Rare books from Alembic Rare Books

Hardcover. Very Good. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. 170 page manuscript. Contemporary half speckled sheep, marbled sides. Several contemporary sheets of manuscript with mathematical notations loosely inserted. Corners repaired, a little wear and some discolouration to boards, endpapers tanned, contents with the occasional light spot but overall quite clean. Very good condition. An elegant, substantial early-19th century manuscript containing practical mathematical and astronomical problems likely produced by a student of navigation. The majority of the text is from John Bonnycastle''s A Treatise on Plane and Spherical Trigonometry, originally published in 1806. Bonnycastle was a respected mathematics teacher who tutored the children of the aristocracy and taught at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. A man of "considerable classical and general literary culture", he was a great friend of Fuseli and also of Leigh Hunt, who included Bonnycastle in his book Lord Byron and Some of His Contemporaries.… Read More

Urbana & London: University of Illinois Press, 1966. Octavo. Original green cloth, titles to spine and upper board in black. With the dust jacket. Contemporary ownership signature in blue ink to the front free endpaper. An excellent, fresh copy in the lightly rubbed jacket that is tanned, particularly along the spine panel, and has some nicks and short splits at the edges. First edition of this important work on self-reproduction in machines and life forms, scare in the dust jacket. Von Neumann became interested in the abilities of computers to self-reproduce during his work on the Institute for Advanced Studies computer project - noting that, since a Turing machine can make exact copies of any readable sequence, it can copy itself. He hoped to formulate a theory of self-reproduction that would be general enough to explain and predict self-reproduction in both machines and living things. "Using the same method of logical substitution by which a Turing machine can be instructed to interpret… Read More

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

Tuttlingen, Germany: Michael Birk, [c. 1890s]. Quarto. Original limp cloth wrappers blocked in gilt, grey, black, and white, blue endpapers, blue top-stain. 15 double-sided leaves of chromolithographic, metallic-printed, and embossed designs, of which 6 are folding, engravings throughout the other 290 pages. Minor bumps at the corners. A superb, fresh copy in unused condition with many of the leaves unopened and still delicately adhering to each other at the edges. A superb, unused Art Nouveau chromolithographic catalogue issued by the German pharmaceutical and medical supply firm Michael Birk, probably in the 1890s. This remarkable, 320 page catalogue catalogue contains 15 double-sided plates of elaborate chromolithographic, metallic, and embossed designs for product labels, as well as another 290 pages advertising an incredible array of other products. The chromolithographic labels could be ordered in bulk to be used on bottles and jars filled in person by the pharmacist, and some could be… Read More

London: John Murray, 1847. Octavo (183 x 115 mm). Contemporary prize binding of green morocco, spine gilt in compartments, title, single-line rules, elaborate crests to boards, acorn and oak leaf roll to turn-ins, and all edges gilt, marbled endpapers. 5 folding plates on tissue, diagrams within the text. Prize and ownership bookplates to the front endpapers. Binding lightly rubbed with a few mild scuffs and some light wear at the extremities, a little faint spotting to the folding plates. Very good condition. Second edition with additions, first published in 1839. An attractively bound prize copy awarded by the Royal Military College at Sandhurst to Henry George White for "attention to, and progress in, military drawing". With White's later bookplate giving his rank as Major General. Author George Dominicus Burr (d. 1855), was for forty years an esteemed professor of military surveying at the Royal Military College, and it is presumably he himself who presented this prize volume. The contents cover… Read More

1941. Hardcover. Good. Oblong Quarto. Second World War photo album compiled by American Red Cross worker Elizabeth Ridley, with three wartime Naval yearbooks & souvenir books owned by her sister Christine, a naval air mechanic in the WAVES programme. Oblong folio (340 x 260 mm). 1941-45. Contemporary dark blue skiver elaborately embossed in grey with military motifs including an American Eagle, planes, tank, battleship, artillery, and blimp. Bound with black nylon ties that may not be original. 80 black paper pages containing 219 photographs attached with photo corners. The photos range in size, with the majority measuring 90 x 60 mm, and the largest 255 x 200 mm. A few items, including some photos, a small colour Kodachrome, several negatives, and an unused Anchor Line trunk label are loosely inserted. Elizabeth has written her name and address on the front free endpaper and annotated many of the photos with white ink. The naval books owned by Christine Ridley include We Keep 'Em Flying: A Visit… Read More

