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DARWIN, Charles.
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1859
£150,000
First edition of "the most influential scientific work of the 19th century" (Horblit) and "the most important biological book ever written" (Freeman); one of 1,250 copies. The...
Octavo. Original green diagonal-wave-grain cloth, covers blocked in blind, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, brown coated endpapers, Edmonds & Remnants binder's... Read more
EUCLID.
Elementa Geometriae. 1482
£150,000
First edition of 'the oldest mathematical textbook still in common use today' (PMM) and one of the earliest printed books with geometrical figures. The text is the standard late...
Chancery folio (305 × 207 mm). Recently rebound in full brown calf by Richard Smart of Old English Bindery, spine gilt in compartments, 5 raised bands, concentric... Read more
GOULD, John.
The Birds of Great Britain. [1862-]1873
£85,000
First edition. A fine copy of the work of which Gould was most proud, here with a first issue of the Snowy Owl plate. This work is "the most sumptuous and costly of British bird...
5 volumes, folio (580 × 350 mm). Finely bound by Tuckett (binder to the Queen) in contemporary full green morocco, spines elaborately gilt in compartments, raised... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1859
£75,000
First edition of the "most influential scientific work of the nineteenth century" (Grolier/Horblit). In this revolutionary statement of his concept of the evolution of species,...
Octavo, gathered and signed in twelves. Original green cloth, titles to spine gilt, decoration to boards in blind, chocolate brown coated endpapers, all edges... Read more
HOOKE, Robert.
Micrographia: 1665
£65,000
First edition, first issue, of this "early landmark in microscopy, containing the first illustration of cells [plate xi]" (Horblit). Published under the aegis of the Royal Society,...
Folio (300 × 192 mm). Contemporary calf, gilt arms to covers, rebacked to style with endpapers renewed. Red morocco-backed folding box. Licence leaf facing title... Read more
HOOKE, Robert.
Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. 1665
£45,000
First edition, first issue. This "early landmark in microscopy, containing the first illustration of cells [plate xi]" (Horblit) was published under the aegis of the Royal Society,...
Folio (299 x 194 mm). Contemporary calf, skilfully rebacked and relined. Title-page printed in red and black with engraved arms of the Royal Society, 38 engraved... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1859
£37,500
First edition of "the most influential scientific work of the 19th century" (Horblit) and "the most important biological book ever written" (Freeman), one of 1,250 copies. "The...
Octavo (187 × 110 mm). Contemporary green half calf, spine elaborately gilt in compartments, red morocco label, patterned sides, marbled endpapers and edges. In a... Read more
GILBERT, William.
De magnete, magneticisque corporibus, et de magno magnete tellure; 1600
£30,000
First edition of "the first major English scientific treatise based on experimental methods of research. Gilbert was chiefly concerned with magnetism; but as a digression he...
Folio (290 × 188 mm). Contemporary calf over wooden boards, metal furniture and clasps; rebacked, one catch missing, covers rubbed. Housed in a black cloth... Read more
HUYGENS, Christiaan.
Traité de la Lumière. 1690
£22,500
First edition of Huygens's path breaking exposition of his wave or pulse theory of light. Huygens had developed his theory in 1676 and 1677, and completed his Traité in 1678. He...
Small quarto (189 × 157 mm). Contemporary sprinkled calf, neatly rebacked to style with red morocco label. General title printed in red and black, second part... Read more
MORLAND, Samuel, Sir.
The description and use of two arithmetick instruments. 1673
£20,000
First edition of the first book in English on a mechanical calculating machine, and the first separate work on the subject since Napier's Rabdologiae (1617). Nothing more of any...
Small octavo (143 × 90 mm). Modern period-style sheep by Bernard Middleton, double gilt rules, red morocco spine label, marbled endpapers. Frontispiece portrait... Read more
RAMELLI, Agostino.
Le diverse et artificiose machine … 1588
£20,000
First edition of a fundamental book in the history both of technology and of book design, and "one of the most elegantly produced of all technological treatises" (Norman). The...
Folio (307 × 206 mm). Contemporary French mottled calf, spine gilt in compartments between raised bands, lettered in second compartment, sides ruled in blind.... Read more
LAFOSSE, Philippe Étienne.
Cours d'Hippiatrique, ou Traité Complet de la Médecin des Chevaux, 1772
£20,000
First edition of this celebrated work of animal anatomy. Lafosse had considerable anatomical skill, coupled with a profound knowledge of horses and equitation, and his work ranks...
Folio (503 × 335 mm), in three parts. Contemporary calf, skilfully rebacked to style with gilt spine retaining old morocco label, marbled endpapers, edges stained... Read more
MCKENNEY, Thomas Loraine, & James Hall.
History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 1854
£18,750
Second octavo edition. A highly successful publication running to five impressions within the first few years of publication. The same plates were used for all the early editions of...
3 volumes, octavo (260 × 164 mm) original red hard-grain morocco, raised bands to the spine, title gilt direct to the spine, compartments gilt, elaborate gilt... Read more
BROOKSHAW, George.
Pomona Britannica, or a collection of the most esteemed fruits at present cultivated in Great Britain; 1817
£17,500
Second edition, in smaller format than the first, of the finest English work on fruit; "one of the finest colour-plate books in existence" (Prideaux); this copy with an additional...
