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1822ZB1325179London: John Murray 1822. Price HAS BEEN REDUCED by 10% until Monday June 29 SALE item 257 iv 205 pp. late 19th century quarter leather & cloth covered boards covers worn and now lacking the leather spine cover masonic book plate to the front paste down else internally clean & tight. - If you are reading this this item is actually physically in our stock and ready for shipment once ordered. We are not bookjackers. Buyer is responsible for any additional duties taxes or fees required by recipient's country. London: John Murray hardcover
183624346.99<p>1836. No binding. Fine. Autograph Letter Signed to Mary S. Owens December 13 1836 2 pp. 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. ""Write back as soon as you get this and if possible say something that will please me for really I have not been pleased since I left you.""Here Lincoln perfectly demonstrates what Owens later described as deficiencies ""in those little links which make up the chain of a woman's happiness."" Rather than expressing his feelings for Owens Lincoln complains about his health and discusses political issues swirling in the Illinois General Assembly. Although inept at love the letter offers rare insight into the young representative's thoughts on a variety of political issues. In this highly important letter to Mary Owens a self-absorbed Lincoln complains to his potential spouse of his health both physical and mental and discusses political issues to the point that he describes his own letter as ""dry and stupid."" Perhaps more revealing than he realized it illustrates the tension in Lincoln's early life between matters of the head with which he was comfortable and matters of the heart with which he clearly was not. Complete Transcript Vandalia Decr 13. 1836Mary I have been sick ever since my arrival here or I should have written sooner. It is but little difference however as I have verry little even yet to write. And more the longer I can avoid the mortification of looking in the Post Office for your letter and not finding it the better. You see I am mad about that old letter yet. I dont like verry well to risk you again. I'll try you once more anyhow. The new State House is not yet finished and consequently the legislature is doing little or nothing. The Governor delivered an inflamitory political message and it is expected there will be some sparring between the parties about it as soon as the two Houses get to business. Taylor delivered up his petitions for the New County to one of our members this morning. I am told that he despairs of its success on account of all the members from Morgan County opposing it. There are names enough on the petitions I think to justify the members from our county in going for it; but if the members from Morgan oppose it which they say they will the chance will be bad. Our chance to take the seat of Government to Springfield is better than I expected. An Internal Improvement Convention was held here since we met which recommended a loan of several millions of dollars on the faith of the state to construct Rail Roads. Some of the legislature are for it and some against it; which has the majority I can <2> not tell. There is great strife and struggling for the office of U.S. Senator here at this time. It is probable we shall ease their pains in a few days. The opposition men have no candidate of their own and consequently they smile as complacently at the angry snarls of the contending Van Buren candidates and their respective friends as the Christian does at Satan's rage. You recollect I mentioned in the outset of this letter that I had been unwell. That is the fact though I belive I am about well now; but that with other things I can not account for have conspired and have gotten my spirits so low that I feel that I would rather be any place in the world than here. I really can not endure the thought of staying here ten weeks. Write back as soon as you get this and if possible say something that will please me for really I have not been pleased since I left you. This letter is so dry and stupid that I am ashamed to send it but with my present feelings I can not do any better. Give my respects to Mr & Mrs Abell and family. Your friend LincolnMiss Mary S. OwensHistoric BackgroundThis is one of the ten oldest Lincoln letters known to have survived. Although 11 leaves 9 of which are in institutions from Lincoln's educational sum book a few documents written or signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1832 relating to his service in the Black Hawk War again mos. See website for full description</p>
