Our previous Catalogue (n. 5) is still available (n. 1 - 73 books XVI - XVIII century; 74 - 107 textiles)

Our next catalogue is expected in March 2003

A selection from Catalogue n. 6  (you can ask a  printed copy (free) by fax, e-mail or telephone).

1 - (Agriculture, Horticulture) G. A. Agricola L’agriculture parfaite ou nouvelle découverte, touchant la culture & la multiplication des arbres, des arbustes et des fleurs; ouvrage fort curieux, qui renferme les plus beaux secrets de la Nature ... A Amsterdam, chez Pierre De Coup, 1720.

€ 2000

First French edition. The book had appeared originally in German in 1716-17; this French edition was preceded by a Dutch edition appeared in 1719 and followed by an English one appeared in 1721. Georg Andreas Agricola (Bauer, 1672-1738) was a physician and naturalist who spent most of his life in his native town of Regensburg. The appearance of this book made some clamor, as it seemed that Agricola claimed to be able to cause growth of vegetables at fantastic speed and must not have refrained from tricks for alluring the public and from alchemic experiments, as demonstrated by a figure where a homunculus within a flask is depicted beside a miniature fir and a cricket. In the caption of the plate he warns, with tongue in cheek, that these figures “paraissent être quelque chose mais sont néanmoins rien”. However Agricola was a sound experimentalist and this book is considered to be “the first book on cutting and grafting” (Hunt). He provided many useful indication how to reproduce plants from sections of their roots or their branches, how to graft different species of fruit plants on each other, therefore producing different fruits from only one tree. A chapter is dedicated to vineyards, with the suggestion how to increase their number and their product by cutting the branches destined to reproduction at the level of their knots. Another chapter pays a tribute to the Japanese fashion then raging, by teaching how to obtain bonsai which can survive long time.

& Musset-Pathay 27; Hunt 452 (English edition); Plesch page 123 (German edition); not in Nissen and Pritzel.

2 - (Botany) Tobia AldinI (i. e. P. CASTELLI) Exactissima descriptio rariorum quarundam plantarum, quae continentur Romae in Horto Farnesiano ... Romae typis Jacobi Mascardi 1625.

€ 4400

Only edition. The authorship of this work remained undecided until recently, when became apparent that the real author was the Sicilian physician Pietro Castelli (about 1590-1661). This attribution, already made by Pritzel on the basis of the final part of the foreword, is confirmed also in the gratulatory ode of the Belgian priest Jacobus Cornelius Lummenaeus on the third preliminary leaf. The authorship of Castelli and its concealment were apparently a public secret, to be probably explained by some rivality between himself and Aldini for the post of Director of the Farnesian Botanical Garden, then owned by Aldini. The first botanical garden of Europe had been opened in Padua in 1591 and was followed by many others throughout the continent; that of the Cardinal Edoardo Farnese (1573-1626) was one of the most splendid of his time. Because of his high-placed relations Farnese, a son of Alessandro Farnese, who was a nephew of Charles V of Spain, could acquire most uncommon specimens of exotic plants, among which the then exotic mimosa, whose first description is present in this book. Among the depicted plants the American species as yucca, passion fruit, American aloes etc. Other are from the old world, as e. g. cinnamon (with a long note concerning Garcia de Orta). At the end of the text a table is found correlating various diseases with the therapeutic action of the plants described in the volume. The splendid unsigned illustrations are copper-engravings instead of the usual woodcuts. This was a technique only exceptionally used in the beginning of the XVII century for the representation of plants. In fact the only books of the period illustrated with copper-engravings of plants were those of Fabio Colonna (Phytobasanos and Ekphrasis), the last of which also printed by Mascardi. It is interesting to note that Colonna dedicated his Ekphrasis to Edoardo Farnese and that Castelli seemed to have some enmity for him, as the many references to Colonna in the text of the present work are mostly in the negative.

& Alden/Landis 625/49; Pritzel 1590; Nissen 13; Hunt 208; Plesch 125; Krivatsy 2247; Cobres 581: “Selten und sauber”.

3 - (Drawings, Architecture) ANON Album.

€ 1300

The pictures were probably designed by an unidentifiable designer as theater sceneries. In fact they have some “air de famille” with known models designed e. g. by Sanquirico. The hand of the artist is surely educated and appropriate models have been chosen, as e. g. Piranesi (Carceri d’Invenzione) for plates 5 and 9 and Bibbiena for most of the remaining plates. The treatment of shadows is masterly and suggests that the scenes have not been drawn in a studio but rather “en plein air”. The views of towns remind with certainty some towns of Northern Italy, the first being probably Verona.

4 - (Metrology) (Anon) Esposizione copiosissima di tutte le misure e pesi comuni in Europa, in Affrica, in Asia e in America etc. Si aggiungono CLXX nuove tavole numeriche che espongono, ed eseguiscono la celebre scoperta e il famoso metodo del sig. de Traytorens. Pisa, Pizzorno, 1766.

€ 750

First edition, reprinted in 1776. Before the unification of weight and measures brought about by French revolution and Italian unity Italy had several systems to determine weighs and measures. This manual is based on the measure system used in Genoa. A manual explaining the Genoese system had been printed in Nice in 1742, but this is the first edition including the numerical tables worked out according to the notation of Traytorens, a Swiss scientist, in 1717. The first volume contains the explanation of the Genoese measure units and their equivalence with those used in other Italian states, the Mediterranean coasts of France and the Levant. Several interesting observations are interspersed in the text, including subjects as saffron production and wine and corn trade. The second volume contains the tables with the numbers until 10000 expressed as the product of all their factors expressed in the simplified way devised by Traytorens.

& Riccardi I, 431-2; Hist. de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, 1717, p 42 ff (on Traytorens); not in Kress.

5 - (Astronomy) Aristarchus De magnitudinis et distantiis Solis et Lunae liber. Cum Pappi Alexandrini explicationis quibusdam. A Federico Commandino Urbinate in Latinum conversus, ac commentariis illustratus. Pisauri, apud Camillum Francischinum, 1572.