Large quarto. Late 19th-century green half morocco, spine with raised bands decoratively gilt, gilt lettered in two compartments, double gilt rules, gilt border at... Read more
LINNAEUS, Carolus.
Hortus Cliffortianus 1737
£15,000
First edition of the most sumptuously produced of Linnaeus's works, a detailed description of the Hartecamp gardens at Heemstede, a masterpiece of early botanical literature. It was...
Folio (approx 445 × 260 mm). Contemporary sprinkled paper boards, neatly rebacked with black cloth, edges uncut. Engraved frontispiece and 36 numbered engraved... Read more
DUCHENNE (DE BOULOGNE), Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand.
Mécanisme de la Physionomie Humaine ou analyse électro-physiologique de l'expression des passions. 1862
£12,500
First edition of this landmark in the history of clinical medical photography; presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper "A mon ami [the identity of the...
Large octavo (272 × 178 mm). Original gilt-lettered red morocco-grain cloth spine and front cover skilfully laid down over later red pebble grain cloth to style,... Read more
THOREAU, Henry D.
Walden; or, Life in the Woods. 1854
£12,500
First edition. Following the failure of his first book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Walden was not a runaway success. The edition of 2,000 took five years to sell...
Octavo. Original brown ribbed cloth, title gilt to spine, large decorative device within blind panels to the boards, pale yellow endpapers. In a custom blue quarter... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 1869
£12,500
Fifth edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the publisher's clerk, "From the author", on the half-title, as usual. This edition sees the first use by Darwin of Herbert Spencer's...
Octavo. Original green fine sand-grain cloth, titles to spine gilt, decorative panels blocked in blind to sides, black endpapers: Freeman's variant "c" binding. Housed... Read more
APIANUS, Petrus, & Gemma Frisius.
Cosmographia … 1574
£12,500
An excellent copy of one of the most important geographical-astronomical texts of the Renaissance and, in the augmented edition of the Flemish mathematician Gemma Frisius, one of the...
Quarto (226 × 170 mm). Contemporary paper wrappers, manuscript titles to spine. Housed in a flat back cloth solander box. Printed title with large engraved... Read more
CAESAR, Julius.
C. Julii Caesaris quae extant. Accuratissimè cum libris editis & MSS optimis collata, recognita & correcta. 1712
£12,500
First edition, deluxe issue on large and thick paper, of Samuel Clarke's Caesar, justly regarded as one of the finest examples of eighteenth-century English publishing: "The most...
Royal folio (488 × 326 mm). Contemporary panelled calf, neatly rebacked and recornered. Double-page engraved title dated 1712 (ESTC notes the existence of copies... Read more
![[Cyrillic:] Lektsii o rabote glavnykh pishchevaritel'nykh zhelez.](/content/store/products/4566/2/6055.jpg)
PAVLOV, Ivan Petrovich.
[Cyrillic:] Lektsii o rabote glavnykh pishchevaritel'nykh zhelez. 1897
£12,000
First edition of Pavlov's celebrated Lectures on the work of the principal digestive glands, first delivered at St Petersburg the previous year, the greatest contribution to our...
Octavo. Later Russian half calf, raised bands, spine lettered in blind. Diagrams and tables in the text. Russian blindstamp to front free endpaper, faint inkstamp... Read more
![[Das Kapital, in Russian] Kapital. Kritika politicheskoi ekonomii.](/content/store/products/4000/2/5434.jpg)
MARX, Karl.
[Das Kapital, in Russian] Kapital. Kritika politicheskoi ekonomii. 1872
£10,000
First edition in Russian, the first foreign translation, of "the Bible of Marxism." This is the first translation to appear in any language, and the impact of it was greatest on the...
Octavo (236 × 153 mm). Contemporary Russian black half calf, blue pebble-grain cloth sides, spine with double gilt rules. Housed in a black quarter morocco... Read more
DARWIN, Charles.
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. 1871
£10,000
First edition, first issue with the errata on the verso of the title leaf of vol. II. Here the word "evolution" appears for the first time in any of Darwin's works, preceding its...
2 volumes, octavo. Original green cloth, titles to spines gilt, sides with panels blocked in blind, blue coated endpapers. In a green cloth folding case. Engravings... Read more
GRAY, Henry.
Anatomy descriptive and surgical. 1858
£9,750
First edition of the medical text which has been more widely used by successive generations of medical students and doctors than any other. Publisher's presentation copy to Frederick...
Royal octavo. Original bead-grain brown cloth, neatly rebacked with original spine laid down, brick-red endpapers. Oatmeal cloth folding case. Paper book label "GOM"... Read more
GALVANI, Luigi.
De Viribus Electricitatis In Motu Musculari 1792
£9,500
First separate edition, first issue with caption "E" in fig. 22 uncorrected, printed in black. Galvani's theory of "animal electricity" demonstrated the main phenomenon of galvanism:...
Quarto (277 × 192 mm). Early nineteenth-century calf-backed boards. Housed in a green flat back cloth solander box made by The Chelsea Bindery. 3 folding engraved... Read more