Baltimore, MD: The Association for Computing Machinery, 1965. Quarto. Original cream wrappers printed in black. Remnants of a mailing label to the upper wrapper. Just a little rubbed and creased. Excellent condition. First publication of the resolution principle, the standard of logical deduction in AI applications. The basic computational method in logic programming, the unification algorithm, was proposed by mathematician Jacques Herbrand in 1930, but its first practical use was not discovered until Robinson introduced it in this paper as the basic operation of his resolution principle. "Robinson described his resolution principle as 'machine-oriented' in that it was particularly suitable for proofs to be performed by computer, having only one rule of inference that could be applied many times. Robinson's resolution has since been used as the standard of logical deduction in AI applications" (Hook & Norman, Origins of Cyberspace 865). "Born in Halifax, England, and having served in the RAF,… Read More

Liverpool: Matthews Brothers, Printers, [c. 1870s]. 64 page pamphlet. Original light blue wrappers printed in black. Engraving depicting the museum on the lower wrapper, 1 engraving within the text. Wrappers rubbed, dulled, and spotted, minor crease to the upper corner slightly affecting the contents. Very good condition. The rare catalogue of the Liverpool Museum of Anatomy, describing in detail the Museum's contents and policies, and illustrating its interior by an engraving on the lower cover. The Liverpool Museum of Anatomy was one of a number of such museums in the UK and US that specialised in wax anatomical models and, unlike many of the museums of professional medical organisations, were open to the public. Though the stated goal was always education, particularly regarding reproduction and the dangers of sexual vice, these museums also traded on the shock or titillation value of their exhibits and some were targeted by the medical establishment as purveyors of vice and quackery. The… Read More

New York, Morningside Heights: Columbia University Press, 1949. Octavo. Original blue cloth, titles to spine gilt. 1 double-sided plate, illustrations within the text. Very lightly rubbed at the tips, small blue sink spots on the upper edge of the text block. Excellent condition. Third printing of this influential work, originally published in 1944. From the library of molecular biologist Erwin Chargaff (1905-2002), with this ownership signature in ink on the front free endpaper. Chargaff's work elucidated key concepts about DNA and provided part of the groundwork for Watson and Crick's discovery of its structure. Chargaff's rules, as they are now known, state that the quantities of the four nucleotides are always linked - guanine matching that of cytosine and adenine with thiamine, and that the relative amounts of each vary from species to species. These observations strongly hinted that the nucleotides carried the genetic information (rather than the protein components, as had been thought… Read More

Manchester, 1952-1956. Including 16 typed letters signed (one with the signature clipped out for reproduction in Vistas in Astronomy) and 1 autograph letter signed by Lovell, together with yellow carbons of Beer's typed letters, bound together with green string with metal caps in Beer's tan folder with the name Lovell in ink on the cover. Rust stains to the top three documents and the lower document from the metal caps on the binding string, not affecting the Lovell letters. Occasional mild creasing, otherwise the contents fresh and in excellent condition. An interesting archive of unpublished correspondence between leading radio astronomer Alfred Lovell (1913-2012) and astronomer and science populariser Arthur Beer. Beer (1900-1980) was born in Richenberg, Bohemia (later Czechoslovakia), and educated in Austria and Germany. He worked as an astronomer at Breslau University, where he studied binary stars, and at the German Maritime Observatory. He also wrote newspaper columns and was responsible… Read More

