“ONE OF THE FINEST ORNITHOLOGICAL WORKS EVER PRINTED”

AUDUBON, John James. Birds of America. New York, 1856-57. Seven volumes.

Second octavo edition, the first edition with fully colored backgrounds, containing 500 superb hand-colored plates. $58,500.

"FOUR EDITIONS OF THE ORIGIN HAVE APPEARED… I AM GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE SUBJECT"

DARWIN, Charles. Autograph letter signed. Down, Beckenham, Kent, Dec 17, [1866].

Fine unpublished 1866 autograph letter written by Charles Darwin, answering the questions of an anonymous correspondent concerning editions of his landmark work, On the Origin of Species, boldly signed by him with his full name "Charles Darwin" (he often used "C." or "Ch." instead of his full given name). Beautifully framed with an early photgraphic card. $39,500.

TYPED LETTER SIGNED BY ALBERT EINSTEIN WITH IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC CONTENT, MAKING HISTORIC CONNECTIONS BETWEEN KEPLER'S WORK AND HIS OWN

EINSTEIN, Albert. Typed letter signed. Princeton, November 3, 1942.

An exceptional typed letter signed by Einstein on precursors like Johannes Kepler's work to his Special and General Theories of Relativity, $38,000.

"PROF. EPSTEIN IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT LIVING THEORETICAL PHYSICISTS OF THE GERMAN-SPEAKING WORLD"

EINSTEIN, Albert. Autograph letter signed. No place, August 14, 1921.

Rare heartfelt autograph letter of recommendation written and signed by Einstein in German, enthusiastically recommending his friend and colleague, physicist Prof. Dr. Paul Epstein, for an academic position. $35,000.

“THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE WORK IN SCIENCE”

DARWIN, Charles. On the Origin of Species. New York, 1860.

First American edition, first issue, of "certainly the most important biological book ever written" (Freeman)—the book that introduced the idea the world would come to know as "evolution"—published just one year after the London first edition. $25,000.

“NO OTHER ORNITHOLOGIST HAS EVER EXCEEDED THE MAGNITUDE AND SPLENDOR OF HIS FOLIO PUBLICATIONS”

GOULD, John. Monograph of the Pittidae [Tropical Birds]. London, 1880. Two parts in one, Part I with plates and text, Part II text only, all published.

First edition of this lovely Gould monograph, with ten beautiful hand-colored plates, in original printed boards as issued. $22,000.

THE GREAT PACIFIC RAILROAD SURVEYS,“A MONUMENTAL COLLECTION OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION” INCLUDING “THE FIRST ACCURATE DETAILED MAP OF THE WHOLE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI WEST… ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MAPS OF AMERICAN HISTORY”

(PACIFIC RAILROAD SURVEY) Reports of Explorations and Surveys. Washington, 1855-60. Twelve volumes.

First quarto edition, mixed issue, greatly expanded. The most extensive government exploration of the American continent, with almost six hundred maps (many folding) and splendid plates (colored, tinted and black and white) depicting views, ruins, Native Americans, zoological and botanical specimens, etc. $16,000.

SIGNED BY THOMAS EDISON

(EDISON, Thomas Alva) RAMSAYE, Terry. Million and One Nights. New York, 1926. Two volumes.

Signed limited first edition of one of the most important histories of cinema, number 8 of only 327 sets signed by Ramsaye and Thomas Edison, an exceptional association copy containing a laid-in typed letter by award-winning film scholar and author Dr. Donald Crafton, this rare copy a gift to him from "film aficionado and collector… Spencer Berger." With over 100 illustrations, a splendid copy in publisher’s leather and Japanese patterned paper boards. $10,500.

"I NEVER SEEM TO TIRE OF WRITING AND TALKING ABOUT THE CHIPMUNK"

BURROUGHS, John. Autograph manuscript signed. No place, November 3, 1916.

Original 28-page autograph manuscript signed and dated ("Nov 3rd, 1916, 10.a.m.") at the end by John Burroughs, for his essay on chipmunks, "A Clever Beastie." $9000.

"AT LAST, SHOUT OF 'EUREKA!' IN AGE-OLD MATH MYSTERY" (NEW YORK TIMES)

WILES, Andrew. Modular Elliptic Curves and Fermat's Last Theorem. Princeton, 1995.

First edition, in the journal Annals of Mathematics where it originally appeared, of Wiles' famous proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, which had confounded mathematicians for centuries. $8800.

"THE KEYS TO THE LONG LOST PRISCA THEOLOGIA"

NEWTON, Isaac. Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel. London, 1733.

