Search Results: Titles starting with H from SOPHIA RARE BOOKS

Leipzig: Leopold Voss, 1856. First edition. THE ONLY RECORDED COPY IN THE ORIGINAL PARTS. First edition, and the only recorded copy in the original parts, of "the most important book on the physiology and physics of vision" (Grolier/Horblit), and "one of the greatest books on physiological optics" (Garrison-Morton). This work encompassed all previous research in the field, including the results of Helrnholtz's work in optics: his study of colours, and his investigations of the physiology of vision and the dioptrics of the eye, enterprises aided by his invention of the ophthalmoscope and the ophthalmometer. "Volume I, which appeared in 1856, contained a detailed treatment of the dioptrics of the eye . . . In it Helmholtz treated the various imperfections of the lens system and announced the result that the visual axis of the eye does not correspond to its optical axis. Volume I also elaborated Helmholtz's theory of accommodation and his invention of the ophthalmometer, both announced in 1855. In… Read More

Roe: Manelfo Manelfi, 1648. First edition. COMMENTARY ON ARCHIMEDES' ON THE SPHERE AND CYLINDER . First edition of this rare Galileianum, an explication and extension of the two books of Archimedes' On the sphere and the cylinder, which gave the first exact determination of the area and volume of a curved figure. They "are, of course, exceptional masterpieces. According to a testimony by Cicero, whom there is no reason to doubt, Archimedes' tomb had inscribed a sphere circumscribed inside a cylinder, recalling the major measurement of volume obtained in [the first book]: if so, either Archimedes or those close to him considered [this book] to be somehow the peak of his achievement. The reason is not difficult to find. Archimedes' works are almost all motivated by the problem of measuring curvilinear figures, all of course indirectly related to the problem of measuring the circle ... Measuring the sphere is the closest Archimedes, or mathematics in general, has ever got to measuring the circle. The… Read More

Berlin: Trowibsch and son for Ferdinand Dümmler, 1837. First edition. Hardcover. PMM 297 - THE PHILOSOPHY OF WAR. First edition, very rare complete set of all 10 volumes, of this classic work, including Vom Kriege (vols. 1-3), "the most profound exposition of the philosophy of war" (PMM). "On War is one of the most important books ever written on the subject of war. Clausewitz, a Prussian officer who fought against the French during the Napoleonic Wars, sought to understand and analyse the phenomenon of war so that future leaders could conduct and win conflicts more effectively. He studied the human and social factors that affect outcomes, as well as the tactical and technological ones. He understood that war was a weapon of government, and that political purpose, chance, and enmity combine to shape its dynamics. On War continues to be read by military strategists, politicians, and others for its timeless insights" (Introduction to abridged English translation, Oxford University Press, 2008). "The… Read More

Nuremberg: Johann Joseph Fleischmann, 1758. First edition. "ONE OF THE CLASSICS OF AMPHIBIOLOGY" (WOOD) . First edition of one of the most beautiful works devoted to frogs and toads, with a strikingly beautiful frontispiece after the author, preface by Alfred von Haller and plates depicting all the then known species of frogs and toads indigenous to the locality of Nuremberg. Wood describes the work as "one of the classics of amphibiology. The illustrations are of the finest, and the whole work is admirably done ... altogether a very valuable, early contribution to the literature of the batrachia." "During his research on insects, Roesel studied amphibians and reptiles. This work culminated in the publication of Historia naturalis ranarum in several instalments between 1753 and 1758. When all of them had appeared, Albrecht von Haller offered to contribute a preface to the work. The text of the Historia, printed in both Latin and German, contains descriptions of all the German frogs and toads. The… Read More

London: John Matthews, 1712. First edition. Hardcover. THE FOUNDATION FOR MODERN ASTRONOMY - PROBABLY BOUND FOR QUEEN ANNE. The true first edition, extremely rare, of Flamsteed's catalogue of fixed stars and sextant observations, the foundation of modern observational astronomy; this copy was probably bound for Queen Anne (please see below). Flamsteed's catalogue was far more extensive and accurate than anything that had gone before. It was the first constructed with instruments using telescopic sights and micrometer eyepieces; Flamsteed was the first to study systematic errors in his instruments; he was the first to urge the fundamental importance of using clocks and taking meridian altitudes; and he insisted on having assistants to repeat the observations and the calculations. The catalogue contains about 3000 naked eye stars (Ptolemy and Tycho listed 1000, Hevelius 2000) with an accuracy of about 10 seconds of arc. However, Flamsteed, although appointed Astronomer Royal in 1675, by the turn of the… Read More

Paris: Béthune and Plon for Susse frères and Delloye, 1839. First edition. DAGUERREOTYPE - "THE BEGINNINGS OF PHOTOGRAPHY" (HORBLIT) - THE TRUE FIRST PRINTING. First edition, the true first issue (see below), of Daguerre's exposition of his photographic process, "the beginnings of photography" (Horblit); this is an excellent unrestored copy in original printed wrappers, and very rare in this condition. "Perhaps no other invention ever captured the imagination of the public to such a degree and conquered the world with such lightning rapidity as the daguerreotype" (Gernsheim, p. 71). "The daguerreotype is a photographic image with a mirror-like surface on a silver or silver-coated copper plate. A unique photograph, the daguerreotype is not produced from a negative, and the final image appears either positive or negative depending on the angle of reflected light" (Hannavy, p. 365). Daguerre (1787-1851), a gifted set designer and creator of the famous Diorama, a picture show based on lighting effects,… Read More

Strassburg: Johann Prüss, 1497. 15TH CENTURY ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NATURAL HISTORY AND MEDICINE . Second (first Strasbourg) Latin edition, very rare, of the most extensive 15th-century work on natural history and medicine, first published by Meydenbach in Mainz in 1491, and compiled by the German doctor and herbalist Johannes de Cuba or Johannes von Kaub (fl. 1484-1503). It was the prototype for all subsequent editions. Due to its date of printing, it is the last major medical work to cover medicines from the Old World only. The Hortus sanitatis, meaning 'Garden of Health', provides information on the medicinal use of plants and animals both real and mythical. It is partly based on the Gart de gesundheit, published in 1485, which is sometimes attributed to Johann von Cube, and was originally printed by Peter Schöffer at Mainz in 1485. However, it should be regarded as a separate work, as it covers nearly 100 more medicinal plants than the Gart der gesundheit and also includes extensive sections on… Read More

Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1967. First edition. THE FIRST PAPER ON FRACTALS "FAMOUS IN THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS". First edition, journal issue in original printed wrappers, of Mandelbrot's first paper on fractals (a term he coined in 1975). "Today Mandelbrot's paper on the coast of Britain is famous in the history of mathematics" (). "Mandelbrot had come across the coastline question in an obscure posthumous article by an English scientist, Lewis F. Richardson, who groped with a surprising number of the issues that later became part of chaos [theory] ... Wondering about coastlines, Richardson checked encyclopaedias in Spain and Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands, and discovered discrepancies of 20% in the estimated lengths of their common frontiers ... [Mandelbrot] argued [that] ... the answer depends on the length of your ruler. Consider one plausible method of measuring. A surveyor takes a set of dividers, opens them to a length of one yard, and walks… Read More