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Micrographia: or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses with observations and inquiries thereupon.
Micrographia is the most influential work in the history of microscopy. Published by order of the Royal Society in London, it is a remarkable work documenting early experimental science. Robert Hooke, secretary to the society, relied on “a sincere…
Optice: sive de reflexionibus, refractionibus, inflexionibus & coloribus lucis libri tres [Optics: or Three Books on the Reflections, Refractions, Diffractions & Colors of Light]. Translated from the English into Latin by Samuel Clarke.
I have always sought to collect books on optics that were actually read, used, and carried some intellectual heft. This translation of Opticks (1704) was the mechanism by which Newton’s optical ideas achieved their wide impact. It permitted all of…
The Word Returned.
Edition of 35.
The Word Returned is Ken’s masterpiece and arguably the most important artist’s book produced in Britain since the 1930s.
Ken described the facture as “polychrome letterpress and handwork deploying a raised mounting board, lead type,…
De subitaneis mortibus, libri duo. First edition.
Provenance: Pope Clement XI (born G. F. Albani), with the large engraved papal shield vignette and small circular Albani stamp on the title page; bound in contemporary calf, with the shield of Clement XI as pope on the front and rear covers, with…
A Curious Herbal, Containing Five Hundred Cuts of the Most Useful Plants, which are now used in the Practice of Physick, Vol. I.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries few women authored botanical books. The author and illustrator that started me on collecting botanical books, Mrs. Loudon (Jane Wells), wrote books to pay off her husband’s debts. A century earlier,…
Saint Matorel.
Edition of 106. With four Cubist etchings.
Saint Matorel is one of the first books I acquired for my collection of livres d'artistes. It is considered a milestone in the history of Modern Illustrated Books, now extremely rare and, arguably, one of…
De l’éducation d’un homme sauvage, ou Des premiers développemens physiques et moraux du jeune sauvage de l’Aveyron.
[Bound with:] Rapport … sur les nouveaux développemens et l'état actuel du sauvage de l’Aveyron. Paris: l'Impr. Impériale, 1807.
Many bibliophiles find themselves in that inevitable chase for elusive desideratum, and for fifty frustrating years…
Many bibliophiles find themselves in that inevitable chase for elusive desideratum, and for fifty frustrating years…
Spondlyus mollusk, from Illustrations conchyliologiques, ou, description et figures de toutes les coquilles connues vivantes et fossils.
Lithograph colored à la poupée and finished by hand, 13¾ x 10 in.
This lithograph is one of 482 plates (of which 345 are colored) found in Illustrations conchyliologiques, one of the rarest (and certainly one of the most beautiful) of all…
This lithograph is one of 482 plates (of which 345 are colored) found in Illustrations conchyliologiques, one of the rarest (and certainly one of the most beautiful) of all…
Monograph on the Aye-Aye (Chiromys madagascariensis, Cuvier).
Provenance: Inscribed to The Rev. Dr. Whewell, F.R.S. “from his friend, the Author.”
Four years after Darwin’s Origin of Species, Richard Owen published this work on the aye-aye, a rare lemur with large ears and a long finger used to locate and…
Four years after Darwin’s Origin of Species, Richard Owen published this work on the aye-aye, a rare lemur with large ears and a long finger used to locate and…
Ptenophorae (tafel 27), from Kunstformen der natur.
Lithograph, 10¾ x 7⅝ in.
Ernst Haeckel was a prominent scientist and proponent of Darwinian evolution. Many of the illustrations from this work, "art forms in nature," show creatures arranged artfully and rendered scientifically accurate.…
Ernst Haeckel was a prominent scientist and proponent of Darwinian evolution. Many of the illustrations from this work, "art forms in nature," show creatures arranged artfully and rendered scientifically accurate.…