Valladolid: Sebastian Martinez, 1551. First edition, very rare, of the first separate, and first illustrated, anatomical work in the vernacular printed in Spain. “While Valverde di Hamusco’s Historia de la composicion del cuerpo humano (1556) is often credited with introducing into Spain the Vesalian anatomical iconography coupled with a vernacular..... More
Item #5399

Venice: Evangelisto Deuchino, 1615. First edition, the Macclesfield copy, of this very rare and important work of Renaissance engineering and mathematics, Guidobaldo’s analysis of the theory and operation of Archimedes’ most famous mechanical invention, the ‘cochlea’ or ‘Archimedean screw’. This is a device used for raising water consisting of a...... More
Item #5425

Venice: Bernardo Giunta & G.B. Ciotti, 1609. First edition, very rare, of the principal astronomical work of one of the greatest Renaissance mathematicians. “Guidobaldo was Galileo’s patron and friend for twenty years and was possibly the greatest single influence on the mechanics of Galileo” (DSB). Guidobaldo was also influential in..... More
Item #2745

Venice: Remondini, 1761. First edition, first issue, a very fine copy, of “one of the most important [works] in the history of medicine” (Garrison & Morton). “After Antonio Benivieni (1443-1502), Giovanni Battista Morgagni is considered the founder of pathological anatomy. His ‘De sedibus’, regarded as one of the most important..... More
Item #5608

Paris: Antoine Boudet, 1746. First edition, rare on the market, of “the first specialized book on dental prosthetics” (G & M), and perhaps the first contribution to what would later be called “cosmetic dentistry.” “Mouton, in 1746, … gave to the light a monograph, the first extant, on mechanical dentistry..... More
Item #5166

Edinburgh: Andrew Hart, 1617. First edition, very rare, of one of the earliest mechanical calculating devices, using little rods of wood or ivory now known as ‘Napier’s bones’. Napier is best known today for his invention of logarithms, published in 1614 as Mirifici logarithmorum canonis decsriptio, the most important aid..... More
Item #5172

Leipzig & Berlin: Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig & Springer, 1869-1921. A remarkable collection of offprints, a major portion of the published works of Carl Gottfried Neumann (1832-1925), representing virtually all of the areas to which he contributed, most importantly the related fields of electromagnetism and potential theory. His lasting..... More
Item #4934

London: Benji & Sam. Tooke, 1722. Second edition, but the first authorised and edited by Newton (probably with the assistance of John Machin – see below), of his treatise on algebra, or ‘universal arithmetic,’ his “most often read and republished mathematical work” (Whiteside, Papers V, p. xiv). “Included are ‘Newton’s..... More
Item #5823

Paris: De Bure l’aine, 1740. First edition in French of Newton’s first exposition of his fluxional calculus, translated with a long and important preface by the celebrated naturalist Comte de Buffon. Originally written in 1671, in Latin, this was Newton’s first comprehensive presentation of his method of fluxions which, according..... More
Item #5802

Leipzig: E.W. Fritzsch, 1872. First edition in exceptionally rare original publisher's cloth binding. This copy previously handled by Bill Schaberg: "When I wrote The Nietzsche Canon: A Publication History and Bibliography (The University of Chicago Press, 1995), I had never even heard of these cloth copies of Nietzsche’s first book..... More
Item #4535

Berlin: J.G.F. Kniestädt for T.H. Riemann. 1827. First edition of “Ohm’s great work” (DSB), containing the fully-developed presentation of his theory of electricity, including Ohm’s Law. “Ohm’s great contribution − ‘The Galvanic Chain Mathematically Calculated’ − was to measure the rate of current flow and the effects of resistance on..... More
Item #5475

Pesaro: Girolamo Concordia, 1588. First edition of Pappus' Collection, translated with commentary by Federico Commandino, a princely copy from the notable collection of the great Papal family and patrons of learning, the Piccolomini, Dukes of Amalfi, thence by marriage to the German nobleman von Troilo. The Collection is “by far..... More
Item #5234

Paris: André Wechel, 1568. First edition of Paré’s extremely rare treatise on the plague, smallpox and measles, based upon his own direct observations of these diseases, “one of his best works” (Thornton, p. 63). “Having passed the winter of 1564-65 on tour in Provence with Catherine de Medici and the..... More
Item #4567