First edition of Newton's only "major work on the subject" of prophecy and symbolic writings, published six years after his death. $7800.

"THERE IS AN UNEXPECTED, AN UNEXPLAINED LURE AND ATTRACTION IN THE LANDSCAPE,—A PENSIVE, REMINISCENT FEELING IN THE AIR ITSELF. NATURE HAS GROWN MELLOW UNDER THESE HUMID SKIES, AS IN OUR FIERCER CLIMATE SHE GROWS HARSH AND SEVERE"

BURROUGHS, John. Autograph manuscript. No place, circa 1883.

Original working manuscript of Burroughs' essay "Nature in England," his account of a trip to England, published in his 1884 collection of essays Fresh Fields. $6500.

“VERY FIRST GENERAL TREATISE ON PHOTOGRAPHY”

HUNT, Robert. A Popular Treatise on the Art of Photography, including Daguerreotype. Glasgow, 1841. First edition of Hunt’s landmark photographic work, with 29 in-text illustrations and frontispiece featuring one of the earliest representations of a negative print. $6500.

"THE BOOK IS HANDSOMELY PRINTED, AND THE PLATES ARE FINELY EXECUTED FROM DRAWINGS BY EHRET"

(BARBADOS) HUGHES, Griffith. The Natural History of Barbados. London, 1750.

First edition of this important work on the flora and fauna of Barbados, with folding map of the island by Thomas Jefferys and 30 folio engraved plates, 12 after renowned botanical artist G.D. Ehret, one of the greatest botanical painters of the 18th century. $5500.

INSCRIBED BY BILL WILSON

(ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS) [WILSON, Bill]. Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age. New York, 1957.

First edition of Bill Wilson’s early history of Alcoholics Anonymous, warmly inscribed by him: “Dear Harry: With all my gratitude for your example of all that’s AA! Ever Yours, Bill. NY Dec 31/63.” $5000.

FIRST EDITION OF VOLTAIRE’S LETTERS CONCERNING THE ENGLISH NATION, 1733

VOLTAIRE [Arouet, François-Marie] DE. Letters Concerning the English Nation. London, 1733.

First edition of Voltaire's commentary on English institutions, published one year before the French first edition, the first published work to relate the tale of Newton's falling apple. $4800.

"THE COLOR OF THE PRISONER'S SKIN, AND THE FORM OF HIS FEATURES ARE NOT IMPRESSED UPON THE SPIRITUAL MIND… HE IS STILL YOUR BROTHER, AND MINE … HOLD HIM THEN TO BE A MAN"

(SEWARD, William) HALL, Benjamin F. Trial of William Freeman. Auburn, 1848.

First edition of the definitive report documenting the controversial 1846 trial of African American William Freeman—"a landmark in American history"—with extensive reportage, expert medical testimony and the famed defense of Freeman by William H. Seward, Lincoln’s future Secretary of State and "one of the most prominent antislavery politicians of the antebellum period", very scarce in contemporary three-quarter morocco. $4500.

RARE 16TH-CENTURY ILLUSTRATED FRENCH EDITIONS
OF EARLY WORKS ON PALMISTRY, ASTROLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY

INDAGINE, Johannes ab. Chiromance & Physionomie Par le Regard Des Membres de L'Homme. Lyon, 1666. Two volumes bound in one.

Rare early French editions of these core works on palm-reading, with over 80 in-text diagrams, charts, and engraved illustrations, handsomely bound in full modern calf-gilt. $4200.

“HIS VOLUMES ARE THE JOURNAL OF ADAM IN PARADISE”

WHITE, Gilbert. Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. London, 1789.

First edition of this "solitary classic of natural history," with folding frontispiece panoramic view of Selborne and six engravings (one folding) by Peter Mazell and Daniel Lerpinire after drawings by Samuel Grimm. An uncut copy in orginal marbled boards. $4200.

LEIBNITZ REFUTES LOCKE: NEW ESSAYS ON HUMAN UNDERSTANDING, 1765 FIRST EDITION

LEIBNITZ, G.W. Oeuvres Philosophiques. Amsterdam et Leipzig, 1765.

First edition of the first collected edition of Leibnitz's philosophical works in French and Latin, including the first printing of one of Leibnitz's most important philosophical works, his "Nouveaux essais sur l'entendement humain" (New Essays on Human Understanding), in which he attacks and refutes Locke and his "Essay on Human Understanding" chapter by chapter. $4000.

