Browse
All Collections
Services
Tailored GuidanceSell to us
What's New
MediaCatalogues
About us
About UsWhere To Find UsContact
Change Language
Flag en
Logo Édition Originale
Icone compte
Icone panier
Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc (1707-1788 ; comte de)

Georges-Louis Leclerc BUFFON

A traduit de l'anglais en français
Mathématicien et cosmologue, naturaliste, essayiste, traducteur. Intendant du Jardin des Plantes (1739). Membre de l'Institut, de l'Académie des sciences (élu en 1733), et de l'Académie française (élu en 1753)

Languages

French

Pays

France

Birth

7 septembre 1707

Death

16 avril 1788

Other names

BUFFON Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de (Other)
BUFFON comte de
LECLERC Georges Louis
BUFFON Georges-Louis de
Do you have information to share about this author?
28 results
  1. Mrs Necker: "Animals seemed to be the most distant from us, and Buffon's art lay in constantly bringing them closer" (our own translation)
    Histoire naturelle des oiseaux
    Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, Jacques de Sève
    Histoire naturelle des oiseaux
    [Natural History of Birds]
    Imprimerie royale|Paris 1770-1783|20 x 26.4 cm|relié

    First edition from the Imprimerie Royale, set full with all nine quarto volumes and all 262 black-and-white engraved plates. 

    Contemporary full polished and mottled calf, spines with guilloched raised bands decorated with gilt ornaments in the compartments, red morocco lettering-pieces and numbering pieces, triple gilt fillet border on boards, double gilt fillet on board edges, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges. Minor variations in the tooling on volume 3.

    In this set, some headcaps missing, 6 cm joints split at foot of volume 1, 6.5 cm and 6 cm at foot of volume 2, 3.5 cm at head of volume 3, corners bumped, scratches and minor restoration to boards, including a more significant repair on volume 7 measuring 11 cm, browning in left margin of lower board of volume 4.

    In this copy: some worming, several instances of dampstaining throughout the set, more pronounced in volumes 1, 3, and 8, some tears, repaired on the title page and on pp. ix and xxiii of volume 1, also repaired on p. 496 of volume 2, on pp. 259 and 260 of volume 3, on pp. 481 and 482 of volume 4, and on pp. 173 to 176 of volume 5.

    Copy with some marginal annotations: in volume 2, a manuscript footnote added in ink on p. 541 ("Voyez les Planches enluminures n°491"), erroneous manuscript dates in ink in volumes 2 and 8, the number "18" annotated in ink in the upper right corner of the rear endpaper of volume 9.

     

    Copy richly illustrated with drawings by Jacques de Sève, engraved by Robert de Launay, Lucas, Michel, Madeleine-Thérèse Rousselet, C. Baron, Hubert, Catherine Haussard, Carl Gottlieb Guttenberg, Jean-Guillaume Blanchon, Menil, Dufour, Louis Claude Legrand, Claude Mathieu Fessard, Elisabeth Haussard, François Hubert, A.-B. Duhamel, Mlle Mansard, C. Baquoy, Heinrich Guttenberg, Laurent Guyot, Benazeth, Schmitz, Marie-Anne Rousselet (M. R. veuve Tardieu), Louis-Gabriel Monnier, Pierre-Étienne Moitte, Jean-Louis de Lignon, Levillain, N. du Four, Thomas Chambars, Nicolas Thomas, Luigi Valperga, and George Louis Biosse.

     

    Accompanied by two additional plates, heightened in color, numbered XX and XXII, from a volume 7 of the Histoire naturelle des oiseaux.