€ 10000

First independent edition and only edition of the translation of Commandino. An incunable edition had already appeared in 1498 as appendix of the treatise upon logic by Nikephoros Blemmides. The original Greek text appeared only in 1688. “Aristarchos of Samos (310-230 b.C.) is celebrated as the first man to have propounded a heliocentric theory, eighteen centuries before Copernicus ... The sole surviving work of A. is the treatise On the sizes and distances of the Sun and the Moon. To his contemporaries A. was known as “the mathematician”... On sizes and distances is indeed the work of a highly competent mathematician ... On sizes and distances marks the first attempt to determine astronomical distances and dimensions by mathematical deductions based upon a set of assumptions. His last assumption assigns a grossly excessive estimate to the apparent angular diameter of the moon ... A. discovered the sun’s apparent angular diameter to be 1/720 part of the zodiac circle, a close and respectable estimate. A. uses a geocentric orientation in On sizes and distances and concludes that the sun’s volume is over 300 times greater than the earth’s volume. For these reasons it is generally assumed that the treatise was an early work, antedating his heliocentric hypothesis ... A’s treatise begins with six assumptions: 1) That the moon receives its light from the sun; 2) That the earth has the relation of a point and center to the sphere of the moon; 3) That when the moon appears to us to be exactly at the half the great circle dividing the light and dark portions of the moon is in line with the observers’ eye; 4) That when the moon appears to us to be at the half its distance from the sun is less than a quadrant by 1/30 part of a quadrant; 5) That the breadth of the earth’s shadow (during eclipses) is that of two moons; 6) That the moon subtends 1/15 part of a sign of the zodiac. He then states that he is in a position to prove three propositions: 1) The distance of the sun from the earth is more than eighteen but less than twenty times the moon’s distance from the earth ...; 2) The diameter of the sun has the same ratio to the diameter of the moon ...; 3) The diameter of the sun has to the diameter of the earth a ratio greater than 19:3, but less than 43:6 ... Then follow eighteen propositions containing the demonstrations ... Anticipating trigonometric methods that were to come, A. was the first to develop geometric procedures for approximating the size of small angles ...” (DSB).

& DSB I, pages 246-250. Riccardi I, 362 (not seen); Houzeau-Lancaster 820; Adams A-1696.

6 - (Perspective) Silvio Belli L’arte di misurare con la vista ... nella quale si insegna, senza travagliar con i numeri, a misurar facilissimamente le distanze, l'altezze e le profondità con il Quadrato Geometrico e con altri strumenti, de'quali in ogni luogo quasi in un subito si può procedere. Si mostra ancora una bellissima via di ritrovare la profondità di qualsivoglia mare; & un metodo industrioso di misurar il circuito di tutta la terra. Con privilegio. Venezia, appresso Giordano Ziletti, 1570 (on colophon: 1569).

€ 1300

Second issue of the second edition, appeared previously with the dates of 1565 and 1566; the previous issue bears the date of 1569. One of the most popular manuals on surveying and measurement of distances during the XVI century. Silvio Belli (?-1575), born in Vicenza, was active as an architect in Venise and in Rome. The book concerns the use of simple optical methods to measure any type of distance, the elevation of a building, the depth of any depression etc. The nice, homogeneously strongly impressed woodcuts provide detailed practical examples how to carry out the operations described in the text. It is interesting to note that Belli tries to keep the treatment of the matter as accessible to the layman as possible and in the meantime he keeps his subject on a high scientific standard. Much of the book rests on older geometrical knowledge, as shown in Smith; for instance an example from this book concerns the use of the second congruence theorem of Thales to determine the width of a river. The use of the drumhead trigonometry for measuring angles of elevation or heights of buildings for essentially military purposes is also discussed.

& Smith (History of Mathematics) II, pages 285-286 and 355 (with two illustrations); Riccardi, I, 107: "Pregiato libretto”; Cicognara 427 (collected works): "Le tavole sono intagliate in legno e benissimo disegnate"; Kat. Berl. 1702; STC Italian 79; Adams B-520; Boffitto (Gli strumenti della scienza) 100.

7 - (Sundials) Giovanni Battista Benedetti De Gnomonum umbrarumq(ue) solarium usu liber. Augustae Taurinorum (Turin), apud haeredes Nicolai Bevilacquae, 1578.

€ 13000

Only edition. The Venetian patrician Giovan Battista Benedetti (1530-1590) began his scientific career in his native town, publishing his “Resolutio omnium Euclidis problematum” when he was only 22. In 1558 he went to Parma to serve as an astronomer for Ottavio Farnese with some success; in 1567 he became court mathematician of the Duke of Savoy Emanuele Filiberto and remained there until his death, publishing there his most important books, of which this is the first. He can be considered “the most immediate forerunner of Galileo ... This book is the most comprehensive treatise on the subject to that time … The original editions are very scarce.” (Stillman Drake in DSB). Beside dealing with the construction of sundials at various inclinations and also with dials on cylindrical and conical surfaces, Benedetti describes a conoidal sundial of his own invention. An interesting feature of the book is that Benedetti comments on a theorem of Copernicus, mentioning his name in the heading of the chapter. Even though Copernicus had not been excommunicated, his work had been put on the Index and therefore it was dangerous to mention it in Italy during the Counter-Reformation. Evidently the protection of Emanuele Filiberto, the Duke of Savoy, was sufficient to permit the study of forbidden authors in Turin. This copy comes from the library of Andreas Dudith or Dudic (1533-1589), former bishop of Knin and Pecs, one of the fathers of the Tridentine Council, and later advisor to the Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. After his marriage he was excommunicated and retired to Breslau, then to Cracow and in the end to his domain in Moravia, where he dedicated himself to scientific pursuits. Though he manifested some sympathy for the Reformation (see at length D. Cantimori), he remained advisor to the Habsburg Emperors. He was no mere amateur of science, as he was in contact with Georg Rheticus, a famous disciple of Copernicus, and authored a book on comets appeared in 1579. His large library was dispersed after his death and ended in the castle of Prince Dietrichstein in Nikolsburg, where much of it was plundered by Swedish troops during the 30-year war. Another large section of it was brought to Dresden, and what remained was transported to Hungary. The signature on title and the notes on the margins of the preface are in red ink, as in the last book in trade from his library (Cat. K. Meuschel). Significantly that book was also a scientific one, the nonpareil edition of Plinius edited by Milich.

& DSB I, 604-609; D. Cantimori (Eretici Italiani del Cinquecento, Einaudi, Torino); Antiquariat Konrad Meuschel, Cat. 59, Buch und Autograph, Bad Honnef, about 1988; STC Italian page 82; Adams B-653; Houzeau-Lancaster 11377: “Rare”; Riccardi 1/I, 111: “Raro e molto apprezzato”; Mortimer Italian 53. We are indebted to Ing. Ivan Dubravcic, Delft, for the information on the library of Andreas Dudith.

8 - (Engineering, Hydraulics) Jean-Jacques Béraud Mémoire sur la manière de resserrer les lits des torrens et des rivières. A Aix, des imprimeries de Gibelin-David et Emeric-David, 1791.

€ 750

Only edition. Jean-Jacques Béraud (1754-1794) was a secular priest, who taught mathematics in Marseilles and was obliged to flee to Spain by the Revolution. He authored previously a book on wine adulteration and several memoirs on different subjects of natural history. The book concerns methods devised by Béraud on the restriction of river beds, which was of foremost importance in Provence, where impetuous torrents cause swamping. The method proposed by Béraud was to change the form of dams from a L-shaped construction to a T-shaped one, and to reinforce their structure by covering them with ground and planting horizontally trees, which would have strengthened them. The solution was possibly an ingenious one, as trees can grow horizontally if their growth direction is forced, but apparently the difficulty of practicing this method of construction made that it was never followed and placed Béraud more in the category of literary fools than in that of the serious scientists.

