26 résultats
1959Z1245Philadelphia:: American Philosophical Society 1959. 1959. Series: Transactions of the APS New Series Vol. 49 Part 7 1959. 4to. 64 2 pp. Printed wrappers; bottom corner slightly bumped else near fine. American Philosophical Society, 1959. unknown books
197067817New York and London: Johnson Reprint Corporation 1970. Hardcover. Fine. The Sources of Science No. 76. Small octavo. Original blue cloth binding with gilt titles. Issued without a dust jacket. A fine copy. <br/><br/> Johnson Reprint Corporation hardcover books
1955006272Oxford: Clarendon Press 1955. Edited by Robert Shackleton. 218p. original blue cloth. Clarendon Press unknown books
1929WRCLIT75016London: The Nonesuch Press 1929. Limp vellum over wrappers. Translated by John Glanvill prologue by D. Garnett. Color headpieces. One of 1600 numbered copies printed on Van Gelder paper at the Curwen Press. Ink name on free endsheet vellum a trifle dust darkened but a good copy without slipcase. The Nonesuch Press hardcover books
1811RW1078Paris:: Bossange et Masson 1811. 1811. Sm. 8vo. xiv 392 pp. Fold-out engraved frontis. with a decorative design of the solar system including the planet "Herschell" a.k.a. Uranus half-title; light foxing. Original quarter tan calf marbled boards burgundy gilt-stamped spine label; spine head worn corners showing. Else very good. Bossange et Masson, 1811. hardcover books
1736181000La Haye.: Antoine van Dole. 1736. Contemporary plain paper covered boardsholograph spine label. . Good plus covers soiled pages toned owners label to pastedown small armorial bookplate to verso of title page contents very good and tight. 12mo. 15.8x10.2 cm. . The famous fanciful dialogues between historical figures used by Fontenelle to promote his enlightenment philosophy. First published in 1683 it has been re-issued in many editions. weight: 0.5 lb. Elaborate woodcut frontis. Antoine van Dole. hardcover books
1929W916133London: The Nonesuch Press 1929. Copy number 475. Full vellum with gilt titling on spine and gilt vignette on upper cover. Vellum has brown stain overall. TEG other edges untrimmed. The small leather ties at the spine have broken in 2 instances and dropped within the binding. John Glanvill's translation of the 1688 text. Designed by Francis Meynell. . Limited/Numbered. Vellum. Good/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Trade. The Nonesuch Press Hardcover books
1929Embry 166694The Nonesuch Press 1929. Light wear near fine in custom mylar cover. Limp vellum. Trans. by John Glanvill and with a prologue by David Garnett. The Nonesuch Press, 1929. hardcover books
1929WRCLIT75022London: The Nonesuch Press 1929. Limp vellum over wrappers. Translated by John Glanvill prologue by D. Garnett. Color headpieces. One of 1600 numbered copies printed on Van Gelder paper at the Curwen Press. Faint tidemark at fore-edge of front pastedown otherwise a very good copy in edgeworn slipcase. The Nonesuch Press hardcover books
1929RW1079London:: Nonesuch Press 1929. 1929. 8vo. ix 1 138 2 pp. Title vignette in red and black decorative blue and gilt headpieces. Original gilt-stamped vellum decorative slip-case; case rubbed. Fine. Limited edition of 1200 copies printed for U.K. distribution an additional 400 distributed by Random House in the US. Nonesuch Press, 1929. hardcover books
1929007157London: The Nonesuch Press 1929. #1546 of an edition of 1600 1200 copies for sale by the Nonesuch Press and 400 copies for sale in the United States by Random House. John Glanvill's translation of 1688. Designed by Francis Meynell printed on Van Gelder paper at the Curwen Press colour-stencil decorations by T.L. Poulton. Near Fine gilt at spine a bit dulled yet legible prior owner bookplate and gift inscription front end pages rear end page toned from old paper laid in. Lacking the slipcase. . Limited and Numbered Edition. Vellum. Near Fine/No Jacket As Issued. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Limited Edition. The Nonesuch Press Hardcover books
192946920England: The Nonesuch Press 1929. Limited to 1600 copies 8vo pp. x 138 2; full vellum with gilt title on spine and gilt design on upper cover t.e.g. color stencil illustrations by T. L. Poulton discoloration to binding along spine otherise a tight bright copy in decorated slipcase. Originally published in 1686 this book was one of the first to explore scientific concepts in popular language and one of the earliest to discuss the possibility of extraterrestrial life. <br/><br/> The Nonesuch Press hardcover books