    €4,500
  2. Histoire naturelle
    Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de BUFFON
    Histoire naturelle
    Chez Deterville|A Paris 1801- 1802|9 x 14 cm|36 volumes reliés
    New edition printed by Crapelet and illustrated with 349 figures including a frontispiece portrait in volume 1, all in contemporary hand-coloring. This edition was later followed by octavo reissues with 263 plates in black. This edition was begun in 1799 and extended until 1804, as volumes by Buffon were later joined by Bloch's Natural History, Bosc's History of Shells, Natural History of Worms, etc... It was intended to comprise all natural histories written, in 80 volumes. It is naturally quite rare to find a copy with colored figures, the vast majority being in black. The drawings were executed by De Sève, and the coloring is precise and very fine, the colors very fresh. Each plate is protected by a tissue guard. There are generally at least 2 figures per plate. The greatest number of plates was devoted to birds, about 130, then to fish, about 110.
    This collection contains History of the Earth, History of Man, History of Quadrupeds through volume X, Birds volumes XI to XXVI, Minerals volumes XXVII to XXXI, Fish volumes XXXII to XXXVI, whose authors this time are Eugène Melchior and Louis PATRIN
    Contemporary full marbled calf binding. Smooth spine decorated with 4 central fleurons in diamond shapes and scrollwork, fillets and roulettes. Title label and volume labels in chocolate calf. Greek key border on covers. Marbled edges.
    Upper joint of volume I split, and lower joint split at tail. Headcap of volume V worn. A lack at head of volume X. Volumes XIX and XXII, head partially worn. In volume XXIV, upper joint narrowly split at head. Volume XIII, a lack along the upper joint at tail. Paper generally fresh and white, occasionally some rare spotting in margins. In volume XXIV, dampstain to inner margin of title page, extending to text. In volume II, pp. 119 to 144, pale yellow dampstain to lower corner, extending onto page. Volume XIX, dampstain from page 1 to 34 over 2/3 of page. Volume XX, upper joint slightly split in part. Some corners bumped. Signs of rubbing.
    Handsome set in this Empire binding. Rare collection with colored figures.
    €3,500
  3. Oeuvres complètes
    Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de BUFFON
    Oeuvres complètes
    A. Eymery|Paris 1825 -1828|13.50 x 21 cm, longueur totale de la série 103 cm|26 volumes reliés
    Complete edition in 25 volumes illustrated with 245 plates, including the author's portrait by Deveria as frontispiece, 216 hand-colored plates (some with gold highlights) including 91 for mammals, 126 for birds, 13 in black and 4 folding geographical maps. Rare copy complete with the supplementary volume published in 1828 with 12 colored plates.
    Full glazed calf binding. Spine with raised bands decorated with 3 cold-stamped Restoration tools inlaid with gold dots, roulettes at head and tail, on the bands and forming compartments. 2 title-labels in blonde calf. Large cold-stamped medallion on covers and cold-stamped frame border.
    Spine showing traces of discoloration, small lacks or minute fragment losses to 8 headcaps (volumes 9, 11, 23, 1, 5, 24...) with volume 26 having a tear to the joint at the upper headcap, same at tail. Paper relatively fresh with some scattered foxing. Most plates are in perfect fresh condition, some browned with some foxing. In volumes 3, 4, 5 and 10, some leaves browned and browning. One tear in vol.11 p. 63, and browned leaves. Spine with traces of discoloration. Some scattered foxing.
    Bookplate of Comte Chevreau d'Enraigues.
    Most of the colored plates are the work of Gabriel Prêtre, painter of the natural history museum and Empress Joséphine's menagerie. These complete works are expanded with a general view of the progress of several branches of natural sciences arranged by Comte de Lacépède, augmented with a volume containing a summary of nature's marvels discovered from Buffon to our day.
    €5,500
  4. La Statique des végétaux, et l'analyse de l'air [avec] Haemastatique, ou La Statique des animaux
    Stephen HALES, Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de BUFFON (trans.)
    La Statique des végétaux, et l'analyse de l'air [avec] Haemastatique, ou La Statique des animaux
    Chez Debure l'aîné • Chez les héritiers Cramer et Frères Philibert|Paris • & Genève [Geneva] 1735 et 1744|19 x 25 cm|2 ouvrages reliés en un volume
    La Statique des végétaux, et l'analyse de l'air [with] Haemastatique, ou La Statique des animaux [Vegetable Staticks]

    First edition of the French translation of these two texts by Stephen Hales. The translation of the first work, originally entitled Vegetable Staticks published in 1727, is the first text published by Buffon. The translation of the second book, published originally under the title Haemastaticks in 1733, is the work of François Boissier de Sauvages.

    Our copy is complete of its 20 engraved figures on 10 folding plates for the first text and its in-fine folding plate for the second.

    Contemporary bindings in full speckled blond sheep, spine in five compartments richly decorated with gilt raised bands, roll tooling and fleurons, as well as a title piece in Havana morocco, marbled endpapers, all edges speckled with red. Top spine end and two corners skillfully restored. Some leaves a little browned.
    €2,500
  5. Traité de l'aimant et de ses usages. Histoire naturelle des minéraux. Tome V.
    Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de BUFFON
    Traité de l'aimant et de ses usages. Histoire naturelle des minéraux. Tome V.
    De l' imprimerie des Bâtiments du roi|à Paris 1788|20 x 25.50 cm|relié

    First edition of this treatise, published following the four volumes whose editorial dates run from 1782 for the first volume to 1788 for the last, namely the Traité de l'aimant, which is therefore often missing from the series.



