Autograph letters by scientists, medical and scientific manuscripts, research notes, observations, maps, plans and technical documents

No publisher, no place, no date [1885–1890]. Quarto (32.5 × 23 cm), 1 blank leaf and 49 unnumbered leaves. Contemporary half red percaline over corners, smooth spine covered in red shagreen, pebble-grain paper-covered boards, blue paper endpapers.

An exceptional collection of 49 original unsigned watercolours, each measuring approximately 20 × 15 cm within the margins, finely executed in Indian ink and watercolour with gouache highlights, mounted on guards. Several leaves bear the watermark "Latune et Cie Blacons", that of a paper mill in the Drôme region active throughout the final third of the nineteenth century. Rubbing to the spine, a few marginal...

Unpublished complete autograph manuscript, dated and signed, written by the Vicomte Edmond de Poncins between 12 September 1891 and 12 June 1892. 775 pages, incorrectly numbered 1-567 and then 567-774. Small folio (21 x 34.5 cm).

Contemporary half dark green shagreen with corners, spine with five raised bands ruled in black and decorated with blind compartments and central gilt floral tools, lettered in gilt "Notes sur l'Inde, 1892". At the beginning of the volume, the author himself gives the slightly different title "Notes sur les Indes". Green boards framed with blind rules, comb-marbled...

Autograph postcard signed by Albert Einstein to Ludwig Hopf. 18 lines written verso and recto, address also in Einstein's handwriting. Postmarked June 21, 1910. 

Published in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 5: The Swiss Years: Correspondence, 1902-1914, Princeton University Press, 1993, n°218, p. 242.

An exceptional and highly aesthetic card from Albert Einstein to "the friend of the greatest geniuses of his time" - according to Schrödinger - mathematician and physicist Ludwig Hopf, who introduced Einstein to another 20^th-century genius: Carl Jung.
The master invites his pupil Hopf to a dinner...

Three-and-a-quarter-page manuscript written in black ink on a bifolium.

One vertical fold.

Manuscript detailing the nominal roster of the Spanish squadron that set sail under the command of Don Luis de Cordova, Don Antonio de Ulloa, and Don Miguel Gastón.

First edition, illustrated with 18 copper-engraved plates in the first volume and 22 copper-engraved plates in the second.

Contemporary bindings in green half shagreen, spines with four raised bands, decorated with blind-ruled fillets and double gilt panels with ornamental cornerpieces; minor rubbing to the spines, boards in green paper-covered cardboard with blind-stamped frames and a few minor surface abrasions, heavily bumped corners. Endpapers and pastedowns of white moiré silk slightly soiled at margins as often, all edges gilt.

Foxing.

A compilation of selected excerpts from the most celebrated travel narratives.

Jacques-Bernard Hombron (1798–1852), a naval...

Autograph note by François René de Chateaubriand, 12 lines in black ink on a bifolium, addressed to Madame Amédée de Duras, rejoicing in her improved health.
A tear with loss, due to the seal having been broken to facilitate reading the note.
"Mde de CH[ateaubriand]. me dit de vous répondre: si je meurs, madame, ce sera à vos pieds le matin. Non pas à midi, mais à trois heures et demie. Je me porte à merveille chez ma soeur. Que cela ne soit pas vous, mais mde de Lévis qui m'ait vu perdre ma longue barbe er mon mouchoir turc. Ne venez pas, vous ne devriez pas venir. Mde de Ch[ateaubriand] est inconsolable... "

Autograph letter dated and signed by Emile Zola, addressed to his friend the physician Maurice de Fleury, dated in his hand October 15, 1893. 1 page 1/4, 19 lines in black ink on a double sheet. Horinzontal and vertical folds due to mailing. Stain on verso, not affecting the text.

A most unusual invitation from the master of Naturalism, who wishes to organize a luncheon with two eminent specialists in nervous diseases: "Vous êtes bien aimable de m'inviter à déjeuner. Mais cela va vous faire perdre du temps et à moi aussi [...] pourquoi ne prendriez-vous pas un rendez-vous pour deux heures et demie par exemple, avec M. Gille de la Tourette, soit jeudi, soit...

Complete anonymous manuscript of 23 pages (plus title page and table), from the first half of the 19th century, entitled: Cap de Bonne Espérance. 1er cahier.

Our manuscript is presented in a navy blue half shagreen folder, marbled paper boards, housed in a slipcase edged with navy blue shagreen, marbled paper boards.

An account of a stopover at the Cape, a city under British rule, which, according to the anonymous author, retains many traces of its Dutch past.

Description of the town, its geographical setting, its buildings, churches and houses, whose cleanliness contrasts with the dirt and the smell of meat prevailing in most of the streets.

This...

Four-page manuscript in black ink on a folio bifolium (31.9 x 20.1 cm), entitled Compte de dépense & de recette pour l'habitation de Monsieur le Vte de La Bourdonnaye and, on the verso, Etat des naissances de Nègres et mortalités & crues et déficits d'animaux, together with Etat des revenus fabriqués sur l'habitation de Monsieur le Vte de La Bourdonnaye. Signed Pérès and Grasset frères, Pitteu & Cie, certified at Verrettes and Saint-Marc on 30 June 1785.

Folio manuscript from the second half of the 18th century, comprising 2 unnumbered leaves and 258 foliated pages, containing extracts and summaries of royal orders and dispatches of the Conseil de Marine from September 1715 to March 1723. The volume therefore covers the entire period of activity of this institution, created at the beginning of the Regency as part of the polysynody and maintained until its disappearance in 1723.