& Poggendorff I, 146; not in Roberts/Trent and in the Catalogue Giraud-Badin Presses provinciales.

9 - (Watches) Ferdinand Berthoud L’art de conduire et de régler les pendules et les montres; à l’usage de ceux qui n’ont aucune connoissance d’horlogerie. A Paris, chez l’auteur et M. Lambert, 1759.

€ 1200

First edition of the first work by Berthoud; the extraordinary success obtained by this book can be measured by 5 following editions (last in 1836) and translations into Dutch, Spanish, German and Italian. Ferdinand Berthoud, a Swiss horologist (Neuchatel 1725 - Groslay 1807), was the most prominent author on horological matters during the second half of the XVIII century. Four years later he published his “Essai sur l’horlogerie” which made his name famous throughout Europe. Following his invention of a marine clock he was appointed Mécanicien de la Marine. This book, written for those with no previous knowledge of the functioning and mechanism of watches and clocks, contains very little theory, but instead a wealth of practical knowledge on how to buy, regulate and preserve watches and clocks. The last part of the book contains tables for the correction of time. The nice plates are signed Choffard and depict parts of watches and clocks.

& Baillie page 250; Kat. Berl. 1757.

10 - (Splendid ceremonies) (Ch. J. Bévy) Histoire des inaugurations des rois, empereurs, et autres souverains de l’univers; depuis leur origine jusqu’à présent. Suivie d’un précis de l’état des arts et des sciences sous chaque regne; des principales faits, moeurs, coutumes & usages les plus remarquables des François, depuis Pepin jusqu’à Louis XVI. Paris, chez Moutard, 1776.

€ 1000

Only edition; a later issue appeared with the names of the author. Charles-Joseph Bévy (St. Joseph near Orléans, 1738 - Paris 1830) was a Benedictine friar who wrote exclusively books on heraldic matters. The book is a history of the enthronements of different kings, starting from antiquity and following until the crowning of Louis XVI. In the first part Bévy describes the ceremonies of enthronement in the different countries of Europe, among which Turkey, Hungary, Spain etc. are represented. The consecration of the Kings of France take the longest part of the book; the cultural history of the different reigns is kept into account. The plates, somewhat stiff but pleasant, depict costumes of different periods and are the work of Michel Rieg. This unknown painter seems to have designed the plates for this only book.

& Colas 320; Lipperheide Sa15; Cohen-De Ricci 144-145; Lewine 57.

11 - (Volta) (Tommaso BIANCHI) Della vita del conte Alessandro Volta patrizio comasco. In Como coi tipi di C. Pietro Ostinelli, 1829.

€ 600

Only edition of the first biography of Volta, appeared two years after his death and compiled by Tommaso Bianchi, a secular priest from Blerio, a village near Como. Bianchi was not personally acquainted with Volta, but could meet many of the persons who surrounded him during his last years and therefore obtain close witnesses on his subject. The biography of Volta is followed in detail, paying attention both to his scientific achievements and to the personal details as his marriage. The controversy with Galvani is recapitulated and there are several chapters on Volta’s invention, the electric pile. This biography has also a bibliographic value as most of Volta’s works are mentioned and some details on their appearances are provided. Bianchi has inserted in the last sections some poetical compositions of his making in the honor of Volta.

& Melzi III, 222; not in Honeyman.

12 - (Calligraphy) George Bickham The universal penman: or the art of writing. Made useful to the gentleman and scholar, as well as to the man of business. London, printed for Robert Sayer, (1741).

€ 4100

First edition, republished in 1743 under the address of the publisher Overton. Modern reprints have also been issued, one of which with a long scholarly preface of Philip Hofer. Judging from the prospectus of Overton (dated 1756), the book, which had been published in installments, was then for sale for 1 pound 5 shillings unbound, and was also available in separate parts. Overton had bought the rights and the plates from Sayer. This is to be considered not only “one of the most important English writing books” (Whalley and Kaden), but one of the best writing books of the XVIII century. The author, George Bickham (Richmond 1684 - London 1769) was renowned as an engraver whose extraordinary talent permitted him to cut the plate directly through the wax without the help of a drawing made on the wax itself, and as a gifted portraitist. The first leaves of this book were issued from about 1733 throughout 1741. The complete series of 212 engravings required 8 years to be completed, despite the claims of the publisher to be able to deliver an issue of 4 leaves for every week in one year. From the graphic point of view this book is an extraordinary example of typographic virtuosity, comprising not only samples of every type of writing in use in England at that time but also some 120 vignettes and several engraved tail-pieces depicting genre-scenes, and ornamental borders. Especially striking are the numerous trompe-l-oeils disseminated throughout the calligraphic examples. The book is addressed not only to the rich amateur and to the studious youth, but to the practical businessman, in the entrepreneurial spirit of the time, which can be summarized with the words “useful and beautiful”. The whole second part (plates 113-212) contains example of commercial letters, where a innumerable products are described, as i. a. different types of tissues, wood, drugs, wine, Oriental craftsmanship products etc. are mentioned. Several types of business are concerned, as e. g. bills of exchange, receipts, purchases at auction, bankers’ scripts and even samples of Oriental characters. The addresses to or from which these letters are sent include Bordeaux, Constantinople, Amsterdam and other European and extra-European places of trade. The calligraphic examples of the book are not only due to Bickham himself, but to more than twenty contemporary penmen, including N. Dove, J. Champion, and C. Snell. The portraits of the last two were joined to the book by a previous owner. Bickham himself was the engraver of most of the plates.

& Kat. Berl. 5062 (a copy of the Overton edition of 1743, without one plate); Bonacini 208; Ekstrom pages 78-81; Heal pages 71-72; P. Meggs (A history of graphic design) page 112 and figures 8-9; Wiles page 288; J. I. Whalley and V. C. Kaden (The universal penman, London 1980) nos 118 and 250.

13 - (Architecture, Carpentry) Edme Blanchard Traité de la coupe des bois pour le revêtement des voûtes, arrière-voussures, trompes, rampes et tours rondes, utile aux arts de charpente, menuiserie et marbrerie. A Paris, chez J. Josse & C. Jombert, 1729.

€ 1300

Only edition. Edme Blanchard, whose dates are not available to us, was a master carpenter. His works treats “of the use of wood for architectural decoration, paneling, woodcarving etc., in which the French were particularly skillful as well as a short section on marble cutting.”(Fowler). The book is dedicated to Monsieur De Cotte, superintendent of the Royal building works; in the preface Blanchard complains that no work had appeared thus far in French on carpentry applied to architecture. The treatment of the matter begins from the geometrical bases and continues with subjects as the use of curvilinear elements for use in ceilings, staircases and vaults. The choice of his models reveals Blanchard as an artist working especially for the Church, as many of them are altars.

& Brunet I, 963: “Ouvrage recherché et qui se trouve difficilement”; Cicognara 885: “Opera ben fatta per le pratiche con 46 tavole in rame”; Kat. Berl. 1253; Guilmard page 165 (only two engravings from the present book); Fowler 45; not in Millard.

