<p>They discovered America or penicillin. They explored the immense Terra Incognita and infinite space. They are researchers, explorers or poets. They came, they saw and overcame prejudice and ignorance.<br>"E pur si muove!"</p>

Great Discoveries

They discovered America or penicillin. They explored the immense Terra Incognita and infinite space. They are researchers, explorers or poets. They came, they saw and overcame prejudice and ignorance.
"E pur si muove!"

196 results
Great Discoveries
  1. La palingénésie philosophique ou Idées sur l'état passé et sur l'état futur des êtres vivants.
    Charles BONNET

    La palingénésie philosophique ou Idées sur l'état passé et sur l'état futur des êtres vivants.

    Chez Claude Philibert • et Barthelemi Chirol|à Genève [Geneva] 1769|11.50 x 20 cm|2 volumes reliés

    First edition, quite rare; a counterfeit edition appeared on the same date in Amsterdam.

    Contemporary full glazed and marbled blonde calf binding. Decorated smooth spines. Red morocco title and volume labels. A small lack at head of volume I. Five corners slightly bumped. Rubbing. Good copy.



    Without doubt Bonnet's most ambitious and remarkable study which earned him the designation of father of modern biology. This work of theoretical biology drawing its source from multi-disciplinary reflection and its postulate from Leibniz (the immortality of the soul) claims that the Earth periodically suffers universal catastrophes which destroy almost all life and that...

    €900
  2. Recueil historique et chronologique de faits mémorables, pour servir à l'histoire générale de la marine, & à celle des découvertes
    Louis DOMAIRON

    Recueil historique et chronologique de faits mémorables, pour servir à l'histoire générale de la marine, & à celle des découvertes

    Chez Nyon, Onfroy|à Paris 1781|9.50 x 17 cm|2 volumes reliés
    Second edition, after the first edition published in 1777.
    Contemporary full marbled blonde calf binding. Spine with raised bands decorated. Red morocco title label, and green morocco volume label. Headcap of volume 2 worn. 2 corners slightly bumped. Rather handsome copy, in good condition.
    The work rests on a simple postulate, the importance of the navy in human history. It brings together all the remarkable facts and discoveries from the dawn of time until 1781; the first volume ends in 1599, the second continues until the date of 1781; We have here in an adroit compilation the complete collection of voyages and discoveries made by navigators, but also battles and wars...
    €500
  3. Nouvelle relation en forme de journal, d'un voyage fait en Egypte. En 1672. & 1673
    Johann Michael VANSLEB, VANSLEBEN

    Nouvelle relation en forme de journal, d'un voyage fait en Egypte. En 1672. & 1673

    Chez Estienne Michallet|à Paris 1677|8.50 x 15.50 cm (In-12)|relié

    First edition, rare and valuable.
    Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Spine with raised bands, gilt tooling. Binding with some surface wear. Losses to the joints at headcap and to the upper joint at tail. One corner rubbed.

    €800
  4. Anecdotes espagnoles et portugaises
    Guillaume BERTOUX

    Anecdotes espagnoles et portugaises

    Chez Vincent|à Paris 1773|10.50 x 17 cm|relié
    First edition.
    Contemporary full blonde calf binding. Red morocco title label and black morocco volume label. 2 corners slightly bumped. Missing one marbled endpaper in volume I. Otherwise a handsome copy.
    Chronological history of Spain and Portugal in the form of anecdotes, that is to say short articles. The Anecdotes are skillful compilations, not without critical spirit, and allow one to have at hand in a very practical manner the history of a nation.
    €550
  5. Traité de l'organe de l'ouie, contenant la structure, les usages & les maladies de toutes les parties de l'oreille
    Joseph Guichard DU VERNEY

    Traité de l'organe de l'ouie, contenant la structure, les usages & les maladies de toutes les parties de l'oreille

    Chez Estienne Michallet|à Paris 1683|9 x 17 cm|relié
    The very rare first edition with 16 unsigned folding plates.

    Contemporary brown sheep, spine in compartments, headpiece and one corner repaired, wormtrack to middle of upper margin, a few insignificant wormholes. The final engraving is shaved and lacking the last lines of text from the legend. A very good copy.

    Du Verney's first work; he was renowned for his knowledge of anatomy and physiology, was tutor to the Dauphin and taught in the Botanical Gardens.

    This is the first scientific monograph on the structure of the ear and its illnesses, and is therefore very significant. It played a determining role in the understanding of this organ, whose study...

