Traité de l'aimant et de ses usages. Histoire naturelle des minéraux. Tome V.

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.