183624346.991836. No binding. Fine. Autograph Letter Signed to Mary S. Owens December 13 1836 2 pp. 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. ""Write back as soon as you get this and if possible say something that will please me for really I have not been pleased since I left you.""Here Lincoln perfectly demonstrates what Owens later described as deficiencies ""in those little links which make up the chain of a woman's happiness."" Rather than expressing his feelings for Owens Lincoln complains about his health and discusses political issues swirling in the Illinois General Assembly. Although inept at love the letter offers rare insight into the young representative's thoughts on a variety of political issues. In this highly important letter to Mary Owens a self-absorbed Lincoln complains to his potential spouse of his health both physical and mental and discusses political issues to the point that he describes his own letter as ""dry and stupid."" Perhaps more revealing than he realized it illustrates the tension in Lincoln's early life between matters of the head with which he was comfortable and matters of the heart with which he clearly was not. Complete Transcript Vandalia Decr 13. 1836Mary I have been sick ever since my arrival here or I should have written sooner. It is but little difference however as I have verry little even yet to write. And more the longer I can avoid the mortification of looking in the Post Office for your letter and not finding it the better. You see I am mad about that old letter yet. I dont like verry well to risk you again. I'll try you once more anyhow. The new State House is not yet finished and consequently the legislature is doing little or nothing. The Governor delivered an inflamitory political message and it is expected there will be some sparring between the parties about it as soon as the two Houses get to business. Taylor delivered up his petitions for the New County to one of our members this morning. I am told that he despairs of its success on account of all the members from Morgan County opposing it. There are names enough on the petitions I think to justify the members from our county in going for it; but if the members from Morgan oppose it which they say they will the chance will be bad. Our chance to take the seat of Government to Springfield is better than I expected. An Internal Improvement Convention was held here since we met which recommended a loan of several millions of dollars on the faith of the state to construct Rail Roads. Some of the legislature are for it and some against it; which has the majority I can <2> not tell. There is great strife and struggling for the office of U.S. Senator here at this time. It is probable we shall ease their pains in a few days. The opposition men have no candidate of their own and consequently they smile as complacently at the angry snarls of the contending Van Buren candidates and their respective friends as the Christian does at Satan's rage. You recollect I mentioned in the outset of this letter that I had been unwell. That is the fact though I belive I am about well now; but that with other things I can not account for have conspired and have gotten my spirits so low that I feel that I would rather be any place in the world than here. I really can not endure the thought of staying here ten weeks. Write back as soon as you get this and if possible say something that will please me for really I have not been pleased since I left you. This letter is so dry and stupid that I am ashamed to send it but with my present feelings I can not do any better. Give my respects to Mr & Mrs Abell and family. Your friend LincolnMiss Mary S. OwensHistoric BackgroundThis is one of the ten oldest Lincoln letters known to have survived. Although 11 leaves 9 of which are in institutions from Lincoln's educational sum book a few documents written or signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1832 relating to his service in the Black Hawk War again mos. See website for full description books
1849128285New York J. Wiley 1849. Second Edition. Hardback. Fine copy in the original gilt-blocked cloth. Slightest suggestion only of dust-dulling to the panel edges. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight bright clean and strong. ; 77 pages; Description: viii 77 p. 22 cm. Subjects: Cholera. New York, J. Wiley hardcover