14 - (Engraving) Abraham Bosse Traité des manières de graver en taille douce sur l’airin (!). Par le moyen des eaux-fortes & des vernis doux et mols ... A Paris, chez ledit Bosse, 1645.

€ 3000

First edition. The second edition, with some addition by Sébastien Leclerc, in 1701. A third was to follow in 1745, with the substantial additions of Cochin, and a fourth followed in 1758, with the addition of two plates by Louis-Marin Bonnet, the inventor of the crayon manner of color printing. This original text had been translated in English, German and Dutch and even into Portuguese in 1803. Abraham Bosse (1602-1676) was one of the most productive engravers of the XVII century, beyond being the author of several architectural treatises where he developed the ideas of Désargues. “His treatise on the intaglio techniques, dedicated to “Messieurs les Amateurs”, of the art of engraving and etching, contains a lengthy and detailed series of instructions touching every aspect of engraving with a burin and etching on both hard- and soft-grounds. Several chapters are dedicated to preparation of the plates and the varnishes, others cover the actual techniques of engraving and etching, and the final section is devoted to printing. Each process is illustrated with finely engraved plates by Bosse. The frequently reprinted and widely translated work was “not only the first on its subject but for more than a century it remained the standard” (Ivins, as cited in Norman Sale Catalogue). “Cet ouvrage est un manuel très complet à destination non pas des simples amateurs d’estampes mais des praticiens de cet art. Bosse donne des détails techniques sur la composition des vernis et acides, sur les instruments et la manière de les utiliser. Il explique également comment imprimer les estampes et fournit tous les éléments permettant de construire la nécessaire presse à taille douce. Bien que ce soit surtout l’historien de l’estampe qui tire profit de ce petit livre, un graveur d’aujourd’hui peut encore y trouver des utiles informations. Le Traité de Bosse a connu un succès fort honorable ...” (En français dans le texte). “This is the first edition of a work which was notable for its completeness for the time of its production, and its plates, which have been reproduced by most subsequent writers on art ...” (Bigmore-Wyman page). “La più antica di queste edizioni di Abraham Bosse é molto rara ... essendo un libro meritatamente apprezzato e adoperato dagli artisti” (Cicognara).

& Ivins (Print and visual communication, Cambridge 1969) page 75; Norman Sale Catalogue 317; Norman 279; En français dans le texte 92; Bigmore-Wyman page 72; Cicognara 251; Kat. Berl. 4652; Blum (L’oeuvre gravée de Abraham Bosse) pages 403-421.

15 - (Crystallography) L. Bourguet Lettres philosophiques sur la formation des sels et des cristaux et sur la génération & la mécanique organique des plantes et des animaux ... Avec un mémoire sur la théorie de la Terre. A Amsterdam, chez François L’Honoré, 1729.

€ 1100

First edition, reprinted in 1762 by Rey in Amsterdam. Louis Bourguet (Nîmes 1678 - Neuchâtel 1742) led a very hectic life; born in France from Protestant parents he had to flee with them to Switzerland at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and was obliged to enter the family firm and to work in it before becoming free of leading the studious life he intended. He traveled frequently to Italy where he got acquainted with many prominent naturalists, among whom Vallisneri, Monti and Zendrini, to whom this book is dedicated. This is the first book by Bourguet, the second was the more famous “Traité des petrifications” appeared in 1742. It has the form of four letters directed to Scheuchzer, where Bourguet “compares the elementary process of the mineral world (crystallization) and of the living world (generation, assimilation, growth). Crystal growth is a product of the mineral mechanism, whereas the growth of plants and animals is an effect of the organic mechanism ... Bourguet studied stalactites and described their internal radial structure ... Bourguet’s attempt to explain crystallization was innovative. He asserted that a crystal is created not from water, but in water which carries a multitude of extremely small particles, the fusion of which creates a crystal or concretion. To each crystalline substance there correspond particles of specific, determinate shape where particular laws of growth govern the external form ... In speaking about a “theory of Earth” Bourguet intended a rational reconstruction of its history and dynamic causality, which he claimed to deduce solely from his observations. He declared that all parts of Earth as it is presently constituted are more or less coeval, dating from the time of the Flood. This deluge was not a supernatural miracle, but the amplification of normal processes ... Bourguet elaborated a genuine theory of orogeny ... Mountains were formed near the end of the “grand changement” (or renovation of the Earth by the Flood) when the flat-lying, concentric new strata, rebuilt from the dissolution of the ancient word, began to harden. The acceleration of the earth’s rotation then induced an upward thrust, or dynamic “direction d’élévation”. He explained the differing local arrangement of the strata by the variable degree of consolidation at the start. Furthermore, he attributed their “more or less regular conformity” to the earth’s motion and to the general and particular orientation of the chain being formed. Such considerations point directly to the ideas of H. B. De Saussure.” (DSB).

& DSB XV, pages 52-59; Linda Hall Library (Theories of the Earth 1644-1830) page 19; Needham (History of Embryology) pages 61, 207 and 223; Hoover 159; Ward & Carozzi 281.

16 - (Mechanics) Benjamin Bramer Kurze Meynung de vacuo, oder lährem Orte, neben andern wunderbaren und subtilen Quaestionen. Desgleichen Nicolai Cusani Dialogus von Wag und Gewicht / auß dem Lateinischen verteutscht/ unnd den Liebhabern zu gefallen an Tag gegeben. Gedruckt zu Marpurg, durch Paul Egenolff / im Jahr 1617.

€ 5000

Only edition. This is the fourth book published by Benjamin Bramer (Felsberg 1588 - Ziegenhain 1652), the prominent mathematician and instrument-maker. He was a pupil of his foster father Jobst Bürgi, court clockmaker in Kassel. After having followed Bürgi to Prague he returned to Kassel and was nominated master builder at the court of Hesse-Kassel. In this book one can see “his wide-ranging interests” (DSB II) as he discusses several subjects as the nature of vacuum, reaching the conclusion that it does not really exist as what is known as vacuum is rather air which escapes from the different bodies or recipients in which it is enclosed by virtue of water or other substance penetrating in them or by fire. This position was identical to that of Campanella. Several problems are dealt with and solved experimentally, and many interesting conclusions upon transmission of heat, density and pressure are reached. Bramer observes something close to the Guericke experiment in Magdeburg, suggesting to eliminate air from the space between two superposed dishes and noticing then that also a very strong man has difficulty in separating them. Bramer did not however push further this line. The second part contains the first German translation of the fourth “Idiota” dialogue by Nicolaus Cusanus (Bernkastel-Kues 1401- Todi 1464). The “Idiota” (i. e. ignorant) dialogues, four in number, are entitled respectively “De sapientia” (I-II), “De mente” and “De staticis experimentis”. This last “has a more practical bias, and contains numerous methods for determining physical parameters through the use of such apparatus as scales and a water clock - for example the work tells in detail how to determine the humidity of air by measuring the weight of wool” (DSB III). The practical slant of this fourth part of the “Idiota” must have been congenial to Bramer; he did not translate it himself as he recognizes to be unable to speak Latin and Greek, but states that a friend of his has translated it for him. In recognizing the importance of this text Bramer has anticipated the modern historians of science, who have given Cusanus an eminent place in the development of mathematical physics. “(Cusanus) was one of the pioneers in modern mathematical physics, and his studies on measurement and specific gravity are of the first importance ... In “Statica Experimenta” he records the famous experiment, antedating Hales 200 years, of weighing earth and seeds, then the resulting plants, their ashes, and the earth in which they had grown.” (Osler). This volume is also important because it contains the first appearance of Cusanus in the German language.

