New York: published for the Author, [1870]-1872. 2 volumes, folio. (23 1/2 x 18 inches). 2pp. subscriber's list. 79 fine hand-colored lithographic... More

New York: published for the Author, [1870]-1872. 2 volumes, folio. (23 1/2 x 18 inches). 2pp. subscriber's list. 79 fine hand-colored lithographic plates (including 1 folding plate of feathers) after Joseph Wolf by Joseph Smit (58) or John Gerrard Keulemans (21), printed by M. & N. Hanhart and P.W.M. Trap, coloured by J.D. White, 2 uncolored lithographic plates by and after Smit, on India paper mounted. (Expert neat repairs to titles, the lower margin of the folding plate of feathers, and the text leaf in vol. II describing the Lady Amherst's pheasant). Contemporary red morocco gilt by Bickers & Son, covers with elaborate gilt border composed from fillets, decorative rolls and stylized foliage tools at cornerpieces, spines in seven compartments with double raised bands, lettered in the second and fourth, the others with overall decoration of massed small tools, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, g.e. The most splendid of Elliot's great monographs, and a rare American publication of this elegant class of books. Issued in 6 parts between June 1870 and October 1872, A Monograph of the Phasianidae is described by Sitwell as "the equal in every way to any work by Gould." The magnificent size and beautiful coloring of the plates after Joseph Wolf's drawings reflect the importance which Elliot attached to the Phasianidae. Of all the families in the ornithological system, he regarded it as the one most vital to the human race, "containing within it the species that afford food for thousands of mankind, and also those which are the original source of all the domestic poultry met with throughout the civilized world." He generously dedicated the work "To my friend Joseph Wolf", calling his "unrivalled talent...its chief attraction." Anker 130; Fine Birds Books (1990), p. 95; T. Keulemans & J. Coldewey Feathers to brush... John Gerrard Keulemans 1982, p.61; Nissen IVB 295; Wood p. 331; Zimmer p. 206. Less

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(Geneva: No publisher) 1759. First edition, the true first printing preceding all others. 12mo. Text in French. Contemporary full mottled French... More

(Geneva: No publisher) 1759. First edition, the true first printing preceding all others. 12mo. Text in French. Contemporary full mottled French calf, spine elaborately gilt, red morocco spine label gilt. Bound (as customary) without the final blank (N7) and the instructions to the binder (N8), very short hairline split at one joint, but still a beautiful just about fine copy, not rebacked or restored in any way. Custom cloth chemise and clamshell case. The first printing is rare, this being one of only 13 known copies of the authentic first edition, preceding 17 other editions subsequently published in 1759 (per Wade, Barber, and Weissman). Printing and the Mind of Man 204 (one of only about a dozen novels included in the survey). Less

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Eight engraved plates (several of the plates in Vol. I are a little foxed). vi, [1], 220 pp.; 4 p.l., 221-560 pp.; xii, 357 pp., [3] pp. of ads.... More

Eight engraved plates (several of the plates in Vol. I are a little foxed). vi, [1], 220 pp.; 4 p.l., 221-560 pp.; xii, 357 pp., [3] pp. of ads. Three vols. 8vo, cont. cloth-backed boards (boards of each vol. are different but spines are uniform), manuscript labels on spines, uncut. Manchester: R. Bickerstaff, 1808-10 [Vols. I & II], G. Wilson, 1827 [Vol. III]. First edition and a fine complete set. Complete sets in matching bindings (the boards of each volume are different -- understandably so due to the long period of publication -- but the spines are uniform). "A milestone work in the history of chemistry, in which Dalton announced his revolutionary atomic theory and his laws of definite and multiple proportions. These fundamental laws greatly assisted the establishment of the composition and formulae of numerous inorganic and organic compounds then known and laid one of the firmest foundations ever for the advance of chemistry in the nineteenth century...The book is very rare when complete with the tree parts and the required half title to volume II, part 1."-Neville, I, p. 322-(the mentioned half-title is present in our copy). In this set a contemporary manuscript chemical table is mounted on the rear pastedown of Part I. A printed broadsheet is also mounted on the front pastedown of the same volume entitled "Atomic Symbols, by John Dalton...explanatory of a Lecture given by him to the Members of the Manchester Mechanics' Institution, 19th October 1835." Fine and handsome uncut set, in matching bindings, and preserved in a morocco-backed box. From the libraries of Haskell F. Norman and Joseph A. Freilich with bookplates. ❧ Dibner, Heralds of Science, 44. Horblit 22. Printing & the Mind of Man 261. . Less

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