180427999London 1804. Hand-coloured and colour-printed aquatint with stipple and line engraving by Elmes. Paper watermarked 1804. The most strikingly beautiful flower plates ever to be printed in England.<br/> <br/>"The Persian Cyclamen Cyclamen persicum Miller parent of the florist's cyclamen. is a native of the countries and islands at the eastern end of the Mediterranean but not of Persia itself. It is the largest flowered of an attractive genus of small plants much grown in modern times by connoisseurs. The Persian Cyclamen was not the first of its kind to become known in western Europe. Cyclamen europeaum the `Bleeding Nun' as it was called was thought to be dangerous to pregnant women: any unfortunate lady in this condition who stepped over it might immediately miscarry. John Gerrard the Elizabethan herbalist believed this implicitly and describes how he fenced his plants around with sticks with others laid across them `lest any woman should by lamentable experiment find my words to be true by stepping over the same.' When the baby was nearing full term and delivery was to be encouraged wearing of the disc-like tuber `hanged about' the expectant mothers had a salutary effect and Gerrard told his wife to use it when attending confinements. Its use by midwifes dates back to the days of the Greeks." Ronald King. The Temple of Flora by Robert Thornton. 1981 p. 52. Thornton's Temple of Flora is the greatest English colour-plate flower book. ".Thornton inherited a competent fortune and trained as a doctor. He appears to have had considerable success in practice and was appointed both physician to the Marylebone Dispensary and lecturer in medical botany at Guy's and St. Thomas's hospitals. But quite early in his career he embarked on his. great work. What Redouté produced under the patronage of L'Héritier Marie Antoinette the Empress Josephine Charles X and the Duchesse de Berry Thornton set out to do alone. Numerous important artists were engaged. twenty-eight paintings of flowers commissioned from Abraham Pether known as `Moonlight Pether' Philip Reinagle . Sydenham Edwards and Peter Henderson. The result. involved Thornton in desperate financial straits. In an attempt to extricate himself he organized the Royal Botanic Lottery under the patronage of the Prince Regent. it is easy to raise one's eyebrows at Thornton's unworldly and injudicious approach to publishing. But he produced. one of the loveliest books in the world" Alan Thomas Great Books and Book Collecting pp.142-144. Third state of three of this plate from the Temple of Flora. `In the first state the top the castle is indistinct and has no pinnacles on the towers and this is the first feature to inspect. The hillside is pure aquatint; the shading behind the cyclamen flowers is lightly cross-hatched while the tree trunk to the right has only a few lines on it. In the second state the castle is more prominent and five distinct sharp pinnacles have been added while many extra etched lines are to be seen - notably behind the cyclamen flowers; on the tree trunk; and under the cyclamen leaves on the left which themselves stand out more sharply. The principal change in the third state is the addition of the aquatint to the sky on the left so that only a streak of light remains above the mountains while in the earlier states the light reached the top corner. The leaves of the cyclamen now have. light and dark patches the coarse-grained aquatint has been added to the middle distance. Much additional aquatinting has been applied to other parts of the plate. The most easily-noticed difference however are the changes in the castle between states one and two and in the sky between states two three." Handasyde Buchanan. Thornton's Temple of Flora 1951 p.15. Third state of three of this plate from the Temple of Flora. unknown books
18936391893. Wood-engraving. 280mm by 395mm sheet. From 'The Illustrated London News' 1893. Text on reverse as issued.<br /> Robert J Abraham fl.1877-1909 was an English artist who lived in Stokeon-Trent and London. He exhibited at the Royal Academy on several occasions. unknown
1865212130Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Inquirer 1865. 8 pp. 1 vols. Folio. Fine. 8 pp. 1 vols. Folio. The Philadelphia Inquirer unknown books
1851biblio2482<p>The Pilgrim for the Purchaser; 3d Edition 1851. NearFine Hardcover Original Gray cloth Gilt title and stamping on the spine no dj. Just a hint of wear to the top of the spine. The Book is Free of marks inscriptions etc. throughout. Strong tight binding perfect hinges. 6.3"x4.1"x0.8". be10106.</p> The Pilgrim for the Purchaser hardcover
