Rare first Italian edition and first edition in any vulgate language of “the first handbook of modern systematic mineralogy” (Horblit/Grolier, Latin no. 1546). “Agricola’s most important work...after De re metallica itself, was De Natura Fossilium which was the first systematic mineralogy... The De Ortu et Causis Subterraneorum is considered the..... More

Rare first edition of the naturalist Charles de l’Ecluse’s (Carolus Clusius; 1526-1609) botany of Sir Francis Drake’s 1577-80 circumnavigation (the first by an Englishman), the first printed book in botanical literature to be substantially based on a specific trans-Atlantic voyage of any kind, and indeed the first substantial record of..... More

First edition of this potted version of Venetian history as seen through the portraits and other paintings hanging in or decorating some of the public rooms of the Palazzo Ducale after the fire of 1577, of art historical interest for the disposition of numerous famous Venetian paintings during the 16th..... More

Very rare first edition of this handsomely illustrated work on barbers giving detailed instructions on both the medical and aesthetic aspects of the profession. Published at a time when barbers saw their territory increasingly contested by professional surgeons, Malfi’s work stresses the medical knowledge of barbers and their expertise in..... More

Scarce augmented edition of this illustrated technological classic, "second only to Agricola in the number of original contributions to the literature of mining and metallurgy and the beauty of the graphic treatment of the crafts." - Dibner 89 (1574) It is testimony to the work's usefulness as a practical handbook..... 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

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

Scarce first printing of this elaborately produced facsimile of a 14th-century manuscript containing Philip the Fair's legislation concerning wagers of battle, the chivalric custom of settling disputes by force of arms rather than by the rule of law. This legislation, along with the ordinances of Louis IX against dueling (which..... More

Rare first edition presentation copy of a work on fossilized reptile footprints found in the New Red Sandstone formations of Corncockle Muir, located near Templand in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The naturalist William Jardine (1800-74) here records many specimens he found on the family estate, as well as items collected..... More