& DSB II, page 419 and III, pages 512-516; W. Osler (Bibliotheca Osleriana) 7465; Poggendorff I, 274; Honeyman 495.

17 - (Ornithology) (P. Bulliard) Aviceptologie françoise, ou traité général des de toutes les ruses dont on peut servir pour prendre les oiseaux qui se trouvent en France. A Paris, chez P. Fr. Didot, 1778.

€ 850

First edition, often reprinted until the half of the following century. Pierre Bulliard (1742-1793), who was later to acquire fame as the author of the gigantic “Herbier de la France”, had published only his Flora Parisiensis before the present book. Bulliard states in the preface to be acquainted with bird catching since his youth and that this book is the result of his experiences. The book is divided in two sections, the first of which deals with the instruments necessary to bird catching, among which whistles imitating the songs of birds, while the second concerns the construction of the different machineries useful for the purpose, among which false animals which camouflage a hunter, ambulant haystacks and different types of traps, set in action by gears or movable weights. The last section contains a dictionary of the terms of most common use in bird catching.

& Souhart 524; Thiébaud 139; Schwerdt I, 89: “A good book on the subject with apparently original plates”; Harting 279: “Contains some useful suggestions for capturing hawks.”.

18 - (Politics) Gerolamo CARDANO Arcana politica sive de prudentia civili liber singularis. Lugduni Batavorum (Leiden) ex Officina Elzeviriana, 1635.

€ 450

Second edition, the first with this title, the first issue. A second issue of this edition appeared in 1656. This book had appeared in 1627 by the same publisher under the title of "Proxeneta sive de prudentia civili liber", with the annotation "recens in luce protractus: vel e tenebris erutus" (i. e. recently reappeared to the light or ejected from the darkness). Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576) was one of the most remarkable figures of the Italian Renaissance, a real polymath, whose interests ranged from philosophy to mechanics, geometry and medicine. This book, in which Cardano exposes his considerations on the theme of politics and relations among human beings, appeared lately with respect to the other work of C., published in general during his life. The text is unchanged with respect to the first edition, but the title is different and another dedication (to A. Vorstius resp. D. Carolus Fayus) has replaced the original one.

& Willems 421.

19 - (Fortification) Girolamo CATTANEO Novarese Libro nuovo di fortificare, offendere, et difendere. Con il modo di fare gli alloggiamenti campali. In Brescia, presso Thomaso Bozzola, 1567.

€ 1400

Second corrected edition, the first appeared in 1564. Girolamo Cat(t)aneo (fl. second half of the XVI century) was one of the most important military architects in Europe. He published a series of works on the different aspects of military art, which were collected later in one volume and translated in French and partly in English. This work, appeared for the first time in 1564, is Cattaneo's foremost contribution to the theory and practice of fortification. In it both the ways of defending as well of attacking a fortress are discussed, together with the various systems to build ramparts, to dispose soldiers both in defense and in attack. Some attention is dedicated to artillery and its use. Cattaneo relies both on his experience, mentioned on the first pages (e. g. the fortification of Porto Ercole, Bologna etc.) and from the military experience made in other countries. The nice, very detailed woodcuts depict fortresses and disposition of armed forces; they are unsigned. The complete treatment concerning the construction of military constructions begins from the simplest geometrical concepts and is extremely accurate.

& Cockle 771; Riccardi I, 312. 2. 2: "Raro"; Marini pages 22-23; Brunet knows only the editions of 1571ff. This edition not in STC Italian and Adams.  

20 - (Militaria) Girolamo CATTANEO Novarese Tavole Brevissime per sapere con prestezza quante file vanno a formare una giustissima battaglia. Con li suoi armati di corsaletti, da cento fino a ventimila huomini. Et appresso un facilissimo, et approvato modo di armarla di archibugieri, & di ale di cavalleria secondo l'uso moderno. In Brescia, appresso Thomaso Bozola, 1567.

€ 500

First edition, later appeared in the complete works of Cataneo in 1571 ."The first few pages of text explain the table, which is arranged in sixteen columns (seventeen in the Italian edition), showing at a glance the number of men in each rank, and the number of ranks, and parts requisite for any given formation etc., for a force numbering from 100 to 20, 000 men, C. observes, however, that it is almost impossible that so many men should be engaged all at once; the usual number would be from 10, 000 to 12, 000." (Cockle).

& Cockle 529 and 19 (for the English translations of 1584 and 1588). Riccardi I, 315. 4. 2; this edition not in STC Italian and Adams.

21 - (Ornaments) F. Chauveau Divers masques. Jeremias Wolff excudit Augusta Vind. (without date but late XVII-early XVIII century).

€ 1200

First edition of the reversed impressions of this cycle of grotesques. The first edition had appeared in Paris, with two masks each, occupying nine leaves beside title. François Chauveau (Paris 1613-1676) was, in the opinion of Mariette, “an engraver with a fertile imagination”. He engraved many pieces, some of which provided the basis for frescoes in the Tuileries and the Louvre. The engraver Jeremias Wolff (+1724) was the first to publish collections of ornament prints with regularity. He numbered the suites he published; the present one bears the number 226.

& Kat. Berl. 315 (mentioning both the Paris edition and the present one).

22 - (Astronomy) J. P. Loys De Cheseaux Traité de la comète qui a paru en Décembre 1743 & en Janvier, Février et Mars 1744, contenant outre les observations de l’auteur, celles qui ont été faites à Paris par Mr. Cassini et à Genève par M. Calandrini. On y ajoint diverses observations et dissertations astronomiques ... A Lausanne et Genève, chez Marc-Michel Bosquet, 1744.