1864WB163441864. Hardcover. Very Good. Rare broadside tipped into a copy of The Early Life of Abraham Lincoln: Containing many unpublished documents and unpublished reminiscences of Lincoln's early friends. TARBELL Ida M. Assisted by James McCann Davis. Published by McClure New York 1896. The broadside printed in two columns presents the platforms of the Republicans who in June in Baltimore nominated Lincoln and the Democrats who in August in Chicago nominated McClellan. <br /> <br/><br/> hardcover
186037152New York: Currier & Ives 1860. Lithograph broadside 13-1/2" x 18." Several closed tears two of them repaired with old tape on verso tear line affecting Seward's midsection. Good.<br/><br/> This scarce lithograph is a detailed humorous "parody on the field of presidential candidates and their supporters in the 1860 campaign." Bell and Everett for the Constitutional Union Party are there: Bell a muscle man holds Everett aloft on a barbell. Horace Greeley's "political ambitions are mocked by the artist who shows him vainly attempting to climb up a horizontal bar." Lincoln is at the center: he has "successfully mounted a balance beam constructed of wooden rails." The New York Courier's James Watson Webb's does a backward somersault in the foreground. <br/> The broadside evidently issued after the parties' nominating Conventions because Seward is depicted as a cripple "on crutches and with bandaged feet." Breckinridge and Douglas "the two sectional Democratic candidates compete in a boxing match."<br/>Reilly 1860-34 quotations are from Reilly. Weitenkampf 123. OCLC records copies at AAS Clements and Lincoln Pres. Lib. under three accession numbers as of October 2020. Currier & Ives unknown books
1863244615Washington D.C.: GPO 1863. First edition. 802 pp. 1 vols. Thick 8vo. Quarter morocco pine perished fine internally. Bookplate of James Torr Harmer. First edition. 802 pp. 1 vols. Thick 8vo. <br/><br/> GPO unknown
1862289963Washington.: Government Printing Office. 1862. Publisher’s brown blindstamped cloth gilt spine title. Good plus damp spotting to front cover spine title faded ink name to pastedown light toning to some pages. 23x15 cm. A collection of correspondence regarding Mexican foreign relations. Mexico was of concern to the United States due to the French intervention and installation Maximilian and the prospect of a Confederate alliance with Mexico. weight: 1.5 lb. (Government Printing Office). hardcover
1862RMP442<p>Washington DC U.S. Government Printing Office House of Representatives 1862<br /><br />8º. 434pp. Three quarter morocco over marbled boards four raised bands gilt titles all edges marbled. First edition. A very good or better copy with minor scuffing and edgewearindex penciled on rear blank.</p><p>37th Congress 2 Session Ex. Doc. No. 100. In October 1861 England France and Spain signed a treaty to force Mexican reparations; the English and Spanish withdrew but the French remained unseating Benito Juarez and installing Maximilian as Emperor . This was of grave concern to Lincoln and the North and a violation of the Monroe Doctrine. Also of concern was the relations between the Confederacy and Mexico. <br />Provenance: Library of James Torr Harmer with his bookplate on front pastedown.</p><p>With a list of Documents relating to Mexican Affairs accompanying the President´s message in reply to the resolution of the <em><strong>House of Representatives of March 3 1862.</strong></em></p><p>A very good copy with minor scuffing and edgewearindex penciled on rear blank.</p> U.S. Government Printing Office hardcover
1862289963Washington. : Government Printing Office. 1862 . Publisher’s brown blindstamped cloth gilt spine title. . Good plus damp spotting to front cover spine title faded ink name to pastedown light toning to some pages. 23x15 cm. . A collection of correspondence regarding Mexican foreign relations. Mexico was of concern to the United States due to the French intervention and installation Maximilian and the prospect of a Confederate alliance with Mexico. weight: 1.5 lb. (Government Printing Office). hardcover books
186234963Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office 1862. First edition. Three quarter morocco over marbled boards four raised bands gilt titles all edges marbled. A very good or better copy with minor scuffing and edgewearindex penciled on rear blank. 434 pp. 8vo. 37th Congress 2 Session Ex. Doc. No. 100. In October 1861 England France and Spain signed a treaty to force Mexican reparations; the English and Spanish withdrew but the French remained unseating Benito Juarez and installing Maximilian as Emperor . This was of grave concern to Lincoln and the North and a violation of the Monroe Doctrine. Also of concern was the relations between the Confederacy and Mexico. Provenance: Library of James Torr Harmer with his bookplate on front pastedown. [U.S. Government Printing Office] hardcover books