    €3,000
  6. Etat present de la grande Russie ou Moscovie
    John PERRY

    Etat present de la grande Russie ou Moscovie

    Chez André Cailleau|à Paris 1718|9.50 x 16.50 cm|3 parties reliées en un volume
    New French edition, quite rare. Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Peter I and a large folding map. Reprint of the original French edition published in 1717 by Jean Boudot.
    Contemporary full brown sheep binding. Spine with raised bands, ornamented. Head cap partly worn. Surface damage to boards. Rubbing to headcaps and edges.
    This edition was provided by Hugony, following Peter I's voyage to France. Like the texts then available on Russia, this is a 17th-century account by an English engineer who was employed in Russia for many years; the strictly historical sections have been updated. This account is highly esteemed; it is the first to have given us accurate notions about...
    €1,000
  7. Essai sur l'origine des connoissances humaines
    Étienne Bonnot de CONDILLAC

    Essai sur l'origine des connoissances humaines

    Chez Pierre Mortier|à Amsterdam • [Paris] 1746|9.50 x 17 cm|2 tomes reliés en un volume
    First edition.
    Contemporary blonde sheep binding. Spine with raised bands, decorated. Tail rolls. Red morocco title-label. Small lack at head. 3 corners bumped with loss of leather. Light bookworm damage to right margin of first leaves becoming simple wormholes throughout the work. A fairly good copy.
    This first work in which Condillac's thought takes shape draws considerably on the author's intellectual master: Locke. Already, abbé Condillac rejects all spiritual causes and attacks all idealist philosophies (Leibniz, Descartes...), but he is not yet the leader of Sensualism, which he would only affirm much later. His style is already clear, precise and logical, going directly to...
    €1,200
  8. Voyage en Arménie et en Perse, fait dans les années 1805 et 1806, par P. Amédée Jaubert
    Amédée JAUBERT

    Voyage en Arménie et en Perse, fait dans les années 1805 et 1806, par P. Amédée Jaubert

    Chez Pelicier • et Nepveu|à Paris 1821|12.50 x 20.50 cm|relié
    First edition, rare, illustrated with a very large folding map of the regions between Constantinople and Tehran, and 9 lithographs (by Aubry, Vernet...), and a frontispiece portrait of the Persian prince Albas Mirza.
    Restoration period half light brown sheep binding. Smooth spine decorated with fillets and tools; roulette at foot. Marbled edges. Rubbing to boards, but handsome copy with perfectly fresh paper.
    Amédé Jaubert, orientalist, was first taken by Napoleon to Egypt where he served as interpreter; in 1805 he was entrusted with an important diplomatic mission to Iran where he was to negotiate with the Shah to establish France's position in that region. During his journey, he...
    €1,600
  9. Observations Pittoresques sur différentes parties de l'Angleterre, particulièrement sur les montagnes et les lacs du Cumberland et du Westmoreland. Traduit de l'anglais sur la troisième édition, par M. Guedon de Berchere
    William GILPIN

    Observations Pittoresques sur différentes parties de l'Angleterre, particulièrement sur les montagnes et les lacs du Cumberland et du Westmoreland. Traduit de l'anglais sur la troisième édition, par M. Guedon de Berchere

    Chez Defer de Maisonneuve|à Paris 1789|12 x 19.30 cm|2 volumes reliés
    French first edition, very rare. Illustrated with 28 plates including 2 containing two figures in Volume 2, 15 for volume I and 13 for volume II, as announced by the description of figures at the beginning of the work. Most of these plates are in aquatint and were drawn by the author. Some maps.
    One copy at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, nothing in French or English catalogues. The second French edition appeared in 1801.
    Contemporary full wine-colored sheep binding. Smooth spine with romantic tooling along the length, uniformly sunned. Boards stamped with a large romantic plate in blind. Joints cracked. Institution Chapusot stamped at foot. Rubbing.
    This journey to...
    €600
  10. Description de l'Egypte. Observations astronomiques faites en Egypte pendant les années VI, VII et VIII [1798, 1799, 1800] ; par M. Nouet, astronome de la commission des sciences et arts d'Egypte
    NOUET

    Description de l'Egypte. Observations astronomiques faites en Egypte pendant les années VI, VII et VIII [1798, 1799, 1800] ; par M. Nouet, astronome de la commission des sciences et arts d'Egypte

    Imprimerie Impériale|à Paris 1809|In Folio|relié
    First edition of this memoir extracted from the first issue, Modern State section, of the Description of Egypt.