“THE LAST WORK OF AS GREAT A GENIUS AS ANY AGE EVER PRODUCED”

NEWTON, Isaac. Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended. London, 1728.

First edition of Newton’s posthumously published, intriguing revision of accepted chronologies, based largely on mythology and Ptolemaic astronomy, illustrated with three engraved folding plates depicting Solomon’s Temple. $4000.

BOLDLY PRESENTED AND INSCRIBED BY EDISON

EDISON, Thomas Alva. Photograph inscribed. No place, circa 1920.

Scarce photogravure portrait of Edison by acclaimed New York photographer Walter Scott Shinn, inscribed and signed by him with a bold flourish on the mount to a prominent hotelier who catered to early 20th century society figures: "To Mr & Mrs Albert R Keen. Thos A Edison." $3900.

FIRST PUBLICATION OF JOULE'S KEY WORK "ON THE MECHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF HEAT," 1850, BOUND TOGETHER WITH FOUR OTHER IMPORTANT PAPERS ON THERMAL EFFECTS AND MAGNETIC INDUCTION

JOULE, James Prescott. Five Scientific Papers. London, 1849-55.

First appearances of five important scientific papers by Joule—including his important 1850 paper "On the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat"—each extracted from the journal Philosophical Transactions where they originally appeared and bound together, complete with three engraved plates, one folding. $3800.

"WHEN MAN EMERGED FROM THE LOWER ORDERS & BECAME A REASONING THINKING BEING—WHAT NEW BURDENS WERE PUT UPON HIM!"

BURROUGHS, John. Original autograph manuscript. No place, no date.

Original autograph manuscript by naturalist John Burroughs, apparently unpublished, with his penciled musings on astronomy and physics and the burdens and blessings of human consciousness. $3800.

"UNTIL SCIENCE OPENED OUR EYES WE DID NOT KNOW THAT THE CELESTIAL AND THE TERRESTRIAL WERE ONE AND THAT WE WERE ALREADY IN THE HEAVENS AMONG THE STARS"

BURROUGHS, John. Original autograph manuscript signed. Experiment, Georgia, February 1914.

Autograph manuscript signed by naturalist John Burroughs. $3500.

LARGE VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE
“E. GEST” STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

RAILROADS. Locomotive built for the Cincinnati, Wilmington & Louisville Railroad. Lancaster, Ohio, 1857.

Vintage documentary photograph of the “E. Gest” locomotive, built by E.P. Gould and named for Erasumus Gest, president of the Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville Railroad. $3500.

WITH FIVE PLATES ENGRAVED BY WILLIAM BLAKE

(BLAKE, William, engraver) DARWIN, Erasmus. The Botanic Garden. London, 1791, 1791. Two volumes in one.

First edition of Part I, third edition of Part II, of Erasmus Darwin's chief poetical work, illustrated with two engraved frontispieces and 18 plates, one from a painting by Henry Fuseli— five engraved by William Blake. $3300.

1788 BRITISH MERLIN, IN MAGNIFICENT COTTAGE-ROOF STICK PIN BINDING

(BINDING) (ALMANAC) RIDERS, Cardanus. Rider's British Merlin. London, 1787.

1788 British Almanac, beautifully bound in elaborately gilt-decorated morocco in the cottage-roof style typical of fine bindings at the time, held closed in a highly unusual manner with clasps and a metal stick pin. $3200.

INSCRIBED BY NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING CHEMIST FREDERICK SODDY

SODDY, Frederick. Isotopes. London, 1953.

First separate edition of Soddy's 1952 lecture to the Second Meeting of Nobel Prize Winners, inscribed on the front wrapper: "With the Author's Compliments-Frederick Soddy," and additionally labeled "Isotopes" in his hand. $3200.

"THE FIRST IMPORTANT ENGLISH HANDBOOK ON BIRTH CONTROL"

STOPES, Marie Carmichael. Contraception. London, 1923.

First edition of the first British textbook on the theory, history, and provision of birth control by birth control advocate and sexologist Marie Stopes, the author of Married Love, in very scarce original dust jacket. $3200.

SCHIAPARELLI’S FIRST MAJOR WORK ON MARS, WITH FIVE PLATES

SCHIAPARELLI, Giovanni Virginio. Ossernazioni Astronomiche. Rome, 1878.

First appearance of Schiaparelli's first major work on the planet Mars, with five plates (one folding) of diagrams and illustrations, including a large folding map and a chromolithographic map of the surface of Mars. $3200.