€ 2200

Only edition. Jean-Philippe Loys De Cheseaux (Lausanne 1718 - Paris 1751) was a rich amateur scientist who lived in his domain at Cheseaux near Lausanne, where he had an astronomical observatory erected. During his short life he became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences in Paris and of the Royal Society in London. A keen astronomer, he discovered a new comet in 1746 and several new stars. The list of these newly discovered stars was read by Réaumur during a session of the Academy of Sciences in Paris, but subsequently lost and found again only in 1884 by Bigourdan. The comet which passed through the European skies from December 1743 through March 1744 was one of the most extraordinary celestial phenomena ever seen; during March 1744 it took a red color and exhibited a tail with several large rays. This extraordinary comet had been discovered by Dirk Klingenberg at Haarlem contemporarily to Cheseaux, and has been baptized after both discoverers. The present book is interesting for several different reasons. In the first place Cheseaux was the first scientist to calculate the orbit of a comet using Newtonian mechanics. In the second place Cheseaux was the first, in one of the appendixes to the main work, to formulate the so-called paradox of Olbers or Olbers-Cheseaux. This paradox, named by the first astronomer who has formulated clearly some 70 years after the death of Cheseaux, is the following: supposing that the Universe is infinite and homogeneously populated by stars, how is it possible to explain that nocturnal sky is black? The answer of Cheseaux consists in the hypothesis that in the interstellar spaces some matter exists, which is capable to absorb the light. This answer is clearly unacceptable, but several of the positions of Cheseaux have been vindicated by following research, among which his postulate that the Universe is infinite. In this book he discloses also an ingenious and accurate method to calculate the distance of the stars nearer to our planet, and various observations on the lunar phases, on meteorology and on the best use of the astronomical instruments. His observatory was endowed with a rather simple instrumentation, consisting of a 14- feet full-length refractor, a 2-feet full-length Gregorian reflector and a quadrant which could measure to an accuracy of 15 minutes of arc.

& Lalande page 423; Brüning 1668 (not seen, citing Struve no. 38); not in Houzeau-Lancaster.

23 - (Astronomy) Cristophorus Clavius Responsio ad convicia, et calumnias Iosephi Scaligeri, in calendarium Gregorianum. Item refutatio cyclometriae ejusdem. Moguntiae, excudebat Johannes Albinus, 1609.

€ 1250

First edition, republished later in the complete works of Clavius in 1612. It appears that both parts of this work had been written earlier, about 1595, but were published only in 1609. The editor was Johann Reinhard Ziegler (1569-1636), another Jesuit mathematician and later also editor of the complete works of Clavius, who dedicated the book to Johann Reichard Brömser from Rüdesheim, a Moguntian nobleman, the vice-president of the Moguntian Academy and an amateur mathematician. Christophorus Clavius (Bamberg 1537 -Rome 1612), the first prominent Jesuit mathematician, was opposed to Copernican ideas, even though he stayed all his life a friend of Galileo, and was instrumental in devising the Gregorian calendar. The scope of both part is essentially polemic, as they contain the rejoinders of Clavius to some personal attacks and wrong assertions made in some of the mathematical works of Scaliger (De emendatione temporum and Cyclometrica). The tone used by Clavius is starkly aggressive and reflects also the acrimony of the Jesuit Clavius against the Protestant Scaliger. The arguments used by Clavius are instead only scientific ones, as the demonstration of the better possibilities of date calculation offered by the Gregorian calendar and of the insufficient approximation of the values found by Scaliger for p, i. e. the square roots of 9.72 or 10. The inexactitudes contained in the Cyclometrica had already been attacked by a number of mathematician, including Viète, and “the whole affair was to remain a touchy one” (The Scaliger collection), with Scaliger issuing satirical poems against his detractors and those responding again.

& The Scaliger collection 153; DSB III, pages 311-312; De Backer-Sommervogel page 1221 no. 20; Zinner 4220; Bibl. Wolfenbüttel I, page 349; Houzeau-Lancaster 1383 (with a date of 1606).

24 - (Microscopy, Cell biology) Bonaventura Corti Osservazioni microscopiche sulla tremella, e sulla circolazione del fluido in una pianta acquaiola. Lucca 1774, appresso Giuseppe Rocchi.

€ 2300

Only edition. Bonaventura Corti (Scandiano 1729 - Reggio Emilia 1813), born in the same town as Spallanzani, took the religious orders and was later appointed to professor of physics and mathematics in the same school which he had attended. At the age of 75 he retired to occupy a professorship at the University of Modena. He authored i. a. a two-volume treatise on physics (Institutiones physicae) which predates the discoveries of Galvani and Volta, and which received the compliments of Giuseppe Toaldo, the editor of the best edition of Galileo. He is best remembered for his microscopic observation, which he performed with the aid of two instruments of the English manufacturer Dollond. The use of Tremella, a basidiomycete, was then widespread for anatomic and physiologic observations, as witnessed by works by Spallanzani and Fontana. “From the point of view of the originality Corti’s Osservazioni microscopiche sulla Tremella ... (1774), issued in one volume and illustrated by beautiful copperplates, is important. Chapter 21 of part I deserves special mention. On the basis of microscopic findings Corti affirms “that Tremella are endowed with movements said to be spontaneous in animals and considered characteristic of animals. And here we have plants that by now are confused with true animals” ... Further on, he defines the protoplasmic movements: “A certain small dark spot passes from right to left, is lost, and reappears: this is that series of rather dark spots which elsewhere I have said is caused by the elliptical figure of small rings.”... This is a clear anticipation of later descriptions of the movements of the protoplasm in the cell.” (DSB). “The continuous streaming motion which we now term cyclosis was discovered as far back as 1774 by the Abbé Corti in the cells of water plants such as Chara and Nitella. His observations were overlooked and the phenomenon was rediscovered by L. C. Treviranus in the early years of the 19th century” (Hughes).

& DSB III, pages 425-426; Hughes (History of cytology) page 41; Pritzel 1895; Roller and Goodman I-254; Mieli (Gli scienziati italiani) I, 70-73; Sachs (History of Botany) page 545.

25 - (Splendid ceremonies, Numismatics) Ernest Salomon CYPRIANUS Consecratio Ernesti Pii Saxoniae Ducis a Celsissimo principe ac Domino Friderico II Gothano Saxonum Duce A.O.R. 1729 Die 26 Martii Pia caeremonia et honorariae statuae exstructione celebritateque sermonis panegyrici Gothae in D. Margarethae templo peracta. Gothae, Excudit Io. Andr. Reyherus, Aulic. Typogr.

€ 400

Only edition. Ernest Salomon Cyprianus (Ostheim vor der Rhön 1673-Gotha 1745) was director and professor of theology at the Collegium Casimirianum in Coburg and vice-president of the consistory at Gotha. He was a fecund writer on historical and theological subjects. The text is a discourse in praise of the Grand Duke Ernest, who was recently dead, and to whom an equestrian monument had been raised. The late Grand Duke is praised not as a brilliant soldier, but as a benevolent sovereign supporting arts and studies and funding generously Gotha university. Interestingly some of the books on which Ernest was educated are mentioned in the text; they include, beside the usual religious books, works of authors as the Polish astronomer Lubieniecki and the architect Böckler. The text of the epigraph of the statue, dictated by the same Cyprianus, and a song of mourning composed by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690-1749), one of the most important composers of late German Baroque, in that time Kapellmeister in Gotha, conclude the book.

& Jöcher I, 2277-2278.

