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
Item #3909
Venice: Marco Antonio Ulmo and Gratioso Perchachino, 1561. First edition, first issue, 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 pristine copy in an untouched contemporary binding. “The large amount of new material..... More
Item #5352
Venice: Heirs of Lucantonio Giunta, 1546. First edition of Fracastoro’s most important scientific work, forming “the foundation of all modern views on the nature of infectious diseases” (Heirs of Hippocrates 101). “The first scientific definition of contagion known and a competent discussion of causes of infection. Gives a clear account..... More
Item #5228
Lyon: Thibauld Payan, 1561. Second edition, almost four times the length of the first (1556), with 25 new illustrations including 22 instruments and three full skeletons. This is Franco’s major work, very rare, a copy in an untouched contemporary binding and with a fine provenance. “Pierre Franco, creator of suprapubic..... More
Item #4490
Paris: Chez l'autheur, 1663. First edition, rare, of this very important chemistry text, which went through some thirteen editions between 1663 and 1710. “The Traité is Glaser’s only publication. Printed in a small number at the author’s expense, the first edition was sold from his house. Rapidly becoming a best..... More
Item #3412
London: William du Gard for Laurence Sadler and Robert Beaumont, 1650. First edition, co-author’s copy, of the first full clinical description of rickets, then thought to have appeared only recently in England, and the first description of infantile scurvy. “In 1645 the Royal College of Physicians assigned to Glisson, Bate..... More
Item #5420
London: Printed by Francis Leach, 1653. First edition in English of De motu cordis (1628), in which was described the discovery and proof of the circulation of the blood; this is the very rare first issue with uncancelled title and this leaf unclipped by the printer (see below). Harvey’s discovery..... More
Item #5638
Berlin: Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1882-1883. First edition, extremely rare author’s presentation offprints, of all three parts of one of the founding paper of chemical thermodynamics, along with Josiah Willard Gibbs’s 1876 paper ‘On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances.’ In these papers, Helmholtz introduced the concept of ‘free energy’ and proved..... More
Item #5192
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
[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
Paris: Dentu; the author, 1809. First edition, a truly extraordinary copy printed on thick paper (papier vélin) and bound in contemporary red morocco gilt with arms, of Lamarck’s most complete presentation of his theory of evolution, “a classic in the literature of evolutionary theory” (PMM). Part I of the Philosophie..... More
Item #5503
Paris: Maradan, Seconde Année de la République, [1794]. First edition of the first of Lamarck’s full-length treatise on chemistry a copy with extensive near-contemporary annotations. “With the publication of the Recherches, Larmarck brought together the various strands of his work in physics and chemistry, and his views on the differences..... More
Item #5660
Paris: Gabon, November 1829 (vols. 1-3 and atlas); J.-B. Balliere, 1832 (vol. 4); J.-B. Balliere, 1836 (vol. 5 and atlas), 1829-1836. First edition, extremely rare when complete with all five text volumes and their two atlases, and in superb uniform contemporary bindings, of “Larrey’s longest surgical treatise, and the only..... More
Item #5782
Paris: chez l’Auteur, 1675. First edition, very rare, of the author’s famous chemical textbook. “Lemery’s highly successful Cours de chymie, which served as the textbook to his popular courses on chemistry, brought French chemical teaching out of the quasi-mystical Paracelsian tradition into the mainstream of Cartesian and atomistic natural philosophy..... More
Item #5402
Uppsala: np, 1749. First edition, extremely rare, of Linnaeus’ pioneer dissertation which created the science of ecology. “This essay was the first sketch of a science of ecology. Linnaeus used his economy-of-nature concept as an organising principle to unify an important, but previously amorphous, part of natural history. In so..... More
Item #5245
London: John Murray, 1830-1832-1833. First edition of this “classic by ‘the father of modern geology’” (Grolier/Horblit), famous for “establishing a new era in geology” (DSB), presenting the doctrine of uniformitarianism, namely, that the processes of the past must be judged by those of the present. “One of the key works..... More
Item #5181
Montpelier: Daniel Pech, 1671. First edition, very rare, of this important work, of which “less than a dozen copies are known to exist, most imperfect” (The Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library, vol. 2, p. 153. “Sold only by the author at his home in Montpellier, the Pratique contains clear..... More
Item #3380
Berlin (i.e., Paris): np, 1754. First edition in French, the earliest obtainable, and very rare, of Maupertuis’ remarkable original work on the nature of heredity and evolution, which marks him out, in the words of evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr (The Growth of Biological Thought, p. 328), as “one of the..... More
Item #5233
![Item #3910 Mutable loci in maize. [Offered with:] Some parallels between gene control systems in...](/pictures/thumb/3910.jpg?v=1592228766)
Washington: Carnegie Institution, 1948. 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..... More
Item #3910
![Item #5399 Libro de la Anothomia del hō[m]bre … Muy util y necessario a los medicos y...](/pictures/thumb/5399.jpg?v=1630929565)
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: 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
![Item #4395 Ars Transmutationis Metallicae ... [with, as issued] Commentarium theoricae Artis...](/pictures/thumb/4395.jpg?v=1592229202)
[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
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
Item #3697
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