Search Results: Science from Florilegius

Very good copy of Scipion Breislak's rare atlas of famous dramatic landscapes of volcanic lava and columnar basaltAtlas géologique ou vues d'Amas colonnes basaltiques faisant suite aux Institutions Géologiques de Scipion Breislak, Milan, Imprimerie impériale et royale, 1818.Published as part of Traite sur la Structure Exterieure du Globe, (Milan, 1822) following Institutions Geologiques (Milan,1818).Complete with 53 fine copperplate engravings of dramatic natural geological formations in Europe, Mexico and the Reunion Islands. Plus two plates of geological specimens. Including the famous basalt steps at Giant's Causeway (Antrim, Ireland), Fingal's Cave, Staffa (Scotland), the volcanic cirque at Ashna-cregs, Mull (Scotland), Rochemaure castle at Montelimar, France, Chenavari Peak, Mont Jastrie, Bridon bridge, the causeway at Rigaudel bridge (France), the grotto at Beaume bridge (France), the waterfall at Pont de la Gueule d'Enfer (France), Stolpen Castle, Saxony (Germany), the basalt walls at… Read More

Complete set of the 53 copperplate engravings only from this seminal work of microscopy by Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680), the pioneering Dutch biologist. Swammerdam was one of the outstanding comparative anatomists of the seventeenth century. His most remarkable work was in the field of insect anatomy, which he undertook in order to disprove Aristotle's claims that insects lack internal anatomy, develop by metamorphosis and arise from spontaneous generation. By refining his techniques of micro-dissection and injection, Swammerdam was able to illustrate for the first time the complex internal structures of insects, including their reproductive organs.These observations are "indubitably the foundation of our modern knowledge of the structure, metamorphosis and classification of insects" (Cole, p. 285).Biblia naturae, Swammerdam's major work, was published 57 years after his death by Herman Boerhaave, who assembled it from unpublished manuscript materials integrated with a slightly revised version of… Read More

Very good copy of William Wood's influential guidebook to conchology first published in 1815.With [2], iv, 8, lxii, 246 pages of text and 60 delicately hand-coloured engraved plates with tissue guardsPlates numbered 1-59 with one bis plate 4* illustrating 260 species of shellsWilliam Wood (1774–1857) was an English surgeon, zoologist, conchologist and entomologist. Among his works are Zoography, 1807, Index testaceologicus, 1818, Index entomologicus, 1839, British Marine Conchology with G.B. Sowerby, 1844, etc. Bound in half green morocco, gilt-decorated spine with shell tooling, marble boards, missing leather title label, a.e.g., scuffed and bumped. Plates clean and bright with delicate handcolour.

A beautiful guide to the identification of woods by their grains and colours, a "Cabinet of Wood."With 66 fine hand-coloured engraved plates depicting over 550 types of European and exotic woods from India, China and America in cross section, each with a page of wood names in Dutch, German, French, English and Latin. The title page states that the book was meant "for natural history lovers and keepers of cabinets of natural curiosities." The book was issued in parts from 1773 and thus the number of plates varies from 24 (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew) to 66 (here). The final 1791 edition had a different title and 106 plates, including a 40-plate supplement. Jan Christiaan Sepp (1739-1811) was the son of the German instrument maker and cartographer Christiaan Sepp. J.C. Sepp established himself as a bookseller and publisher specializing in natural history.Martinus Houttuyn (1720-1798), born in Hoorn, studied medicine in Leiden and moved to Amsterdam in 1753. Houttuyn published his own natural history books… Read More

Bright copy of this attractive overview of British conchology.Second edition with 26 finely engraved hand-coloured plates by George Brettingham Sowerby II.Includes attractive plates of mussels, scallops, razor shells, cockles, chitons, limpets, whelks, freshwater snails, ear-shells, etc., arranged as if in a case in a cabinet of wonders.Total of 711 species of British shells on 26 plates: 642 figures on the 24 plates from the first edition of 1859, and 69 figures on two extra lithographs by Sowerby.George Brettingham Sowerby II (1812-1884), was a British naturalist, illustrator, and conchologist. Grandson of James Sowerby, the famous English naturalist, illustrator and mineralogist.Original red, blind-stamped cloth with gilt title to front board, a.e.g, sunning and stains to spine, bumping to corners, bookplate of Charles H. Shaw on front endpaper, delicately hand-coloured plates with some scattered spotting.