1929101302London: The Nonesuch Press 1929. First Nonesuch press edition of de Fontenelle's A Plurality of Worlds. Octavo bound in full contemporary vellum with gilt titles to the spine hand-colored gilt headers to each chapter top edge gilt others uncut. Translated by John Glanvill. Prologue by David Garnett. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom slipcase. Founded in 1922 in London by Francis Meynell his second wife Vera Mendel and their mutual friend David Garnett The Nonesuch Press was established in the basement of Garnett's bookshop in Soho. Nonesuch was unusual among private presses in that it used a small hand press to design books and then had them printed by commercial printers. Among the press's best-known editions were the collected works of William Congreve and William Wycherley and translations of Cervantes and Dante. Originally published in 1686 Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle's Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds is considered to be one of the first major works of the Age of Enlightenment offering an explanation for the heliocentric model of the Universe suggested by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543. The Nonesuch Press hardcover books
1929229923London: Nonesuch 1929. hardcover. very good. John Glanvill's Translation with a Prologue by David Garnett. Illustrated with 7 color stencil vignette. 140pp. Short 8vo full limp vellum lightly dust soiled; uncut edges t.e.g. Housed in a patterned board slipcase. London: Nonesuch Press 1929. A very good copy in a good slipcase.<br/><br/> Limited numbered edition. A delightful classic of 17th century science.<br/><br/> Nonesuch unknown books
192922389London: Nonesuch Press 1929. Nonesuch Press unknown books
182525056Paris: Salmon et Peytieux 1825. 5 volumes 8vo engraved frontispiece portrait; a few small cracks in the joints of vol. 3 all else good and sound in full contemporary polished calf gilt decorated spines black morocco label. Volume I: Eloges; vol. II : Eloges; vol. III: Les mondes Dialogues des morts etc.; vol. IV: Mélanges; vol. V: Poésies. <br/><br/> Salmon [et] Peytieux unknown books
1737WB15641London: A. Bettesworth 1737. Hardcover. Good. 12mo; pp. x 189 1. modern calf rear board shows leather cracking. Engraved frontispiece worn and repaired. Large folding plate bound after preface present but stained and repaired along edges. First published in French in 1686 the author's most famous and frequently translated and reprinted book this English edition appears uncommon. Fontenelle's book "became a seminal influence on proto science fiction. This is one of the earliest works ever written popularizing science notably astronomy for the layman which it does by wittily presenting its speculations -- many about the possibility of life on other worlds -- in the form of conversations after dinner between the author and a marquise." - Clute and Nicholls eds The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction 1993 p. 437. <br/><br/> A. Bettesworth hardcover books
1733RW1080Paris:: Chez la Veuve Brunet fils. . . et Marc Bordelet 1733. 1733. 12mo. viii 422 misnumbered "322" 2 pp. Frontis. engraved portrait. of Fontenelle – is trimmed folded at the upper and lower edges by "Crepy rue St. Jacques au lion d'Argent" title woodcut vignette. Original gilt-stamped calf gilt-stamped spine label raised bands. Inscription on title: "O.R. lousin aet coner". Very good copy with a handsome binding. "Extra-illustrated" with an added engraved bound-in folding frontispiece. This edition of the author's eulogies includes fourteen members of the Academie des Sciences who died between 1725 and 1730. There were two issues of this work printed in 1733: one showing "Brunet fils and Marc Bordelet the other issue showing only Marc Bordelet's name as publisher. They also feature a resetting of the type at least for the title-page and a different title woodcut vignette. There was an earlier 1731 Dutch edition of the Eloges printed by Isaac van der Kloot but I have been unable to determine if the biographies contained therein are the same. A note indicates this was also re-issued as miscellany works Oeuvres diverses of Fontenelle in 1736 see pt. 4. Fontenelle was a prolific biographer of notable persons publishing also a series of Dialogues with famous past historical figures. His Eloges commenced with a 1699 work on Claude Bourdelin. He also issued collective editions starting in 1708. This is the first 'separate' edition of the "Suite" containing biographies of 14 scientific notables. "It was Bernard Bovier de Fontenelle 1657-1757 who by his eulogies of scientists first bridged the gap between the scientific communities and the world at large . the eloges of the old Academy of Sciences acquainted laymen with a discipline that was at once esoteric by its novelty and forbidding by its terminology and methodology. Hence the eloges aside from the other functions they performed in the service of science also served as a public relations organ in the same manner as journals textbooks public lectures literary dialogues scientific expositions and cabinets de physique and d'histoire naturelle" - Charles Bennett Paul Science and immortality: the Eloges of the Paris Academy of Sciences 1699-1791 Berkeley: University of California Press 1980. pages 1-2. Contents: eloges du Czar Pierre I - Alexis Littre 1658-1726 – Nicolas Hartsoeker 1656-1725- Guillaume Delisle 1675-1726 - Nicolas de Malezieu 1650-1727 – Isaac Newton published 1727 1728 - Charles-Rene Reyneau 1656-1728 - Marechal de Tallard 1652-1728 - Sebastien Truchet 1656-1729 – Francois Bianchini 1662-1720 – Jacques-Philippe also known as: Giacomo Filippo. . . Maraldi 1665-1729 - Jean-Baptiste-Henri de Valincourt 1653-1730 – Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli 1658-1730 – Du Verney 1648-1730 - et le discours de Fontenelle a l'Academie francaise recevant l'eveque de Lucon. See: Suzanne Delorme "Contribution a la bibliographie de Fontenelle." p. 305. Revue d'histoire des sciences Annee 1957 vol. 10-4 pp. 300-309. Chez la Veuve Brunet fils,. . . et Marc Bordelet 1733. hardcover books