26 - (Horticulture) J. P. Rome d’ARDENE L’année champêtre qui traite de ce qu’il convient de faire chaque mois dans le potager. A Florence, & se vend à Paris, chez Vincent, et à Marseille, chez Moussy, 1769.

€ 1300

First edition (the second appeared in Lausanne one year later) of the last book of J. P. Rome d’Ardene (1698-1769), a French priest and botanist who “... retired, about 1750, from his duties as Supérieur at the college of Marseille to the Château d’Ardene ... where he created a botanical garden and gave himself to the study of flowers” (Hunt). D’Ardene was in some sense an Einzelgänger, developing techniques of cultivation and race differentiation which followed independent pathways with respect to the techniques then in common use, mostly of Dutch origin. Contrary to his previous books, dealing mostly with individual races and varieties of flowers, the present book concerns mostly the kitchen-garden. The contents of the book are a complete survey of horticulture as practiced in the second part of the XVIII century, with references to the techniques of cultivation of species as peas, lettuce, beets and so on, the enumeration of the parasites afflicting them and the manner to get rid of them, the composition of composts and the manner to cut and graft them. Despite its gastronomic interest (asparaguses, melons etc. and several recipes) this book has escaped the attention of all gastronomy bibliographers. Several chapters deal with potatoes, well in advance to the books of Parmentier which firmly established its alimentary repute. Musset-Pathay: ”Ouvrage estimé qui renferme un extrait bien fait de ce qui se trouve de plus certain et de plus adopté dans les auteurs qui ont traité de ces matières”.

& Musset-Pathay 75; compare Hunt 526 (note, without having seen a copy).

27 - (Floriculture) (J. P. Rome D’ardene) Traité des oeillets ... A Avignon, chez Louis Chambeau, et se vend à Paris, chez la veuve David, 1762.

€ 950

Only edition. The author is Jean Paul Rome D’Ardene (1698-1769), a French priest and botanist who “... retired, about 1750, from his duties as Supérieur at the college of Marseille to the Château d’Ardene ... where he created a botanical garden and gave himself to the study of flowers” (Hunt). D’Ardene was in some sense an Einzelgänger, developing techniques of cultivation and race differentiation which followed independent pathways with respect to the techniques then in common use, mostly of Dutch origin. This book contains some material already disclosed in his book on ranuncles and other species appeared in 1754 and much new material. The book begins with a dedication to an unknown gentleman, where the principles followed by the author are stated; then a bibliography containing about 80 titles follows. In the style of many books of D’Ardene the historical of carnations is made, followed by i. a. their description, the enumeration of the qualities which make carnations desirable, the type of earth most convenient to them, how to assure their reproduction and multiplication and to defend them from diseases which can prejudice their beauty. The three plates at end are signed “J. Aveline” (probably Jean-Alexandre), one of the scions of a family of famous engravers. They depict flowers of various species, an urn to set them for ornament, some instruments necessary to their culture and how to perform a graft.

& Nissen 45b; Hunt 570; not in Pritzel and Plesch.

28 - (Architecture) A. C. DAVILER Cours d’Architecture qui comprend les ordres de Vignole. Avec des Commentaires, les Figures & Descriptions de ses plus beaux Bâtimens, & de ceux de Michel-Ange, plusieurs nouveaux desseins, ... & tout ce qui regarde l’art de Bâtir; avec une ample explication par ordre Alphabétique de tous les Termes. Première partie (-Suite du cours d’Architecture). A Paris, chez Nicolas Langlois, 1691.

€ 2700

First edition of a manual which met with a widespread success, being reprinted not less than 15 times until the end of the following century and constantly improved by later architects; the first improved version was printed in 1710 by Mariette, keeping into account the improvements proposed by the same D’Aviler before his death as well as by Le Blond and Mariette. The plates of this edition are due mostly to Pierre Le Pautre, a few were engraved by Dolivar. “Augustin-Charles D’Aviler (1653-1700) was one of the first students to enter the Académie Royale d’Architecture, under the direction of François Blondel. In 1674 he left Paris to be a pensionnaire of the French Academy in Rome ... He returned to Paris in 1681 to enter the office of Jules Hardouin Mansart. He stayed from 1684 to 1689. Mansart’s office, with his fashionable point of view, was not a good environment for D’Aviler, with his rigorous, rationalistic and academic background ... Believing that he had no future in Paris D’Aviler went to Montpellier to supervise the erection of a triumphal arch to Louis XIV, designed by D’Orbay. His success with this project led to his appointment as architect of the province of Languedoc. D’Aviler’s interests were always focused on contemporary design and practice. His first project, in 1685, was a translation of Scamozzi’s Book 6 on the orders, in which he produced an interpretation of the complexities of architectural proportions comprehensible to modern builders. At the same time he began a commentary on Vignola and read a preface from his work-in-progress to the Academy in 1683. The work would develop into his Cours d’Architecture, first printed in 1691. In the original form the Cours consisted of several parts: a life of Vignola; a small section on simple geometric figures: a main section on Vignola’s order of architecture, with D’Aviler’s commentary at the foot of each page; sections on the application of the proportions of the orders and ornament to architecture; and a discussion of materials of construction  A second volume, an encyclopedic dictionary of over five thousands architectural terms, was included ... D’Aviler’s point is pragmatic and catholic. More than any other cours d’Architecture, his is designed for the layman and the artisan, and contains all that would aid the client, builder, and student. In this work D. chose Vignola’s interpretation for his main section on the orders, because he felt it to be in the most agreement with other sources, and the least confusing of any of the treatises on the orders. For the French architect in general Vignola’s book was the manual and one which workers constantly consulted. D. was aware of the practical significance of his work and was concerned that it be thoroughly current and accurate ... Because of his purpose to serve the amateur and the builder, D. introduced plans and elevations for a typical house, along with designs of all the architectural details, including the garden. The material on domestic architecture is a new and important introduction in the comprehensive architectural treatise ... Beside four major French editions, it had 13 French printings and a German edition with four printings ...” (Millard Collection); this collection possesses, however, only a copy of the 1738 edition).

& Millard Collection I, 14; Cicognara 406 (edition 1756): “La migliore opera che in questa materia uscisse in Francia a quel tempo”; Fowler 32: “... it was the best work of its kind yet issued and soon superseded F. Blondel’s Cours d’architecture”; Kat. Berl. 2388.

29 - (Emblemata, Ornaments) Gerard De Jode Octo sapientiae dona. Intelligentia, Castitas, Memoria, Magnanimitas, Concordia, Perseverantia, Sobrietas, Patientia. No date, place and publisher (probably Antwerpen, last years of the XVI century).

€ 2500

A suite of engraved plates depicting the virtues which are donated by wisdom, i. e. understanding, chastity, memory, magnanimity, concord, perseverance, sobriety, patience. The engraver (and possibly the designer) was Gerard De Jode (Nimwegen or Antwerpen 1509- Antwerpen 1591), the founder of a famous dynasty of painters and engravers. He authored many suites of different subjects and illustrated several books. Every plate of this suite is made with the use of two clichés, one external for the ornament framing the picture and the other for the representation itself. The virtues are represented as young woman dressed in classicistic attire. Every virtue is accompanied by an instrument and by an animal associated to her (e. g. understanding is depicted with an armillary sphere and a snake) on the background of a niche, sometimes with vegetal motifs.