New York & London: Babcock & Wilcox, March, 1893. Tall quarto. Original brown cloth blocked in gilt and blind, all edges red, floral patterned endpapers. Lithographic half title. Engravings and illustrations from photos throughout. Ownership ink stamp of Edmund Prechtel to front pastedown and title, ownership signature of the same to the front blank. Cloth a little rubbed and spotted with some scattered loss of size, small tear at the base of the spine panel, contents faintly toned. Excellent condition. "Steam, Its Production and Use, together with a Catalogue of Manufactures". A very attractive 1893 German language catalogue of the pioneering power firm Babcock & Wilcox, the first edition of which was published in 1875. This 180-page catalogue is heavily illustrated with both photos and engravings. In addition to specifications for the firm's boiler models, it includes a detailed overview of steam power and the operations of different types of boilers, as well as information about the company and… Read More

Munich: J. F. Schreiber & Deutsche Hochbild-Gesellschaft, c. 1920s. Painted plaster anatomical relief display in wooden frame (240 x 302 mm). Printed paper label to the rear. Housed in the original box with the stamp of the publisher's archive and two handwritten labels - one giving the name of the display and the other reading "F21". Also with the original tissue-covered cotton insert to protect the relief. A few very minor scratches and spots to the frame. There is some wear to the box and the tissue covering for the cotton padding is torn. Excellent condition. Uncommon, early-20th century anatomical relief of the European frog species Rana esculenta (the common European water frog, or green frog). The publisher's archive copy, in excellent condition in the original box. This relief was one of a series produced for schools, Vergleichende Anatomie der Wirbeltiere (Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates), designed by the German behavioural scientist and educational writer Bastian Schmid (1870-1944)… Read More

Munich: J. F. Schreiber & Deutsche Hochbild-Gesellschaft, c. 1920s. Painted plaster anatomical relief display in wooden frame (240 x 302 mm). Printed paper label to the rear. Housed in the original box with the stamp of the publisher's archive and two handwritten labels - one giving the name of the display and the other reading "F22". Also with the original tissue-covered cotton insert to protect the relief. Some minor spots and scuffs to the frame. Slight damage to the paper backing of the frame not affecting the its integrity. Some wear to the box. Excellent condition. Uncommon, early-20th century anatomical relief of the European lizard species Lacerta agilis (the sand lizard, here called the fence lizard). The publisher's archive copy, in excellent condition in the original box. This relief was one of a series produced for schools, Vergleichende Anatomie der Wirbeltiere (Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates), designed by the German behavioural scientist and educational writer Bastian Schmid… Read More

Chicago, IL: Max Rigo, 1911. Folding panoramic postcard (290 x 195 mm). Professionally mounted, gazed, and framed using archival materials. Composite photographic image depicting the Chicago lakefront and early planes. The sender's and receiver's details filled out in black ink, and four landmarks noted on the image in the same hand. Marks from stamp, some toning and spotting of the verso, creasing and wear, particularly near the original folds (which are fragile) and at the corners and slightly affecting the image, small tape repair to one corner on the verso. Very good condition. A striking, oversized panoramic postcard photomontage depicting one of the most important aviation events prior to the First World War, the August 1911 International Aviation Meet at Grant Park in Chicago. The Chicago meet was the largest airshow held up to that time, only eight years after the first powered flight by the Wright Brothers. Over the course of nine days thirty-three amateur and professional aviators… Read More

[Olympia, WA], 1935. Silver gelatin composite photograph (250 x 200 mm) with small tear-off monthly calendar for 1936. Inscribed "Merry Christmas, The Bowmans". A few minor nicks and spots at the edges. Excellent, unused condition. A remarkable piece of early aviation ephemera, this calendar was produced as a Christmas greeting by the early female aviator Marguerite (Martie) Bowman (1901-1985) and her husband Leslie, also a pilot. It depicts Bowman flying in her WACO INF biplane, registration number NC625Y, in formation with two others, and includes portraits of Bowman, her husband, and their daughter Larnie Bowman Allen. We have learned from one of the Bowmans' grandchildren that Larnie joined the family profession, becoming a wing-walker at eight and soloing at twelve. The Bowmans established an aviation business together and, during the 1920s, 30s and 40s, Martie Bowman ferried planes from factories and regularly participated in air races. She competed in the 1930 Women's Dixie Air Derby from… Read More