BY THE CO-WINNERS OF THE 2010 J.J. SAKURAI PRIZE FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS

(HIGGS BOSON) GURALNIK, G.S., HAGEN, C.R., and KIBBLE, T.W.B. Global Conservation Laws and Massless Particles. New York, 16 November 1964.

First edition of this early and important paper in the search for the Higgs boson—a crucial theoretical particle that at the time of this paper's publication had just been named. The recent discovery of the Higgs boson means that one of the authors will be a strong candidate to be one of the traditional three to win the Nobel—along with Higgs himself, of course, and Francois Englert—for laying the theoretical groundwork with this paper. $3200.

RARE FIRST EDITION OF THIS IMPORTANT WORK ON THE EARLY USE OF ANESTHESIA IN OBSTETRICS, INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, DR. WALTER CHANNING, AND WITH A TEXT CORRECTION IN HIS HAND

CHANNING, Walter. Two Cases of Inhalation of Ether in Instrumental Labor. Boston, 1847.

First separate edition of this important work on the use of ether in obstetrics, inscribed by the author on the front wrapper: “Dr. Johnson, with Dr. Channing’s regards,” and with a single correction on page 11 where Channing has drawn a line through a section of text and written “omit.” $3200.

"FOREIGN MATHETMATICIANS HAVE, OF LATE, BEEN ABLE TO PUSH THEIR RESEARCHES FARTHER… THAN SIR ISAAC NEWTON AND HIS FOLLOWERS HERE"

SIMPSON, Thomas. Miscellaneous Tracts. London, 1757.

First edition of this collection of Simpson's astronomical papers, including the first book appearance of Simpson's important paper on taking the average, prepared in order to improve the accuracy of astronomical observations, and referencing Newton in the Preface and several chapters, with three folding engraved plates. $3000.

"THE BEGINNING OF BACTERIOLOGY AS A MODERN SCIENCE"

PASTEUR, Louis. Memoire sur la fermentation appele lactique. Paris, 1857, 1850. Two volumes.

First editions of these two important papers by Pasteur, in the complete volumes of the Journals of the Académie des Sciences as they originally appeared. $2900.

"AN EARLY ATTEMPT AT A HISTORY OF SCIENCE"

GLANVILL, Joseph. Plus Ultra: Or, the Progress and Advancement of Knowledge. London, 1668.

First edition of Glanvill's impassioned defense of the Royal Society against Aristotelians, led by Puritan minister Robert Crosse. Handsomely bound. $2800.

"AN IMPORTANT TREATISE IN ITS TIME"

MAUQUEST DE LA MOTTE, Guillaume. A General Treatise of Midwifery. London, 1746.

First edition in English of this important treatise of midwifery, in contemporary calf boards. $2800.

"MEN GO MAD IN HERDS"

MACKAY, Charles. Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions. London, 1852. Two volumes.

Second edition of this important, entertaining and influential early study of crowd behavior, subsequently used to explore popular psychology and to chart the stock market, with numerous wood-engraved illustrations, in original gilt-stamped cloth. $2800.

THE U.S. NAVAL EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE, WITH FINE COLOR LITHOGRAPHS AND A VERY LARGE PANORAMIC VIEW OF SANTA LUCIA, CHILE

GILLISS, J[ames] M[elville]. The U.S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere. Washington, 1855. Two volumes.

First edition of the official report of Gilliss' important expedition to South America—only the third American Naval Scientific expedition—illustrated with four folding maps, a very large hand-colored folding view of Santa Lucia, Chile, 41 full-page lithographs (four tinted and 19 printed in color), five plans, and 11 wood-engraved vignettes—two large quarto volumes in contemporary calf. $2800.

"THE PROBLEM MAY BE SOLVED IN A NEW AND PERHAPS BETTER, CERTAINLY A REMARKABLE WAY"

BOOLE, George. Four Mathematical Papers. London, 1858, 1863, 1865, 1846.

First appearances of four of Boole’s important papers on differential equations, "closely connected with Boole's work on mathematical logic," each extracted from the journal in which it originally appeared: three from Philosophical Transactions, and the fourth from Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. $2600.

“ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN ECONOMICS”

MALTHUS, Thomas Robert. Essay on the Principle of Population. London, 1826. Two volumes.

1826 edition of Malthus’ controversial Essay, the final one published in his lifetime, in contemporary calf. $2600.

VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE DOCUMENTING SURVEYORS 2 AND 3

[NASA]. Lunar Surveyor Photo Archive. Los Angeles, 1965. Sixty-nine vintage black-and-white photographs documenting the assembly and transport of Surveyors 2 and 3, two of the spacecraft NASA used to scout lunar landing sites for the Apollo program. $2500.

