OF THE PLURALITY OF WORLDS: An Essay; Also, a Diaglogue on the Same Subject by [Whewell, William] - 1854

Peterborough, NH: McGraw-Hill, 1980. First edition. Hard cover in original cloth and dust jacket. Published Peterborough, NH: McGraw-Hill, 1980, first printing. 8vo., 7 1/2" x 9 1/4", 235pp., illustrated with color and b/w plates. A seminal work by a pioneer in computer graphics and cinema techniques. Near fine, clean and bright, in a very good dust jacket with edgewear and a short, closed tear. . 1st. Hard. Near Fine/Very Good. 8vo.

Paris: Chez l'auteur... Laurent d'Houry... Jean Boudot, libraire..., 1699. 12mo. [18],300;112 pp. plus 26 plates (three folding). Contemporary speckled calf, spine richly gilt, gilt leather label, raised bands, edges rouged. Light institutional inkstamp in title page. 18th-century inscription in titlepage and signature of Theophile Leonard in title page and final page of the dedication. Occasional 18th-century marginalia. Minor wear. Near fine. First edition of the first major work of Nicolas Bion, complete with 26 plates of terrestrial and celestial maps, diagrams, and images of globes. Bion (ca. 1652-1733) was a Paris-based cosmographer and maker of mathematical and astronomical instruments, holding the title of "king's engineer for mathematical instruments" under Louis XIV (DSB II, pp. 132-1330). A landmark in its field.

Philadelphia: Printed by James Kay, Jun. & Brother, 1837. Very Good. [1], 224-231, [1] p.; 29 cm. Disbound from a larger volume. Read before the Society on Feb. 6, 1835. Joseph Henry (1797-1878), one of the founding fathers of electrical technology, was the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In this paper he responds to Faraday's confirmation of Henry's earlier discovery relating to electricity by describing further experiments he had carried out after moving to Princeton. Very scarce. In Very Good Condition: disbound from a larger volume; 1-cm. closed tear from gutter in each leaf; chip out along gutter of first leaf; clean and bright.

Washington D.C.: The Smithsonian Institution, 1896. Hardcover. Excellent. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Large octavo. Original green cloth, titles to upper board gilt, yellow coated endpapers. Corners and tail of spine bumped slightly affecting leaves, else a very fresh copy in excellent condition. First separate edition, first printing of the first publication on the discovery of argon, which led to Nobel Prizes for its co-discoverers. "Few discoveries have been as dramatic as the discovery of argon in the atmosphere by Lord Rayleigh and William Ramsay, professor of chemistry at University College, London. The discovery of argon involved a bitter public dispute concerning the legitimacy of a chemical element whose most important characteristic was its inertness, and which forced the chemists to reassess the very notion of a chemical element." Rayleigh had begun work to determine the densities of atmospheric gases in 1882. In 1892 he uncovered a strange discrepancy between the atomic weight of… Read More

The Geological Society of America, 2006. Paperback. Used- Very good condition. Book is clean and tight. Book shows light shelf wear. One small crease on the top middle of back cover. No creasing on the spine. No markings on the inside of the book. Special paper maps in pocket at back of book. Photos are of the book we have here at Barbed Wire Books. Note: ISBN printed in book may apply to other books, as well.

Amsterdam. (amstelodami): Amstelodami, Apud Andream Frisum. Very Good. 1686. First Edition. Hardcover. Bound in vellum . Stain on rear cover. Interior of text is tight, clean & intact. A few pages slightly age darkened. Eight engraved illustrations of which five are fold outs. Front and rear paste-down endpaper have hand-written notes from long ago. Printed book on the subject of glass making technology. This recipe book contains over a hundred different preparations that range from the commonplace to the spectacular. It became the bible of glass makers throughout Europe. Glass, Science & Technology ; Engraved illustrations; 24mo 5" - 6" tall; 455pp pages .

London: London: printed by M. Flesher, for Walter Kettilby, at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1684. 1st Edition . Full leather. Near Fine. First edition, quarto; [12], 288, [52], 305-472, [12]pp., complete with imprimatur leaf preceding title-page and separate dated title-page to "An historical account of the College's proceedings against empiricks" on leaf 2P1 recto. In period style 20th century full leather by J.May of London (with only the lightest of wear), blind double fillets to board margins, five raised spine bands with gilt lettered spine label to second compartment, all page edges gilt, small single marginal wormhole to a few rear leaves not affecting text, first and last leaves marginally stained by leather turn-ins, occasional very feint spots and unobtrusive light paper browning, overall a clean copy of these important early accounts of the Royal College of Physicians undertaken, probably at the request of the College, by Charle Goodall, later to become its President. A… Read More

Raccolta unica di 62 pubblicazioni ed estratti di botanica appartenuti al celebre botanico Rodolfo PichiSermolli (Florence 1912-2005). Rodolfo Pichi Sermolli fu un grande botanico specializzato nelle felci Pterodofite. Viaggiò per tutto il mondo in cerca di campioni da utilizzare per il suo erbario: in Africa (Libia, Lagon Tana in Etiopia) Messico, Hawai, Nuova Zelanda, Polinesia ecc… Le più prestigiose istituzioni come il British Museum o il Smithsonian Institution di Washington cercarono di acquistare l'erbario ma lui decise di donarlo all'Università di Firenze. Le pubblicazioni sono per la gran parte studi di botanica, talvolta con descrizione dinuove scoperte di specie e riguardano numerose parti del mondo : Guinea, Mozambico, Canada, North America, Colombia, Quebec, Extremadura in Spain, Africa, Europe etc… Tutti i pezzi riportano ex libris di Sermolli con un numero consecutivo (le pubblicazioni numerate 5350, 5351, 5367, 5369, 5375, 5395 risultano… Read More

Edinburgh: Oliver and Bord, 1855. RARE in the 1855 First Edition, last seen at auction in 1969 (RBH). Original green embossed cloth with gilt floral arrangement front cover and gilt lettering back, large fold-out color map at rear. Very Good Minus, tears to cloth at head of spine, front hinge opened yet holding nicely, map at rear complete and present, but most of map separated from book, with a 2" chip separated but present. Sir John William Dawson, (1820-1899) ws an important Canadian professor of geology and principal of McGill University for 38 years. He was a Canadian pioneer in the field.of the microscopic studies of fossils, the first British North American trained to be an exploration geologist, and worked in Canada with Charles Lyell, the father of modern geology. . First Edition. Embossed Cloth. Very Good Minus/No Jacket, As Issued. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

First edition thus, 8vo, pp. xxiv, 25-348; 4 plates within text block, 8 folding charts depicting a vertical section of the Atlantic, depth chart, paths of hurricanes, sea drifts, winds and routes, and the gulf stream, and 1 folding table of a pilot's sheet - all in perfect condition barring one small tear(4 cm.) on Plate VIII; original navy blue cloth, corners rubbed and bumped, textblock bright and sound. Considered the first textbook of modern oceanography, this work was among the first to recognize the sea as a separate branch of science. Maury was a distinguished naval officer and a prolific writer on oceanography and naval subjects; he was instrumental in establishing an international system for recording oceanographic data, based on worldwide cooperation of naval vessels and the merchant marine. This work went through many editions; here on offer is the first printing of an enlarged and revised sixth edition - "An Entirely New Edition" - first published and entered on the Congressional Register… Read More