    Full cream parchment-style modern boards. Black sheep title label. Large paper copy, uncut.
    Considerations on the instruments and method used for astronomical observations and calculations. Survey of different calculations according to different geographical points.
    €250
  11. De la philosophie de la nature ou traité de morale pour le genre humain tiré de la philosophie et fondé sur la nature. Troisième édition et la seule conforme au manuscrit original
    Jean-Baptiste-Claude DELISLE DE SALES

    De la philosophie de la nature ou traité de morale pour le genre humain tiré de la philosophie et fondé sur la nature. Troisième édition et la seule conforme au manuscrit original[The Philosophy of Nature: Treatise on Human Moral Nature]

    S. n.|à Londreset se trouve dans la plupart des capitales de l'Europe [London] 1777|12.50 x 19.50 cm (In-8)|6 volumes reliés

    New and improved enlarged edition (partly original), illustrated with a frontispiece, 12 unsigned figures, and 6 title vignettes (the title pages are entirely engraved). A fine printing. The original 1770 edition comprised only 3 volumes in-12.
    Contemporary full mottled calf bindings. Smooth spines decorated with floral tools and multiple gilt rolls. Triple gilt fillet framing on covers. Blue sprinkled edges. Slight surface wear to the covers. A few wormholes to the joints, and some worming in the margin of volume I. Despite these minor flaws, a handsome, well-bound and fresh copy.

    €800
  12. L'été du nord, ou voyage autour de la Baltique par le Danemark, la suède, la Russie et partie de l'Allemagne dans l'année 1804
    John CARR

    L'été du nord, ou voyage autour de la Baltique par le Danemark, la suède, la Russie et partie de l'Allemagne dans l'année 1804

    Chez Chaumerot|à Paris 1808|13 x 20 cm|2 volumes reliés
    First edition. Illustrated with 2 folding frontispieces representing a view of Cronenbourg castle and one of Copenhagen. Translated from English by Bertin. The original English edition dates from 1805.
    Half brown shagreen cloth binding. Smooth spine with cold fillets and gilt titles. Fine copies.
    Travel account in the northern countries of Europe which were then little known to the English. The author, sir John Carr (1772-1832) dwells on the customs and traditions of the natives and blends picturesque and historical anecdotes into his narrative.
    €350
  13. Description de l'isle des hermaphrodites. Nouvellement decouverte, concernant les moeurs, les coutumes & les ordonnances des habitans de cette isle, Comme aussi le Discours de Jacophile à Limne, avec quelques autres pièces curieuses
    Thomas ARTUS

    Description de l'isle des hermaphrodites. Nouvellement decouverte, concernant les moeurs, les coutumes & les ordonnances des habitans de cette isle, Comme aussi le Discours de Jacophile à Limne, avec quelques autres pièces curieuses

    chez les héritiers de Herman Demen • [ François Foppens]|Cologne • [Bruxelles] [Brussels] 1724|10.6 x 17 cm|relié
    Second edition, the First edition of 1605 is extremely rare. Illustrated with a frontispiece depicting a hermaphrodite, with the inscription 'Je ne suis ni male ni femelle...' ["I am neither male nor female..."].

    Contemporary sheep binding, worn. Decorated spine with raised bands. Lacking the title label. Light dampstaining to margins at end of work.

    Considered the first French anti-utopia, this journey of a Frenchman weary of his country's ills to an island inhabited by effeminate characters, made-up and devoted to festivities and pleasures, is a satire of the disorders of Henri III's court, himself represented by king Hermaphroditus, woman king or man queen. The work...
    €700
  14. Histoire civile et commerciale des colonies anglaises dans les Indes occidentales depuis leur découverte par Christophe Colomb jusqu'à nos jour, suivie d'un tableau historique et politique
    Bryan EDOUARD

    Histoire civile et commerciale des colonies anglaises dans les Indes occidentales depuis leur découverte par Christophe Colomb jusqu'à nos jour, suivie d'un tableau historique et politique

    Dentu|Paris 1801|13.50 x 21.50 cm|broché

    BRYAN Edouard
    Histoire civile et commerciale des colonies anglaises dans les Indes occidentales depuis leur découverte par Christophe Colomb jusqu'à nos jour, suivie d'un tableau historique et politique
    Dentu, Paris 1801, 13,5 x 21,5 cm, original wrappers
    First edition in French.
    With the folding map at front present.
    Small insignificant wear with tiny lacks to head and foot of one joint, a little light insignificant foxing.
    A rare copy in its original wrappers.
    €500
  16. Découvertes d'histoire sociale 1200-1910
    Vicomte G. D'AVENEL

    Découvertes d'histoire sociale 1200-1910

    Flammarion|Paris 1917|12 x 19 cm|broché
    First edition, statement of thousand copies.
    One crease mark on front cover, otherwise handsome copy.
    €40
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