1855208831Paris: Librairie Encyclopedique ed Roret 1855. hardcover. very good. 11 folding engraved plates with 609 images. 2 volumes 442pp. 336 pp. 24mo 3/4 black morocco. Paris: Librairie Encyclopedique ed Roret 1855. Very good.<br/><br/> Librairie Encyclopedique ed Roret unknown books
1708RW1077London:: Jacob Tonson 1708. 1708. Sm. 8vo. ii l 2 209 1 pp. Original blind- and gilt-stamped calf later gilt-stamped black leather spine label raised bands; rebacked preserving original spine inner joints reinforced with brown cloth tape covers splitting at pp. 62-63 upper cover scratched. Embossed ownership stamps of S. G. Morten heraldic bearing: crowned eagle wings raised. Good. Early edition in English of the author's Nouveaux dialogues des morts. Fontenelle was one of the earliest authors of "popular science" texts. While not much of a researcher himself he found great success expounding the discoveries of his contemporaries in such a way that a broad audience could make sense of them. In his own time his popularity as an author among educated French society was second only to Voltaire and he was in fact "described by Voltaire as having the most universal mind produced by the era of Louis XIV" – Britannica. Fontenelle's Dialogues of the Dead was very popular at the time of its publication and the basic conceit of the book is still employed by authors today. In the work Fontenelle imagines dialogues between great minds of various eras such as the philosophers Socrates and Montaigne or the physicians Erasistratus and William Harvey. This allows the imagined speakers to present their views in a naturalistic way making them much more palatable to lay readers who might have difficulty sloughing through more scholarly works like On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals. ESTC T139460. Jacob Tonson, 1708. hardcover books
17081019128vo full leather calf spine label gilt decoration on spine engraved frontispiece 1 1 209 1 pp. Joints cracked and hinges weak some extremity wear some aging and browning but contents generally bright and clean. Fontenelle 1657-1757 was born in Rouen and was a noted French intellectual that lived almost 100 years. Voltaire described him as having "the most universal mind" of his era. While this work which was first published in 1683 enjoyed a fair amount of success. His sequel "New Dialogues of the Dead" faired even better. This edition is translated by John Hughes. While the OCLC locates a number of copies this edition does not show up all that often at auction and there do not appear to be many copies available. britannica online website.OCLC. Jacob Tonson, books
1721JC14323London: William and John Innys 1721. Second edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Contemporary marbled paper over boards handsomely rebacked with blindstamped ornament in spine compartments 5 raised bands; 8vo; pp. 16 xxxv 1 464 4 ads. Boards lightly rubbed. A little very faint foxing to first and last few leaves. A lovely copy. <br/><br/> William and John Innys hardcover books
1698266792Paris: Michel Brunet 1698. Fourth edition. xx 297 3 pp. 1 vols. 12mo. Polished contemporary calf spine in six compartments with raised bands. Wear to spine ends and corners contemporary manuscript notes to title-page. Fourth edition. xx 297 3 pp. 1 vols. 12mo. A defence of the heliocentric model of the solar system one of the major early works of the Enlightenment. Michel Brunet unknown books
1727SW1717Paris:: L'Imprimerie Royale 1727. 1727. 4to. xxvi 548 pp. Title-page vignette tailpieces headpieces 1 engraved chapter vignette 1 engraved initial 1 engraved folding plate; occasional light foxing or browning. Full contemporary mottled calf blind-ruled covers raised bands red and brown leather spine labels gilt decorated spine all edges red marbled end-papers; leather separation at top of spine all edges red marbled end-papers; leather separation at top of spine hint of worming but strong lightly rubbed. A very clean and tight copy. Fine. FIRST EDITION of an extensive treatise on the principles of calculus by Bernard Fontenelle the distinguished French philosopher and scientist who is famous for his book on the plurality of worlds. Through his friend Varignon Fontenelle made the