La Science curieuse, ou traité de la chyromance, récueilly des plus graves autheurs qui ont traité de cette matiere, & plus exactement recherché qu’il n’a esté cy-devant par aucun autre.

Paris: Francois Clovsier, 1667. Second Edition. . Hardcover. See Description. 8vo. pp. [8], 212. With 90 engraved plates most of which contain 16 palmistry figures. Several plates contain a whole palm illustrated. Bound in full period calf; re-backed preserving original gilt spine. Boards show rubbing and wear; board corners are neatly restored. Top edge of book block is a bit rubbed. Interior contains some marginal soiling and foxing; several areas of marginal worming and worm tracks are present in the upper and lower margins (interrupting the running title on a couple of pages). The upper portion of the book also contains some damp staining which is generally mild. A tear, part way across one plate, is professionally sealed and hardly noticeable. Some plates contain light printer’s smudging. This treatise, first printed in 1665, has been called one of the most comprehensive 17th century books on palmistry. [Cette ouvrage, l’un des meilleurs traités de chiromancie du XVIIe siècle…" - Dorbon]. The book was published anonymously, however, Sabattini attributes the work to the 16th century polymath and occultist Jean Taisnier. [Sabattini 589; Caillet 10053; De Guaita 2109; Dorbon-Aine 4478; Krivatsy NLM 11671].