186530432Boston: Walker Fuller and Company 1865. Hardcover. Early Printing "Third Thousand." 4.25 x 6.5in. viii. 186pp. iv. Publisher's pebbled cloth boards with gilt titling. NEAR FINE. Shows marginal shelf rubbing of the extremities else Fine. An exceptionally maintained copy. As pictured. Walker, Fuller, and Company hardcover
18653116807Very Good with no dust jacket. 1865. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. First edition. Very good copy in maroon cloth with gilt titles and top edge without dust jacket as issued. Edges of cloth faintly foxed. Top edge lightly dulled. Previous owner's name inked on first blank with discreet blind-stamp. Short splits at top & bottom edge of front & rear hinges. 4pps of advertisements at rear of text. Published a month after Lincoln's assassination. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 186 pages . hardcover
1862376858Boston: J.M. Forbes 1862. 7 1 blankpp. Miniature 3-1/4x2-1/8 inches. Original wrappers unstitched. Small repair to tears at gutter. Housed in a blue morocco backed box. 7 1 blankpp. Miniature 3-1/4x2-1/8 inches. The first and only contemporary printing of Lincoln's historic preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in separate pamphlet form. <br /> <br /> This small pamphlet was printed by John Murray Forbes a Boston industrialist and abolitionist for distribution by Union soldiers to African Americans in the south. In 1899 the publisher's daughter recalled the genesis of this pocket-sized edition: "With the view of placing the Proclamation of Emancipation in the hands of the negroes themselves my father had printed 1000000 copies on small slips one and half inches square put into packages of fifty each and distributed among the Northern soldiers at the front who scattered them about among the blacks while on the march. Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner approved the idea ." Sara Forbes Hughes Letters and Recollections of John Murray Forbes pp. 348-49. Indeed in a letter to Forbes on Christmas Day 1862 Sumner asked "Why not send to all the hospitals camps posts The more the better" However the diminutive printing's scarcity in institutions and in the market would seem to belie that notion as it is among the rarest of editions of the Proclamation no doubt in part because of its small size. <br /> <br /> The preliminary proclamation of the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22 1862 shortly following the Battle of Antietam and declared the freedom of all slaves in any Confederate state that did not return to Union control by January 1 1863. The text of the final official proclamation was the result of Lincoln's consultation with his cabinet on the morning of Dec. 31 1862 in which many changes were suggested. Lincoln then retired to consider all the cabinet members' recommendations and compose the final proclamation which he completed late in the day just before it would take effect. <br /> <br /> A signal moment in American history and the ideological raison d'etre of America's bloodiest war. Eberstadt 7; Monaghan 147 J.M. Forbes unknown
1862WRCAM55729Boston: J.M. Forbes 1862. 7pp. Miniature 3 1/4 x 2 1/8 inches. Original printed salmon wrappers. Slight soiling to wrappers light tanning. Very good. In a cloth chemise and half morocco and cloth slipcase spine gilt. The first and only contemporary printing of Lincoln's historic act in separate pamphlet form the seventh edition overall. The preliminary proclamation of the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22 1862 shortly following the Battle of Antietam and declared the freedom of all slaves in any Confederate state that did not return to Union control by January 1 1863. A quotation by Alexander Stephens "Vice President of the so-called Confederate States" entitled "Slavery the Chief Corner- Stone" is printed on the rear wrapper. This small pamphlet was printed by John Murray Forbes in Boston for distribution by Union soldiers to blacks at the front lines and legend has it that he printed a million copies. Its scarcity in institutions and in the market however would seem to belie that notion; it is among the rarest of editions of the Proclamation no doubt because of its small size. EBERSTADT LINCOLN'S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 7. MONAGHAN 147. J.M. Forbes hardcover books