acquaintance of the Parisian scientific circle and became friends with Nicolas de Malezieu and l'Hopital. Fontenelle wrote the preface to l'Hopital's Analyse des infiniment petits pour l'intelligence des lignes courbes 11690. "In it he displayed his interest in the notion of infinity and his talent as a historian; in a few pages he retraces the history of the mathematical study of curved lines from Archimedes to Newton and Leibniz. . . In 1727 he published his Elements de la geometrie de l'infini which he had worked on for a long time probably since the period of his preface to the Analyse des infiniment petits. . . . According to Fontenelle none of the geometers who had invented or employed the calculus of infinity had given a general theory to it; that is what he proposed to do. The work is divided into a preface relating to the history of this branch of calculus and into two main part. . . 'the infinite series or in progression of numbers' and then examines 'the infinite in straight and curved lines. . . .'" DSB. / Bernard Fontenelle was born at Rouen and pursued a literary career. Fontenelle dabbled in poetry and writing for the stage but it is better known for his work as secretary to the Academy of Sciences. Among his published works are Entretiens sur la pluralite des mondes 1686 the Histoire du renouvellement de l'Academie des Sciences 1708-1722 and a number of eloges of the members. DSB V pp. 57-63; Poggendorf I col. 770; Zeitlinger 1360. L'Imprimerie Royale, 1727. hardcover books
1715160304London: Printed for A. Bettesworth 1715. 12mo pp. 1-12 1-192; collates A 6 B-I 12 frontispiece eighteenth-century brown leather front and rear panels ruled and tooled in blind four raised bands on spine panel no title label. The first printing of the Gardiner edition. Fontenelle's ENTRETIENS SUR LA PLURALITE DES MONDES his most famous and frequently reprinted and translated book was first published in 1686. It is "the first example in French of a learned work placed within the reach of an educated but non specialized public." - DSB V 59. A popular account of the systems of Ptolemy Copernicus and Tycho Brahe in dialogue form the treatise "awakened general interest in astronomy and popularized the scientific system of inquiry; it also emphasized the small space occupied by man and this planet relatively to the rest of the universe. The work was ridiculed by Voltaire though it suggested his MICROMEGAS." - The Oxford Companion to French Literature 1959 p. 278. The first of the three seventeenth-century English translations was A DISCOURSE OF THE PLURALITY OF WORLDS . Translated into English by Sir W. D. Knight. Dublin: Printed by Andr. Crook and Sam. Helsham for William Norman 1687. The first edition of the Glanvill translation containing five dialogues was published in 1688 the same year Aphra Behn's translation of Fontenelle's book A DISCOVERY OF NEW WORLDS was published in London by William Canning. This Gardiner translation first published in 1715 is the first edition to include a translation of Fontenelle's sixth dialogue. "In all the literature of the cosmic voyage there was no book more popular than Fontenelle's CONVERSATIONS OF THE PLURALITY OF WORLDS. Translated again and again it seemed to the British peculiarly their own book read for at least a century both by men and by those 'ladies' of whom we have many a description one of whom would read it aloud to others who were busily engaged in making strawberry jam. This was a book indeed that warranted a subtitle I once discovered in an eighteenth-century popularization of astronomy: 'Science made clear to the Meanest Capacities even those of Women and Children.'" - Nicolson Voyages to the Moon pp. 58-9. Fontenelle's book "became a seminal influence on proto science fiction . This is one of the earliest works ever written popularizing science notably astronomy for the layman which it does by wittily presenting its speculations -- many about the possibility of life on other worlds -- in the form of conversations after dinner between the author and a marquise." - Clute and Nicholls eds The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction 1993 p. 437. "A great stimulant to utopian speculations and science fiction." - Gibson and Patrick "Utopias and Dystopias 1500-1750" in Gibson St. Thomas More: A Preliminary Bibliography 1961 683. See Ley Rockets Missiles and Space Travel 1951 pp. 22-4 and Ley Rockets Missiles and Men in Space 1968 pp. 21-2 for a good summary of the book. Bleiler Science-Fiction: The Early Years p. 853. Howgego Encyclopedia of Exploration: Invented and Apocryphal Narratives of Travel F16. Negley Utopian Literature: A Bibliography 371. Versins Encyclopédie de l'Utopie des Voyages Extraordinaires et de la Science Fiction pp. 341-42. NCBEL II 1513. An early important and scarce edition of this classic work. A lovely copy. Enclosed in a custom quarter leather rounded back clamshell box. #160304 Printed for A. Bettesworth unknown books
