261
1049 [Geology]
-
HAÜY, [René Just]
- Traité des caractères physique des pierres précieuses, pour servir
à leur détermination lorsqu’elles ont été taillées. Paris, Vve Courcier, 1817, in-8, demi-basane
gaufrée bleu nuit de l’époque (coupes lég. frottées), dos lisse fil. à froid (coiffes frottées), tr. jaspées,
xvi-xxii-253 pp. (piq. & rouss. passim).
€
600/700
Édit. orig. Ill. de 3 pl. dépliantes par
Cloquet
. Considéré par certains comme le fondement de la
gemmologie, cet ouvrage important s’inscrit dans le cadre plus large des travaux minéralogiques et
cristallographiques de l’abbé Haüy (1743-1822), lui-même possesseur d’une importante collection
de minéraux et de cristaux.
Ref.
Sinkankas 2811. Bn-Opale plus. COPAC.
1050 [Horology - sundials]
-
RIVARD, Dominique-François
- La gnomonique, ou L’art de faire des
cadrans. Troisième édition revue par l’auteur. Paris, Jean Desaint (Orléans, impr. de J. Rouzeau-
Montaut), 1767, in-8, basane marbrée à l’éponge de l’époque (lég. frottée, qqs éraflures), dos orné
doré à 5 nerfs (petits défauts en tête et queue, min. travaux de ver), étiq. de cuir rouge, tr. rouges,
xv-[1]-16-324-51-[1] pp. (garde volante sup. et 1er f. bl. part. détachés, mouill. pâle intermittente
dans la partie sup.). Bon ex.
€
120/150
3e éd. (1ère en 1742, 2e en 1746) de ce traité essentiellement théorique par le mathématicien et
philosophe Rivard (1697-1778), professeur au Collège de Beauvais. Ill. (complet) de
12 planches
dépliantes hors texte
, surtout des schémas. Les pp. 1-16 au début contiennent une “Addition pour
la description d’une méridienne (...)”, les pp. 1-45 in fine des “Tables de gnomonique”.
Ref.
BnF.
1051 [Ichthyology]
-
GERVAIS, Paul
- Les poissons. Synonymie, description, moeurs, frai, pêche,
iconographie des espèces. Paris, Rothschild, 1876, 8vo, half cloth (covers loose, spine gone).
S.w.a.f.
€
120/150
Vol. one only of this well illustrated work on the freshwater (volume I) and marine (volumes II-III)
ichthyofauna of France. With
59
(of 60)
chromotyp. pl. Ref.
Nissen ZBI, 1548.
~ Compendium of Kircher’s scientific observations & experiments ~
1052 [Kircher]
-
KESTLER, Joannes Stephanus
- Physiologia Kircheriana experimentalis, qua
summa argumentorum multitudine & varietate naturalium rerum scientia per experimenta physica,
mathematica, medica, chymica, musica, magnetica, mechanica comprobatur atque stabilitur. Quam
ex vastis operibus (…) Athanisii Kircheri extraxit (…). Amsterdam, Janssonius - Van Waesberge
Press, 1680, folio, cont. marbled sheep (stained), richly gilt spine (def. at head and tail, joints sl.
splitting), [8]-248-[8] pp. (occ. minor spotting, blank upper margin of frontisp. cut off). Good
copy.
€
2000/3000
“A codification of
Kircher’s scientific observations and experiments
, edited by his pupil Joannes
Kestler and published the year of Kircher’s death. Naturally there are large sections on light and
shadow, magnetism, acoustics, and music; but there are also experiments and observations in
hydraulics, alchemy, and a myriad of other topics. This compendium was perhaps a response to
entreaties from Kircher’s fellow scientists, who appreciated his keen observations and experiments
but did not care to wade through some 40 volumes to glean them” (Merrill). Ill. with a
frontisp.
,
8
engravings
and some
180 small woodcuts
. The work includes a
discussion of the magic lantern
(which Kircher did not invent, although he did publish a study of its principles in his “Ars magna
lucis et umbrae” [1646]), and the
1st recorded experiment on hypnosis of animals
. The Jesuit
polymath and experimentalist Athanasius Kircher was one of the scientific stars of the 17th century.
He was the first scholar to enjoy a global reputation, and the first to support himself financially
through the sale of his books. Kircher produced some forty treatises “on virtually every imaginable
aspect of ancient and modern knowledge”, each one “demonstrat[ing] his dizzying array of
linguistic, paleographic, historical, and scientific skills, and... advertis[ing] his myriad inventions,
possession of strange and exotic artifacts, and mysterious manuscripts” (Findlen).” (J. Norman).