1860WRCAM37633New York: Currier & Ives 1860. Lithograph 13 1/2 x 18 inches. Moderate age-toning foxing and soiling. Moderate browning in margins. Small closed tears and chips in margins one moderate-size closed tear in left margin. A fair copy. A lithographic political cartoon published by Currier & Ives commenting upon the anti- slavery plank of the 1860 Republican platform. "The 'essential' anti-Lincoln cartoon of 1860" - Holzer et al. Abraham Lincoln is shown being carried uncomfortably in the middle of a split wooden rail an allusion to both the platform and to Lincoln's backwoods origins. Supporting the left end of the rail is a black man in simple working clothes who states "Dis N asterisks ours strong and willin' but its awful hard work to carry Old Massa Abe on nothing but dis ere rail!!" Holding the right end of the rail is well-dressed newspaper editor and strong Lincoln supporter Horace Greeley identified by a copy of his NEW YORK TRIBUNE in his coat pocket. Greeley tells Lincoln "We can prove that you have split rails & that will ensure your election to the Presidency." Lincoln replies "It is true I have split rails but I begin to feel as if this rail would split me it's the hardest stick I ever straddled." Lincoln is depicted - visually and thematically - as a straddler at best while the images of Greeley and the African American supporting the rail are derisive. <br> <br> A finely drawn and insightful political cartoon from the 1860 election. REILLY AMERICAN POLITICAL PRINTS 1860-31. WEITENKAMPF p.123. CURRIER & IVES: CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ 5478. Harold Holzer Gabor Borritt & Mark Neely THE LINCOLN IMAGE p.38 figure 18. Currier & Ives hardcover books
186085724Chicago: Charles Leib 1860. Very Good. Four-page newspaper. A couple of small holes various brown spots and other bits of minor wear A campaign newspaper for Abraham Lincoln in the Presidential Campaign of 1860. We note a half-column story on the front page of this issue that accuses Senator Douglas of being a Roman Catholic -- a charge based partly on the fact that Mrs. Douglas was a Catholic as were their children -- probably an effective charge in largely Protestant mid-19th century America. Our brief research suggests that Douglas was neither a Catholic nor a formal member of any other organized religious group. The purpose of another half-column story on the front page was to make it clear that Lincoln had publicly condemned the actions of John Brown and did not object to Brown's execution. Charles Leib the editor was a political operative with an unclear background who had previously edited a Democratic campaign newspaper on behalf of the Buchanan campaign in 1856. Leib served briefly as an Assistant Quartermaster in the Union Army before heading to New Mexico probably in 1863 and died there in 1865 at the age of 38. Charles Leib unknown
186085724Chicago: Charles Leib 1860. Very Good. Four-page newspaper. A couple of small holes various brown spots and other bits of minor wear A campaign newspaper for Abraham Lincoln in the Presidential Campaign of 1860. We note a half-column story on the front page of this issue that accuses Senator Douglas of being a Roman Catholic -- a charge based partly on the fact that Mrs. Douglas was a Catholic as were their children -- probably an effective charge in largely Protestant mid-19th century America. Our brief research suggests that Douglas was not a Catholic or a formal member of any other organized religious group. The purpose of another half-column story on the front page was to make it clear that Lincoln had publicly condemned the actions of John Brown and did not object to Brown's execution. Charles Leib the editor was a political operative with a murky background who had previously edited a Democratic campaign newspaper on behalf of the Buchanan campaign in 1856. Leib served briefly as an Assistant Quartermaster in the Union Army before heading to new Mexico probably in 1863 and died there in 1865 at the age of 38. <br/><br/> Charles Leib unknown books
