonian views on optics on the continent and made him a European celebrity at the age of twenty-one. Algarotti also wrote..... More
Rare first edition – illustrated with a fine folding etched map – of the hydraulic engineer Jean-André Floquet’s project proposal for the ‘Canal de Provence,’ a waterway intended to link Marseille with Aix-en-Provence and the Durance River to the north. The etched map is a reduced-size version of an exceptionally..... More
Rare augmented edition of this analytic catalogue of the contents of the botanical garden at Bologna by Gaetano Monti, radically revising the 1724 edition of his father, Giuseppe Monti. The earlier publication employed Tournefort’s classificatory system, organizing plants according to structure of fruit and flower, but the younger Monti here..... More
Rare first and only complete edition of an early work on fossils in the Americas by “one of the founders of paleontology” (Mancini, p. 131), the Franciscan historian and naturalist José Torrubia (1698-1761). La gigantologia Spagnola is a much-expanded version, composed in Italian, of an essay which first appeared in..... More
The development of mechanical farm implements was one of the important achievements of 18th-century technology. The "Academia dei Georgofili" was formed in Florence (where one of its buildings remains) for the purpose of improving Tuscan agriculture. In this book, Giuseppe Rigacci describes a new sowing machine and a hoe..... More
First edition and internally a fine, untrimmed copy of this general treatise on perspective by the astronomer and mathematician Eustachio Zanotti. "Eustachio Zanotti's treatise, as would be expected from a scientist of his quality, provides an analytical treatment of the mathematics of perspective at a highly professional level... He..... More
Very rare first and sole edition of the first treatise published by the pioneering French mineralogist Jean-Baptiste Romé de L’Isle (1736-1780), and his sole work on marine biology, concerning the “movement, generation and nature” of the freshwater polyp. In the present work Romé hypothesizes, drawing on observations by the naturalist..... More
Rare, second edition and a mint copy of this popular Italian illustrated obstetrics guide. Containing plates of anatomical diagrams, illustrations of tools including several types of forceps, and somewhat atypically in our experience, a depiction of a lying-in bed without the mother to make viewing of a 'system' of blankets..... More
First and only edition of a landmark book on bridge engineering, important not only for its bold solution for a complex site but also for many novel machines used in the course of construction. "Since its appearance the present work has been recognized for its great utility to engineers charged..... More
Extremely rare first edition of an instruction manual for a new nautical instrument that determines “l’angolo di deriva,” i.e. a ship’s drift angle (a result of yaw). At times Micheli’s tract also recounts the public success of his previous inventions: in 1774 he was commissioned by the Grand Duchy of..... More
First edition of this extremely scarce and important book which contains the announcement of Scheele’s discovery of oxygen, made independently of, and two years prior to, Priestley. Scheele’s monumental discovery was made by 1773; he had begun his experiments on oxygen in 1770. The publication of this book was delayed..... More
Very rare first and sole edition of this work on the underlying principles of insurance contracts and business ventures, focusing in particular on the psychological, ethical, and mathematical dimensions of gambling and risk-taking. Beginning with the premise that man’s most fundamental urge is to gain wealth, Codronchi discusses the effects..... More
First edition of, according to Lalande, the best book of the period on trigonometry and its application to astronomy. The work was actually a handbook covering all aspects of the field for the practicing astronomer and contains for the first time the trigonometric formula which now bears Cagnoli's name. In..... More
First edition of this lavishly illustrated mining classic describing an amalgamation process for removing gold and silver from various ores. As the process did not require the usual smelting of the ore, it saved an enormous quantity of fuel and was widely adapted throughout the Habsburg Empire and elsewhere in..... More
First edition of this comprehensive account of the American War of Independence, as seen from the French perspective. According to Howes, Leboucher’s account is the “best French chronicle of the American Revolution, [and] particularly valuable on naval affairs”; it includes lists of French battle casualties, vessels captured or destroyed, and..... More
First edition and fine copy of this work on plant classification which eclipsed all previous taxonomies, and whose general arrangement of families remains current today. Jussieu’s taxonomy was based on the species contained in the Jardin du Roi, supplemented by material provided by some of the great 18th-century Pacific discovery..... More