London: John Murray, 1872. Sixth edition (the first to employ the word ‘evolution’), inscribed by Darwin, of “the most influential scientific work of the nineteenth century” (Horblit), “the most important biological work ever written” (Freeman), and “a turning point, not only in the history of science, but in the history..... More
Item #4981
Newcastle: Printed by Edw. Walker for T. Bewick (and others), 1826. Charles Darwin's copy, signed and dated (1840) by him on the title-page of each volume, and containing additional autograph notations by Darwin, particularly with reference to the British finch. This is a highly significant volume from Darwin’s library –..... More
Item #5276
London: Rowland Hunter, 1818. First edition, in a fine contemporary royal binding, of Davy’s invention of the safety lamp, which immediately reduced the number of fatalities in coal mines, also allowed miners to mine deeper than was previously possible and was therefore fundamental to the rapid industrialisation of Britain during..... More
Item #5334
Leyden: Petrus Leffen and Franciscus Moyardus, 1662. First edition of “the first European textbook of physiology” (Norman). “Descartes considered the human body a material machine, directed by a rational soul located in the pineal body. This book was the first attempt to cover the whole field of ‘animal physiology’” (Garrison-Morton)..... More
Item #5655
Paris: Sebastien Mabre-Cramoisy at l’Imprimerie Royale, 1675 [colophon date]-1676 [title page date]. First edition of “one of the great books in the history of botanical illustration, where all the technical resources of engraving were utilized in presenting the plants as accurately as possible” (Hunt), here accompanied by 5 additional engraved..... More
Item #5358
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
Paris: Jean Mariette, 1728. First edition of Fauchard’s pioneering work in the field of modern dentistry. “Before Fauchard’s time the profession of dentistry was truly a ‘mystery: for its practitioners had steadfastly refrained from publishing details of their technique and equipment. Fauchard summarized in his pages with numerous illustrations all..... More
Item #5119
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
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 for W. and J. Innys & T. Woodward, 1727. First edition, and a particularly fine copy, of this important work on plant nutrition, experimental physiology, and pneumatic chemistry. “He studied the movement of sap in plants and discovered what is known now as root pressure. He measured the..... More
Item #5469
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, an extremely important association copy with extensive contemporary learned and critical annotations by a prestigious scientist and colleague of Lamarck. This was his most complete presentation of his theory of evolution, “a classic in the literature of evolutionary theory” (PMM). This copy..... More
Item #5541
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: 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
![Mutable loci in maize. [Offered with:] Some parallels between gene control systems in maize and...](/pictures/thumb/3910.jpg?v=1592228766)
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
Item #3910
![In cyrillic:] Osnovy Khimii [Principles of Chemistry]. Dmitry Ivanovich MENDELEEV](/pictures/thumb/5524.jpg?v=1648132449)
St. Petersburg: (Tovarishchestvo 'Obshchestvennaja Pol'za', for the author), 1869-1871. First edition, very rare, containing the first appearance of the periodic table of the elements. “Mendeleyev was a Russian chemist whose name will always be linked with his outstanding achievement, the development of the periodic table. He was the first chemist..... More
Item #5524