    Contemporary full red morocco binding. Spine with raised bands richly decorated. Title and volume labels in black morocco. Triple fillet frame on covers. Roulette on leading edges and board-edges. Gilt edges. Domino paper with gilt stars. Corners rubbed.



    Very handsome copy, perfectly bound in a master binding, very fresh.



    The Traité de l'aimant is the last work published during the author's lifetime and closes the Histoire naturelle whose edition spanned fifty years, and which enjoyed success comparable to Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie. The treatise proper is followed by numerous tables of observations on the inclination of the magnetic needle (with the names of travelers and navigators), in the southern and northern hemispheres, according to different latitudes... The treatise begins with an exposition of magnetic and electric forces.

    €800
  6. Les chants du printemps
    Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de BUFFON, Tavy NOTTON
    Les chants du printemps
    Aux dépens d'un artiste|Bourg-la-Reine 1957|25.50 x 32.50 cm|en feuilles sous chemise et étui.
    Edition illustrated with 21 original engravings by Tavy Notton, one of 15 numbered copies on Japan super nacré, deluxe copy after 6 others differently enhanced.
    Our copy, as stipulated in the justification page, is complete with the original signed drawing by Tavy Notton, with its two duplicate suites on Auvergne and Rives blanc, with the silk printing of 3 simple plates.
    However, the copperplate and the silk printing of 3 double plates are lacking in our work. Tavy Notton's illustrations thus comprise: 1 frontispiece in black, 20 hors-texte in black of which 6 are double-page.
    Very handsome copy.
    €500
  13. Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière
    Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de BUFFON
    Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière
    Natural History, General and Particular
    chez Sanson & Compagnie|Aux Deux-Ponts [Deux-Ponts] 1785-1790|10 x 17.50 cm|54 volumes reliés
    BUFFON Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de
    Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière [Natural History, General and Particular]
    Aux Deux-Ponts, chez Sanson & Cie 1785-1790, in-12 (10 x 17,5 cm), 54 volumes, contemporary tree calf bindings
    First edition after those published by the Imprimerie Royale and the last published during the lifetime of the author. The book is illustrated with a portrait of the author as a frontispiece, 4 fold-out maps and 323 plates, including 300 heightened in color at the time (113 plates of birds, 186 plates of quadrupeds, and 24 natural history plates).
    Elegant contemporary bindings in tree calf, spines richly decorated with double fillets, lace patterns, and fleurons in the form of rosettes and gilt urns, title labels in red morocco, volume labels in either black or blond morocco, delicate gilt lace patterns enclosing the boards, roll-tooling on leading edges of sides and spine-ends, marbled endpapers, gilt edges.
    A colossal work that took Buffon almost fifty years to produce, L'Histoire naturelle enjoyed huge success, comparable to that of the Encyclopédie by Diderot and d'Alembert, which was published in the same period and for which the naturalist refused to write a single article. The project was launched in 1739 following the appointment of Buffon to the post of steward of the Jardins du Roi. At this stage it was envisaged as a mere “catalog of the king's cabinet.” But the naturalist aspired to something far greater: his endeavor, far from being a compilation, was to embrace all the kingdoms of nature. Ten years later, the “Pline of Montbard” published the first three volumes of his Histoire naturelle, in which, to the great surprise of his readers, he exposed his method of work, which was neither mathematical nor classificatory. Surrounded by zealous collaborators, Buffon then added other volumes, concerning animals (quadrupeds and birds) and minerals. He added a Théorie de la Terre [Theory of the Earth], as well as a Discours by way of introduction and many supplements, including Epoques de la Nature. Buffon had then planned to add volumes concerning fish and other aquatic organisms, reptiles and plants, but upon his death his work remained on hold, before being continued by Lacépède.
    Buffon attached great importance to the illustrations of his Histoire naturelle; those of the quadrupeds were produced by Jacques de Sève, and those of the birds by François-Nicolas Martinet. The animals are represented with strong aesthetic and anatomical concern, in dreamlike and mythological scenes.Exceptional colored copy established in an elegant and remarkably preserved uniform binding.
    $ 12 500
    Sold
Works per page