[Leyden]: in bibliopolio Commeliniano sumptibus viduae Joannis Comelini, 1620. First edition, extremely rare, of one of the earliest modern works on atomism. “Gorlaeus is counted among the founders of modern atomism, which he proposed as an alternative to Aristotelian matter theory. Because of his notion of atomic compounds, he is..... More
Item #4573

Amsterdam: Johanned Jansson Waesberge, 1672. First edition, and a fine copy, of one of the great classics of science. “A book of prime importance in electrical discovery, air-pressure and the vacuum pump” (Dibner). Guericke proved the existence of a vacuum through his famous experiment, illustrated by one of the double-page..... More
Item #3763

London: William Jones, 1623. First edition, extremely rare complete as here, of Gunter’s book on the sector and other mathematical instruments, “one of the most influential scientific works on navigation” (Waters, p. 359), the work which introduced logarithms into the science of navigation and led to the development of the..... More
Item #5913

Leipzig: Leopold Voss, 1856-60-66-67. First edition, and the only recorded copy in the original parts, of “the most important book on the physiology and physics of vision” (Grolier/Horblit), and “one of the greatest books on physiological optics” (Garrison-Morton). This work encompassed all previous research in the field, including the results..... More
Item #5275

Philadelphia: Printed by James Kay, Jun. & Brothers, 1839. First edition, author’s presentation offprint, of the third and most important part of Henry’s Contributions to Electricity and Magnetism. Following on from his discovery of electromagnetic self-induction in 1832, in the present paper Henry extends his results on ‘galvanic’ electricity (current..... More
Item #4282

[1813-1850]. An extraordinary collection of works by Sir John Herschel (1792-1871), the outstanding astronomer and physical scientist of his day, assembled for presentation to his son William James Herschel (not to be confused with John’s father, the astronomer Frederick William). The collection includes offprints of Herschel’s three most important publications..... More
Item #4321

Leiden: Pieter van der Aa, 1690. First edition of Huygens’ path-breaking exposition of his wave or pulse theory of light. Huygens had developed his theory of light in 1676 and 1677, and “completed the Traité in 1678, but left it unpublished for twelve years, until stimulated by the appearance of Isaac..... More
Item #5350

Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1874-95. First edition, extremely rare offprint, of Janssen’s epoch-making description of his ‘photographic revolver’ and of its first results, “the first ‘film’” (Singer, A History of Technology V, p. 739). “The first practical device for sequential photography, invented to record the transit of Venus in 1874, was later..... More
Item #5495

Frankfurt: Claudius Marnius & heirs of Johannes Aubrius, 1604. First edition, an excellent copy, of the foundation work of modern optics. “Working within the perspectivist tradition of Alhazen, Roger Bacon, Witelo, John Pecham, and others, Kepler accepts that sight is possible due to rays emitted from visible objects, with these..... More
Item #5230

Paris; Paris: Veuve Desaint; de l’Imprimerie de la République, 1788; An V [1797]. An exceptional volume, in a fine contemporary binding, containing the first edition of Lagrange’s masterpiece, the Méchanique, “one of the outstanding landmarks in the history of both mathematics and mechanics” (Sarton, p. 470) and “perhaps the most..... More
Item #4300

Augsburg: Christoph Peter Detleffsen for the widow of Eberhard Klett, 1760. First edition, very rare, of this cornerstone of modern optics, with applications which touch on astronomy and photography; this is one of the rarest of modern science books of this stature. Lambert’s discoveries “are of fundamental importance in astronomy..... More
Item #5810

[Vols. I & II:] Brescia; [Vol. III:] Parma: Brescia: G. M. Riccardi; H. Rosati, 1684-86; 1692. First editions of two important works from the library of the distinguished Riccati family of mathematicians and physicists. The Prodromo, Lana’s most famous work, contains his design for an air-ship kept aloft by means..... More
Item #5640

London: Printed by John Baskett … And by the Assigns of Thomas Newcomb and Henry Hills, 1714. First edition of the Act of 1714 establishing a reward for the discovery of a method of determining longitude at sea. “An early example of a means adopted by a government for encouraging scientific discovery and progress” (Grolier/Horblit)..... More
Item #5273