& Untraceable for us, not in Hollstein, Thieme-Becker and Wurzbach.

30 - (Fencing) Nicolas Demeuse Nouveau traité de l’art des armes, dans lequel on établit les principles certains de cet art, et où l’on enseigne les moyens les plus simples de les mettre en pratique ... A Liège, chez F. J. Desoer et l’auteur, 1778.

€ 1300

First edition, reprinted in 1786 at Liège with slight modifications, and about 1800 in Lille with different plates. A Spanish translation remained manuscript. Nicolas Demeuse was fencing master and member of the Guard of the Prince-Elector of Liège. “Le mérite de ce traité lui a valu trois éditions: on y reconnait le savoir d’un maître qui a étudié les anciens auteurs et qui possède toutes les ressources de l’art moderne. Demeuse est un des démonstrateurs, rares jusqu’alors, qui réclament, de la part dee l’élève déjà formé, une exécution déduite des sensations ressenties dans le contact de l’épée adverse” (Vigeant). “Demeuse doit à la netteté de sa diction et à ses heureuses demonstrations la conquête d’une des places les plus brillantes parmi les ecrivains d’escrime de la France et de l’etranger” (Gelli).

& Vigeant page 50; Gelli 345; Thimm page 76 (with an obvious mistake in the collation); Lipperheide Td51.

31 - (Gastronomy, Folklore) Jean Deslyons Discours ecclesiastiques contre le Paganisme des Roys de la Fève et du Roy-Boyt, pratiqués par les Chrétiens charnels en la Veille et au jour de l’Epiphanie de N. S. Jesus-Christ. A Paris, chez Guillaume Desprez, 1664.

€ 900

“Edition originale très rare. C’est le premier des deux ouvrages de l’auteur consacrés à ce sujet. Jean Deslyons (Pontoise 1615 - Senlis 1700) fait partie des théologiens bizarres. C’est un homme savant mais dominé par une humeur chagrine. Dans ce volume fameux il s’élève contre les coutumes païennes qui subsistent dans le monde chrétien ... Ce livre provoqua une véritable guerre à Senlis; Barthélemy, avocat dans cette cité répondit par une Apologie du Banquet ...” (Oberlé). “... L’auteur étudie le moyen de reformer les réjouissances de cette fête et de supprimer les repas auxquels elle donnait lieu, ces repas n’étant, selon lui, que des véritables orgies, rappelant les saturnales des anciens” (Vicaire). This book is thus very interesting as a document of the gastronomic habits of France at the half of the XVII century. The feasts of “Les Roys de la Fève” and “Le Roy boit” were accompanied by excesses in drinking, which could degenerate in acts of disrespect to the clergy and the notables. The high clergy had always tolerated these popular merriments and the rebuttal of Barthélemy was probably approved by the Church much more than the tract of Deslyons. In any case both feasts have been celebrated until a much later period and a witness of the first is to be found in the ceramic or plastic bean (fève) found by French children in a cake specially baked on the Twelfth Night.

& Oberlé (Une bibliothèque bacchique) 483; Vicaire 272 (with wrong collation); Brunet III, 1255; Bitting 122.

32 - (Conchology) DEZALLIER d'ARGENVILLE. Conchyliologie oder Abhandlung von den Schnecken, Muscheln und anderen Schaaltieren, welche in der See, in süßen Wassern und auf dem Lande gefunden werden, nebst der Zoomorphose oder Abbildung und Beschreibung der Thiere welche die Gehäuse bewohnen. Aus dem Französischen übersetzt und mit Anmerkungen Vermehret. Mit ein und vierzig Kupfertafeln. Auf den Kosten der Kraussischen Buchhandlung in Wien, 1772.

€ 2500

First German edition. Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville (1680-1765), a town administrator in Paris, was an amateur in many subject, of which natural history took a prominent place. This is the first German edition of his most famous book, appeared originally in 1755 as a part of his mineralogical treatise and reprinted in 1757 as an independent work and (very much enlarged) in 1780. The present German edition has been translated from the 1757 edition, however with a completely different set of illustrations. The drawings on which the illustrations are based were provided by J. S. Leitner, an artist from Nuremberg (see on him Thieme-Becker). The subject is divided in families according to Linnaean classification; attention is also paid to the principal collections of Europe. Attention is also given (chapter IX) how to form a collection and how to treat the mollusks which should be included in it.

& Thieme-Becker XXIII, pages 3ff; Nissen 147; Fromm 7157; Cobres I, 415. 8: "Ein classiches Werk".

33 - (Paleontology, Mineralogy) (DEZALLIER d’ARGENVILLE) L’Histoire naturelle éclaircie dans une de ses parties principales, l’Oryctologie, qui traite des terres, des pierres, des métaux, des minéraux et autres fossiles. A Paris, chez de Bure l’Aîné, 1755.

€ 1800

Original edition of a book providing a general survey on the state of mineralogical and palaeontological knowledge in the second half of the XVIIIth century. A part of the contents had been already published in 1742, together with a part on conchology, which was also published separately. The author explains in the preface the relations which exist between oryctology (an old term for paleontology) and conchyliology. A widespread bibliography follows, containing a very thorough analysis of the cited works, including i. a. Kircher, Colonna, Lister, Bonanni etc. The classification of the minerals and fossils with a dictionary of the terms most commonly used in natural sciences and the descriptions of the specimens found by the author is the subject of the two first parts of the volume. The third one concerns the distribution of the different minerals and fossils of the different provinces of France. Dezallier discusses i. a. the fossil origin of petrol. Many passages refer to precious stones. The plates, nice and very detailed at the same time, were engraved by the esteemed Chedel; each engravings was etched at the expense of an individual contributor who had subscribed for the book. The appendix contains the descriptions of certain new species of birds and fishes recently discovered and is illustrated with two plates. The contents of this appendix have been ignored by Nissen ZBI; their essentially American origin has escaped Sabin. Of remarkable gemological interest, as witnessed by the long note dedicated to it by Sinkankas 1680.

& Cobres II, 686: “Für prüfende Kenner, und nicht gemein”; Cohen-De Ricci I, 92; Duveen Coll. 16; Honeyman 874.

34 - (Linguistics) J. DOMBROVSKY Literarische Nachrichten von einer auf Veranlassung der böhm. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften im Jahre 1792 unternommenen Reise in Schweden und Rußland. Nebst einer Vergleichung der Russischen und böhmischer Sprache nach dem Petersburger Vergleichungs-Wörterbüche aller Sprachen. Prag, 1796, bey J. G. Calve.

€ 600

Only edition. The erudite abbot Josef Dombro