Venice: Vincentius Luchinus excudebat, 1564. First edition, very rare, of one of the most important of all anatomical books. It includes the first specific treatise on the kidney, the first account of the Eustachian tube in the ear, the first description of the thoracic duct, and the Eustachian valve, as... More about Opuscula anatomica
Item #3555

Padua: Lorenzo Pasquati, 1603. First edition, very rare first separate issue (see below), “of the first systematic study of the structure, distribution and position of the venous valves. Although the valves of the veins had been observed previously by G.B. Canano and Amato Lusitano, Fabrici studied them anew on the..... More about De venarum ostiolis
Item #3909

Venice: Marco Antonio Ulmo and Gratioso Perchachino, 1561. First edition, very rare, of the greatest Italian anatomical book of the sixteenth century, a detailed critical commentary on Vesalius’ De humani corporis fabrica. This is a fascinating copy with copious annotations by an early owner, in an untouched contemporary binding. “The..... More about Observationes anatomicae
Item #4136

Lyon: Antoine Vincent, [1556]. First edition, in an untouched contemporary binding and with a fine provenance, of this exceptionally rare work which “includes the first recorded description of an operation for strangulated hernia” (Garrison-Morton). This work is absent from many major medical collections, which regard the expanded second edition of..... More about Petit traité, contenant une des parties principales de chirurgie, laquelle les chirurgiens...
Item #4021

Paris: Chez l'autheur, 1663. Rare first edition of this very important chemistry text, which went through some thirteen editions between 1663 and 1710. It is one of the earliest attempts to strip chemistry from its alchemical mysticism and to describe chemical preparations in an unambiguous manner. "The work is divided... More about Traite de la Chymie. Enseignant par une brieve et facile methode toutes ses plus necessaires...
Item #3412

London: William Dugard, for Octavian Pulleyn, 1651. John Evelyn’s copy, and possibly the unique copy containing the portrait of Harvey, of the first edition of “the most important book on [embryology] to appear during the seventeenth century” (Garrison-Morton). In this work, “he rejected the prevailing doctrine of the preformation of..... More about Exercitationes de generatione animalium. Quibus accedunt quaedum de partu: de membranis ac...
Item #4785

[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 about On the chemical action of the rays of the solar spectrum on preparations of silver and other...
Item #4321

Washington: Carnegie Institution. First edition, the very rare offprint issue, of the first of the papers documenting McClintock’s discovery of ‘control elements,’ for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1983. “Between 1948 and 1951, McClintock carried out a series of sophisticated experiments with variegated maize..... More about Mutable loci in maize. [Offered with:] Some parallels between gene control systems in maize and...
Item #3910

[Venice: Tacuino, 1519 (colophon of part I dated September 1518)]. First edition of one of the greatest rarities in the alchemical and chemical literature; this is an exceptionally interesting copy, bound with twelve leaves of contemporary script conveying an all-encompassing ‘tree of human endeavours’, charting the features and visually suggesting... More about Ars Transmutationis Metallicae ... [with, as issued] Commentarium theoricae Artis Mettalicae...
Item #4395

Paris: André Wechel, 1572; 1568. First editions of two of Paré's most important works, both very rare, and in fine condition. “The Cinq livres contains all new material. It had been called by several serious writers Paré's chef d'oeuvre ... in it appears the first description of the fracture of..... More about Cinq livres de chirurgie. 1. Des bandages. 2. Des fractures. 3. Des luxations, avec une Apologie...
Item #3697

A fascinating letter with significant scientific content, providing material for an article in the French newspaper La Revue. Pasteur begins by providing Drion with a curriculum vitae up to the end of 1854: - Louis Pasteur was born in Dole (Jura) on the 27th of December1822 - Commenced studies at... More about Autograph letter signed (“L. Pasteur”), in French, Lille, 18 July, 1856, to Charles Alexandre...
Item #3809

Paris: Victor Masson, 1860. First edition, unopened in original printed wrappers, of Pasteur’s definitive proof that alcoholic fermentation is due to the action of a living organism (yeast), and is not a purely chemical process as most chemists since Lavoisier had believed. “What did this memoir add to the first..... More about Memoire sur la fermentation alcoolique
Item #3700

Paris: Mallet-Bachelier, 1858; 1860. First printings, in the very rare offprint form (first paper inscribed by Pasteur), of these two landmark papers, “often considered the beginning of bacteriology as a modern science, [which constitute] the first demonstration of the connection between a specific fermentation and the activity of a specific... More about Mémoire sur la Fermentation appelée lactique; Memoire sur la Fermentation alcoolique
Item #3688