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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London W. Strahan & T. Cadell 1778 Two large quarto volumes (8.5" x 10.6875"); [8], 510; [8], 589, [1] pages. Complete with half-title in... More

London W. Strahan & T. Cadell 1778 Two large quarto volumes (8.5" x 10.6875"); [8], 510; [8], 589, [1] pages. Complete with half-title in Volume II (no half-title called for in Volume I). Contemporary calf, rebacked, with original gilt spines and morocco labels laid down. Corners renewed. First published in 1776, this Second Edition is scarcer than the first with only 500 copies printed and is the only other edition published in quarto format. "The second edition exhibits a number of alterations large and small, some providing new information, some correcting matters of fact, some perfecting the idiom, and a large number now documenting references in footnotes" (William B. Todd, in the 1976 Oxford edition of THE WEALTH OF NATIONS). Adam Smith (1723-1790) spent ten years in the writing and perfecting of THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. The book succeeded at once, and the first edition was exhausted in six months. Goldsmith 11663; Grolier, 100 English, 57; KressB 154; PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN 221: "The certainty of its criticism and its grasp of human nature have made it the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought." Armorial bookplate of Gorham Parsons on the front pastedown of each volume. Some foxing and browning, heavier in the first volume which has the front free endpaper and the title strengthened at inner and outer margins. Occasional slight offsetting to the text in the second volume which has the final gathering strengthened in the gutter. Very Good set in a contemporary binding Less

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