First edition of this rare illustrated introduction to meteorological, geological, terrestrial and marine phenomena aimed at students.The 36 (of 37) dramatic lithographs were drawn and printed by the Strasbourg engraver Emile Lemaitre, handfinished in color and gum arabic.The phenomena include meteorological (sunrise, lightning, the Aurora Borealis, tides and rainbows), geological (mines, gold fields and volcanoes), as well as terrestrial wonders (Mount Vesuvius, Niagara Falls, the Andes mountains, Giant's Causeway, Fingal's cave, the Rhone, etc.) The plates are accompanied by explanatory text printed in blue, detailing historical and scientific information, sometimes referring to the latest inventions and events. The Arctic plate includes Sir John Franklin's 1845 doomed expedition to the North Pole, while the Gold Fields plate describes the California Gold Rush of 1848.List of plates: Sunrise - Thunderstorm - Rainbow - Earthquake - Waterspout - Moonlight - Flood - Avalanche - Simoom - Aurora Borealis… Read More

Volume 4 only of Friedrich Bertuch's famous Picture-Book for Children, an illustrated encyclopedia for children. With 100 hand-coloured copperplates. Explanatory text in German and French.The Picture-Book was published in 12 volumes from 1790 to 1843 and eventually included 1,185 handcoloured copperplates. Bertuch wished to reproduce the magic of discovery, and mixed engravings of plants, animals, shells, minerals, volcanoes and technical inventions in a utopian chaos, so that a child could encounter afresh the wonders of the natural world at the turn of every page. Although unsigned, the copperplates were overseen by Georg Melchior Kraus and J.H. Lips, after drawings by Th. Götz, C. Graf, C. Horny, Fr. Kaiser, and W. Waitz, and botanicals by Henriette and Conrad Westermayr, F. Götz and C. Ermer. With roses 1-8, botanicals 75-90, fish 28-39, birds 47-65, animals 65-68, including whales, elephants, and monkeys, insects 22-3, shells, corals, amphibians, numerous landscape views, air balloons and… Read More

Volume 10 only of Friedrich Bertuch's famous Picture-book for Children, an illustrated encyclopedia for children. With 97 (of 100) hand-coloured copperplates (missing plates 4, 36, 58). Explanatory text in German and French.The Picture-Book was published in 12 volumes from 1790 to 1843 and eventually included 1,185 handcoloured copperplates. Bertuch wished to reproduce the magic of discovery, and mixed engravings of plants, animals, shells, minerals, volcanoes and technical inventions in a utopian chaos, so that a child could encounter afresh the wonders of the natural world at the turn of every page. Although unsigned, the copperplates were overseen by Georg Melchior Kraus and J.H. Lips, after drawings by Th. Götz, C. Graf, C. Horny, Fr. Kaiser, and W. Waitz, and botanicals by Henriette and Conrad Westermayr, F. Götz and C. Ermer. With botanicals 159-171, fish 57-64, birds 102-117, animals 99-112, including extinct thylacine or Tasmanian tiger, worms 28-34, insects and reptiles, numerous landscape… Read More

Volume 5 only of Friedrich Bertuch's famous Picture-Book for Children, an illustrated encyclopedia for children. With 100 hand-coloured copperplates. Explanatory text in German and French.The Picture-Book was published in 12 volumes from 1790 to 1843 and eventually included 1,185 handcoloured copperplates. Bertuch wished to reproduce the magic of discovery, and mixed engravings of plants, animals, shells, minerals, volcanoes and technical inventions in a utopian chaos, so that a child could encounter afresh the wonders of the natural world at the turn of every page. Although unsigned, the copperplates were overseen by Georg Melchior Kraus and J.H. Lips, after drawings by Th. Götz, C. Graf, C. Horny, Fr. Kaiser, and W. Waitz, and botanicals by Henriette and Conrad Westermayr, F. Götz and C. Ermer. With roses 9-18, animals 59-74, birds 66-76, insects 32-47, fish, amphibians, worms, fruit, enslaved people and slave ship, ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman gods 14-22, landscapes, microscopic animals,… Read More

Superb set of the first six volumes (of 12) of Friedrich Bertuch's famous Picture-book for Children, an illustrated encyclopedia for children.
Volumes 1 and 2 in half leather, volumes 3 to 6 in original paper wraps.
With all 600 hand-coloured copperplates in near fine condition with superb hand colour.
Text in German and French.
The Picture-Book was published in 12 volumes from 1790 to 1843 and eventually included 1,185 handcoloured copperplates. Bertuch wished to reproduce the magic of discovery, and mixed engravings of plants, animals, shells, minerals, volcanoes and technical inventions in a utopian chaos, so that a child could encounter afresh the wonders of the natural world at the turn of every page.
Although unsigned, the copperplates were overseen by Georg Melchior Kraus and J.H. Lips, after drawings by Th. Götz, C. Graf, C. Horny, Fr. Kaiser, and W. Waitz, and botanicals by Henriette and Conrad Westermayr, F. Götz and C. Ermer. With 118 botanical plates, 76 ornithology, 74 quadrupeds, 53… Read More