First Editions

First edition. Rare.

Half tan sheep bindings, smooth spines decorated with double gilt fillets showing some rubbing traces, two lower headcaps affected by small lacks due in one case to slight worm damage not affecting the text at all, and brown stains, upper headcap of volume 2 abraded, gilt names of a previous owner at foot, one joint of volume 3 cracked at head, marbled paper boards, later but 19th^century bindings. Rare and handsome copy almost entirely free from foxing.

Swedish entomologist and military officer who studied under Linnaeus. The Insects of Sweden (Insecta suecica) forms his most important contribution to the discipline; his insect collection was very extensive.

Volumes 1 and 4 each contain, bound at rear, manuscript notes and annotations covering 5½ pages, in a fine and close hand, certainly by the first owner of the work: A. Godart whose name appears at the foot of each volume.

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 the survivors each time rise one degree on the evolutionary scale. Bonnet was the first to use the term evolution in a biological context. The work also prefigures experimental psychology. There would exist in each being germs which pre-exist it and ensure the survival of the species, Bonnet's thesis announcing the theories and discoveries of genes. It was blindness that in Bonnet put a stop to experimentation and engaged him on the path of philosophical reflection.

First edition of the French translation by Camus with the Greek text facing.

Contemporary marbled full calf bindings. Smooth spines decorated with two grotesque compartments and two stamps, fillets and rolls. Red morocco title labels and black morocco volume labels. Headcap of volume I worn. Rubbing.

Camus's translation is highly esteemed, though it concerns only the first volume, the second gathering notes and observations on modern natural history. Camus further establishes the importance of Aristotle's work and its influence on natural history bibliography. There is an interesting table allowing one to locate animals in Aristotle, in Greek, Latin and French. This second part is highly erudite and contains numerous references to other works, describing in situ each animal found in Aristotle's treatise.

First edition.
Bound in full marbled beige sheepskin, Spine with raised-band, black title label. Mid-19th century binding.
Emanuel König (1658-1731) was a German physicist and physician from Basel. Strangely, this classic description of the animal kingdom, which includes a rigorous anatomical and mechanical approach, is classified as a work of spiritual magic in the 17th-century library of occult sciences. However, this work served as a basis for Swedenborg in his writings.
Medallion-shaped ex libris Picard Avenionsis.
A damp stain in the middle of the entire book, more or less noticeable.
Not in the Brunet bibliography.

Rare first edition. Not held by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Brunet II, 1236. Title vignette.

Modern full vellum binding with overlapping flaps. Plain spine, ties. Light marginal dampstaining to first few pages. Some foxing.

Auger Ferrier (1513-1588) of Toulouse was simultaneously a renowned astronomer, physician and physicist (he was one of Catherine de Medici's private physicians). The work is a treatise on the Spanish plague or Spanish pox, otherwise called the Neapolitan disease, which is none other than syphilis and which had been wreaking havoc in France for some time (depending on the country it was also called the French disease). Description of the illness and remedies. There follows a chapter intended for barbers and the remedies they could employ not being physicians (falling nails, alopecia); this treatise is followed by its translation, as barbers were not learned and did not speak Latin, yet they often practiced various surgical operations.