“BEST OF THE GENTLEMAN NATURALISTS”

(PENNANT, Thomas). Arctic Zoology. London, 1784-85. Two volumes.

First edition of Pennant’s “classic work,” with 23 engraved plates-an attractively bound, uncut copy. $2500.

"THE BEST WORK EVER PUBLISHED ON PEARLS"

KUNZ, George Frederick; STEVENSON, Charles Hugh. The Book of the Pearl. New York, 1908.

First edition of "the best work ever published on pearls" (ANB), illustrated with frontispiece portrait of the Czarina of Russia, five maps and 102 plates—two folding, three engraved and 17 in color. $2300.

"EVOCATIVE SKETCHES OF TIGER, GAUR, BISON, LEOPARD, SPOTTED DEER, AND THE LIKE"

STERNDALE, Robert Armitage. Denizens of the Jungles. Calcutta, 1886.

Expanded second edition of Sterndale's "quite scarce" collection of sketches, with 12 folio lithographs of the wild animals of India in their natural habitats, including "evocative sketches" of tiger, elephant, leopard, gaur, entellus monkeys (langur), wild boar, rhinoceros, sambar deer, and Marco Polo sheep, among others. $2200.

“THE FIRST COLLECTION OF FRANKLIN’S WRITINGS IN ANY LANGUAGE”

FRANKLIN, Benjamin. Oeuvres. Paris, 1773. Two volumes.

First edition of a landmark collection of Franklin’s scientific, philosophical and political writings—“the first major translation of Franklin’s scientific works into French”—edited by his friend Barbeu-Dubourg, including Franklin’s landmark series of letters on electricity to Peter Collinson, his Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind—“one of Franklin’s most important tracts”—his pre-Revolutionary letters to British commander William Shirley, his correspondence with the young Polly Stevenson, and “several pieces not included in any former edition” (Ford), a handsome wide-margined two-volume copy, with engraved frontispiece of Franklin and 12 engraved plates, scarce in contemporary calf. Text in French. $2200.

"CLEARLY RECOGNIZED THAT WATER VAPOR INTERCEPTED TERRESTRIAL RADIATION, AND THAT CHANGES IN ITS QUANTITY WOULD PRODUCE (AND HAD PROBABLY CAUSED) CLIMATIC CHANGES"

TYNDALL, John. On the Absorption and Radiation of Heat by Gases and Vapours. London, 1861-62.

First appearance of both parts of Tyndall's important paper on heat absorption and radiation—describing and experimentally demonstrating what we would now call "the Greenhouse Effect"—extracted from the journal Philosophical Transactions where they originally appeared, with the volume title pages from that journal and the two engraved plates that accompanied this paper. $2000.

“THE KEY FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF HIS THOUGHT”

HAYEK, Friedrich A. The Sensory Order. Chicago, 1952.

First edition of Hayek's foundational study of cognitive behavior—"an exercise in profound thinking"—in scarce original dust jacket. $1850.

ONE OF ONLY FIVE ARTIST'S PROOF COPIES, WITH 26 ENGRAVINGS EACH SIGNED BY THE ARTIST AND AN ADDITIONAL FULL SUITE ALSO SIGNED BY THE ARTIST

ROBINSON, Alan James. Fowl Alphabet. Easthampton, MA, 1986.

Signed limited edition, number II of only 5 artist's proof copy (out of a total edition of 231 copies, only 31 of which are signed), with each of the 26 wood-engraved illustrations in the book hand lettered by Suzanne Moore and each signed by artist Alan James Robinson. The limitation page, inscribed "For Arnold and Mimi," is signed by Moore and Robinson and designer Arthur Lawson, binder Grey Parrot and printer Harold P. McGrath. With an additional suite of all 26 illustrations, each signed and inscribed by the artist "For Arnold and Mimi," and a suite of 26 leaves with the alphabet blind-stamped one letter per leaf. $1850.

“THE SEARCH FOR GREATNESS OF SPIRIT” (YOUSUF KARSH)

KARSH, Yousuf. Healers of Our Age. Boston, 1976.

Signed limited first edition of this folio collection of stellar portraiture by Karsh, number 106 of only 590 copies, presentation/association copy inscribed on the final text leaf by him: “To: Catherine G. Curran with the best wishes of Yousef Karsh 1980,” with 12 vintage gelatin silver prints of portraiture by Karsh, featuring eminent figures such as Albert Schweitzer, Albert Einstein, Carl Jung and Helen Keller. $1850.