Contemporary restored full tan calf. Smooth spine decorated with gilt compartments and gilt tools, partly faded, lettering-piece lacking, a gilt rampant lion stamped at the centre of...

Manuscript of unnumbered leaves comprising a digest of ordinances and regulations relating to the French naval troops, most promulgated between 1690 and 1751.

The manuscript is preserved in its original stitched wrappers, in contemporary paper covers with manuscript annotations; tears to the opening leaves affecting the text; housed in a cream card portfolio. 

It contains: Royal regulation of 1690 concerning the levy, pay and discipline of the naval troops. – Royal regulation of 1691 governing the billeting, conduct, march, policing and discipline of the naval troops. – Royal ordinances of 1695 and 1700 on the policing and discipline of the compagnies franches. – Ordinance of...

Fine contemporary manuscript plan in colour depicting the region (now within the Var department) extending from Le Thouar in the north to the Château Sainte-Marguerite in the south, of considerable strategic importance as the eastern defensive line protecting the approaches to Toulon.

Fold marks without tears or loss.

Fine hand-coloured manuscript plan depicting the area (now in the Var department) situated north of the village of La Valette (today La Valette-du-Var), extending to the lower slopes of Mont Coudon (702 m).

Creasing to the manuscript sheet.

Manuscript drawing consisting of a coloured sketch of one of the fort’s bastions, with scale in toises.

Construction of the Fort de Lamalgue, situated on the hill of the same name and intended to secure the landward approaches to Toulon while also protecting Fort Saint-Louis (Mourillon), which had been bombarded and abandoned during the siege of 1707, began in 1764 under the direction of Milet de Monville.

Works continued until 1792.

Traces of folding to the sheet.

First edition (cf. Wellcome, II, 340).

Our copy is preserved in its original sewn state, in provisional cream paper wrappers.

Signed presentation inscription from Charles-Irénée Jacquin to his colleague Dr Long, physician at Die.

Accompanied by a dated autograph letter signed by Charles-Irénée Jacquin, one page written on both sides, discussing his work and thanking his correspondent for the advice he had given him in the preparation of the present volume.

First edition, printed in a very small number of copies, of this offprint from the "Gazette médicale de Paris" for 1854.

Modern bradel-style binding in full boards covered with blue paper, smooth spine, brown shagreen title label laid down lengthwise with a small abrasion, signed Honnelaître.

On the half-title, a signed autograph presentation inscription by Camille Desjardins: "Offert à M. le professeur Moreau, membre de l'Académie impériale de Médecine, hommage respectueux de l'auteur".

This refers to the celebrated physician François Joseph Moreau (1789–1862), a specialist in gynaecology and close to the Orléans family, for whom he served...

Manuscript on graph paper comprising nearly 60 original drawings in black pencil, coloured pencil and watercolour, describing various species of edible and poisonous fungi: agaric, Caesar's mushroom, edible bolete, ceps, chanterelles, beefsteak fungus, morel, winter truffle, etc.

Each drawing is captioned in French and Latin.

 Contemporary amateur binding in full flexible boards, plain orange spine split and with portions lacking, blue boards; spine cracked.

Provenance: from the library of Dr Bacquias of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, with his name inscribed in the upper left-hand corner of the front board.

Some foxing.

Unpublished manuscript logbook kept by a French naval officer, an eyewitness to the celebrated action between the Aréthuse and HMS Amelia (1813), and to the campaigns that accompanied the restoration of French authority in the West Indies.

Unpublished autograph manuscript of 189 pages (the first 31 paginated, the remainder unnumbered), kept by an anonymous French naval officer and covering, without interruption, the period from 25 November 1812 to 4 May 1823.

Contemporary half tan calf, smooth spine decorated with repeated gilt rolls and naval ornaments, burgundy calf lettering-piece, brown paper-covered boards. Spine...

Typescript with one autograph page by Saint-Exupéry in pencil, Method for Guiding Aeroplanes [the title is in English], followed by Letters-Patent of Invention. A New Method for the Landing of Aeroplanes without Visibility with instruments and apparatus for its realization [also in English], 8 October 1937

Rust stains from staple holes and light dampstaining.

Original typescript of Saint-Exupéry patent titled "Method for Guiding Aeroplanes", addressing in particular the problem of piloting and guiding aircraft without visibility: a problem which, as he explains, is virtually solved... His demonstrations are illustrated with geometric diagrams (6 plates). The...

Complete autograph manuscript of 106 pages entitled: “Mémoire de la construction et agrèz d'une galère ordinaire, avec l'explication des termes, l'usage des manœuvres, et de toutes les parties qui composent le corps de la galère et son armement”. Penned in a neat, unrubricated hand, with occasional marginal notes in another hand.
 
Contemporary full vellum binding, lightly soiled with minor wear, smooth spine without lettering.
A major and invaluable manuscript chronicling the revival of the French galley fleet, written by the most influential galley shipwright of his time: Jean-Baptiste Chabert.
We have...

Collection of documents formed of 33 original contemporary silver halide print photographs, a reproduction of a press clipping from La Voix du Nord and three mimeographed technical plans, united in a black binder with a label with the inscription «Production Report «press» – press-forming of the ½ spheres of Ct Cousteau's diving saucer – February 1964.» Handwritten title page.
Signed, handwritten presentation: «Avec les amitiés du reporter photographe Wallemme Raoul» «With love from the photojournalist Wallemme Raoul.»
Very beautiful and unique collection, testifying to the genius of the making of the Deep Star 4000, a diving saucer invented by...