1840056590Edinburgh: James Taylor 21 George Street 1840. Not Given . Hardcover. Very Good Plus. Small Octavo. LONDON : Circa 1840. First published in 1768. Good clear larger type. Hardback. With an Introductory essay by Thomas Chalmers dated 1828. Original brown sand-grained cloth; gilt lettered spine. Original yellow end-papers. Bright tight and clean. No owner name or internal markings. Slight browning end-papers. Internally excellent. Minor wear only. VERY GOOD INDEED. xxii 454 pages. 2pp adverts. ABRAHAM BOOTH 1734-1806 was an English dissenting minister and author known as a Baptist apologetical writer. Booth was born at Blackwell near Alfreton Derbyshire on 20 May 1734; while he was young the family moved to Annesley Woodhouse Nottinghamshire where his father had taken a small farm as a tenant of the Duke of Portland. The eldest of a large family Booth worked on the farm to age 15 with sporadic schooling. Then working on a stocking-frame he was able to support himself and get some further elementary education. He opened a school at Sutton-in-Ashfield Nottinghamshire. Baptist preachers interested Booth in religion and in 1755 he was baptised by immersion and began to preach in the Midland counties. In 1760 when the Baptists first gathered into churches Booth became superintendent of the Kirkby Woodhouse congregation but not their pastor. He changed views from General Baptist to Particular Baptist and seceded. Soon after he began to preach on Sundays at Sutton-in-Ashfield Chesterfield and elsewhere in the Midland towns and villages still keeping his school. SCARCE. Will be well-packed for posting/shipping. Sm.8vo. Rosley Books for Antiquarian books Cumberland Everyman Inklings Literature Rarities Theology and History. SCARCE. <br/> <br/> James Taylor, 21 George Street hardcover
188139061New Haven Conn. J.D. & E.S. Dana 1881. 8vo. Extracted from "The American Journal of Science" Third series vol. XXII Numb. CXXVIII pp. 87- 166. With title-page to the entire volume. Title-page with a faint rubberstamp. The Michelson-paper: pp. 120-129. Two leaves with small tear to the margin. <br/><br/><em>The seminal first edition of the first description of the first version of a series of experiments with the Interferometer which was built by Michelson and with which he planned to measure the relative speeds of light-waves moving at right angles to each other - an experiment that would ultimately lead to the special theory of relativity. The series of experiments ended with the so-called "Michelson-Morley experiment" the results of which were published 6 years after Michelson's first experiment the item offered here. The 1887 paper written together with Morley constituted an improved attempt of the 1881- version of the experiment. The experiments were designed to calculate the effect of the earth's motion on the passage of light rays through the "luminous ether" which was believed to surround the earth. The experiments were negative and as such led to the introduction of relativity."Michelson tried to determinate the relation of ether drift and the velocity of light effect of extremely minute values.no drift could be found and the "negative result held revolutionary implications which led directly through Lorentz and Einstein to the acceptance of new standards of reference of time and space from geometry an cosmometry."Dibner.In 1919 Einstein met Michelson in California. At a dinner given in honor of them both Einstein said in a speech "You Michelson uncovered an insidious defect in the ether theory of light as it existed and stimulated the ideas of H.A. Lorentz and Fitzgerald out of which the Special Theory of Relativity developed. Without your work this theory would today be scarcely more than an interesting speculation." In an interview in 1842 Einstein said: "It is no doubt that Michelson's experiment was of considerably influence upon my work insofar as it strengthened my conviction concerning the validity of the Principle of relativity.On the other side I was pretty much convinced of the validity of the principle before I did know this experiment and its result. In any case Michelson's experiment removed practically any doubt about the validity of the principle in optics and showed that a profound change of the basic concepts of physics was inevitable."Michelson was awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize "for his optical precision instrument the inteferometer and the spectroscopic and metrological investigations he has carried on."Dibner: Heralds of Science: 161 the 1887-experiment - Vide PMM: 378410408. </em> unknown
188139061New Haven, Conn., J.D. & E.S. Dana, 1881. 8vo. Extracted from ""The American Journal of Science"", Third series vol. XXII, Numb. CXXVIII, pp. (87-) 166. With title-page to the entire volume. Title-page with a faint rubberstamp. The Michelson-paper: pp. 120-129. Two leaves with small tear to the margin.