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, beautifully framed. $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.

"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Fine unpublished 1866 autograph letter written by Charles Darwin, answering the questions of an anonymous correspondent concerning editions of his landmark work, On the Origin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 photographic card. $29,500.

FIRST EDITION OF THE DOUBLE HELIX, SIGNED BY FRANCIS CRICK AND JAMES WATSON

(CRICK, Francis) WATSON, James D. Double Helix. New York, 1968.

First edition, advanced review copy of Watson's controversial personal account of the DNA discovery, signed on the title page by Francis Crick and James D. Watson. $22,500.

“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.

SIGNED BY JAMES WATSON AND FRANCIS CRICK

CRICK, F[rancis] H. C. and WATSON, J[ames] D. Virus Structure. London, 1957.

First edition of Watson and Crick’s Virus Structure, signed by both Watson and Crick on the first page of their article. Presented as the first paper at the prestigious 1956 Ciba Foundation symposium in London and the first paper in this collection, this seminal work—their “last direct collaboration” (Ridley)—revealed Watson and Crick’s theory of virus structure that ultimately “proved correct, crucial productive for virologists: its great success reinforced… the comparison of virus with microsome structure” (Judson, 316). $18,000.

“A POWERFUL INFLUENCE ON ALL SUBSEQUENT THOUGHT ON MAN’S PLACE IN NATURE”

TYSON, Edward M.D. Orang-Outang: or the Anatomy of a Pygmie. London, 1699.

First edition of Tyson's "epoch-making" anatomical study that laid a foundation for the theory of evolution, "the first work to demonstrate scientifically the structural relationships between man and anthropoid ape" (Norman), heralded as a "forerunner of Blumenbach, Buffon, Huxley and Darwin" (PMM), with eight striking copper-engraved folding plates. A handsome wide-margined volume. $16,000.

“FEW MEN HAVE HAD A MORE MARKED INFLUENCE UPON THE RISING INTELLECT OF THE TIME”

MILL, John Stuart. System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive. London, 1843. Two volumes.

First edition of a classic text on logic by John Stuart Mill—"Britain's most important philosopher in the 19th century"—one of only 750 copies printed, in the publisher's original cloth and paper boards. $13,500.

"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.

“THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SINGLE CONTRIBUTION TO BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE IN THE 20TH CENTURY”

WATSON, James; CRICK, Francis; WILKINS, M.H.F; FRANKLIN, Rosalind; et al. Six Nature Articles. London, 1953.

Six articles extracted from Volumes 171 and 172 of Nature, including the first appearance of the article announcing the most important biological discovery of the 20th century, as well as five follow-up articles further establishing the structure and function of DNA. $8800.

FIRST EDITION OF SILENT SPRING, INSCRIBED BY RACHEL CARSON

CARSON, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston, 1962.

First edition of the pioneering work by Rachel Carson—"one of the greatest nature writers in American letters," inscribed on the half title, "Inscribed for D— T— With my best wishes Rachel Carson." $8500.

“A MAD DREAM? CERTAINLY NOT!”

DINSDALE, Alfred. Television. London, 1926. First edition of the first book on the newly invented television, richly illustrated, in original printed wrappers. $6500.

"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.

BOLDLY PRESENTED AND SIGNED BY EDISON

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

Very scarce vintage photographic portrait of Edison seated in a library, inscribed and signed by him with a bold flourish on the mount: "To Mrs. Blauvelt, from a believer in woman suffrage, Thos A Edison." $6500.

CITING BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S EXPERIMENTS WITH ELECTRICITY:UNIQUE COPY OF A CONTEMPORARY STUDENT’S PHYSICS NOTES,BEAUTIFULLY TRANSCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED ENTIRELY BY HAND

(FRANKLIN, Benjamin) PRETRE, Professeur Magnin. Lecons de Phisique Experimentale Dictees… Valence, France, 1785. Splendid manuscript copy of an 18th-century French university student’s physics lecture notes, carefully transcribed in an elegant hand and presented as a textbook, with 46 finely detailed pen-and-ink illustrations of scientific experiments also rendered completely by hand. With five pages devoted to the “Systême de Franklin” of electricity (pp. 302-06). $5500.

“THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE WORK IN SCIENCE”

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

First American edition, third issue, of “certainly the most important biological book ever written” (Freeman), published within one year of publication of the London first edition, and with the same text. $5000.

“A LION HAD BEEN PROWLING AROUND US DURING THE NIGHT”

JAMES, Frank Linsly. Unknown Horn of Africa. London, 1888.

First edition, with 23 full-page plates (eight finely hand-colored) of animals, birds, plants and tribal practices, and a large folding map of Province Ogadayn (1885) in rear pocket. $4600.

"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.

EARLY WORK BY JUNG ON CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT, INSCRIBED BY HIM TO PSYCHIATRIST ADOLF MEYER

JUNG, Carl. Uber Konflikte der Kindlichen Seele. Leipzig und Wien, 1910.

First separate printing of this paper on "conflict in the child's soul," inscribed on the front wrapper by Jung to influential psychiatrist Adolf Meyer: "Dr. A. Meyer - Johns Hopkins University / with the author's compliments." $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.

FIRST EDITION OF BABBAGE’S ESTEEMED AUTOBIOGRAPHY

BABBAGE, Charles. Passages from the Life of a Philosopher. London, 1864.

First edition of Babbage’s autobiography, a principal source of our knowledge of Babbage’s Difference and Analytical Engines, including Babbage’s only published account of his Difference Engine. With engraved frontispiece illustration of Difference Engine No. 1 drawn by Babbage’s son Benjamin. $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.

“THE BASIS OF ALL SUBSEQUENT WORK IN ATOMIC PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY”

RUTHERFORD, Ernest. Collision of Alpha Particles with Light Atoms. London, 1919.

First edition of the first appearance of Rutherford's pioneering article about the effects of alpha particles bombarding the nitrogen atom—marking the birth of the nuclear age. $3500.

"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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

EXTREMELY SCARCE PROSPECTUS FOR THE DOUBLE ELEPHANT FOLIO OF AUDUBON’S BIRDS OF AMERICA, BOUND WITH VOLUME I OF THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF THE COMPANION TEXT

AUDUBON, John James. Ornithological Biography. Philadelphia, 1831.

Extremely scarce printed Prospectus for the Double Elephant Folio of Birds of America, bound with Volume I of the first American edition of the companion text to Birds of America. $3000.

THE BCS THEORY OF SUPERCONDUCTIVITY

BARDEEN, John; COOPER, Leon; SCHRIEFFER, John. Theory of Superconductivity. Lancaster, PA and New York, NY, 1956. Three volumes.

Scarce first editions of Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer's three Nobel Prize-winning papers laying out their theory of superconductivity, in the original wrappers, in exceptionally nice condition. $2800.

"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.

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.

"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.

"A GENERAL EXPOSITION OF THE NEW SCIENCE, WRITTEN FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE PROBLEMS OF CONTROL"

BEER, Stafford. Cybernetics and Management. London, 1959.

First edition, first impression, publisher's review copy of this pioneering work on "the science of effective organisations." $2800.

“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.

“HERE I SIT IN ORDER TO WRITE, AT THE AGE OF 67, SOMETHING LIKE MY OWN OBITUARY”

(EINSTEIN, Albert). Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist. Evanston, 1949.

First trade edition of this collection, including the only autobiography written by Einstein, "the greatest physicist of the 20th century" (PMM). $2600.

"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.

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.

SIGNED BY FRANCIS CRICK

CRICK, Francis. Astonishing Hypothesis. New York, 1994. First edition, signed by author on the title page. $2500.

“A PARTICULARLY BEAUTIFUL EDITION WITH FINE ILLUSTRATIONS
AND VOLVELLES FOR CALCULATIONS”

BEILIN, Eliezer ben Jacob. Sefer Ibronoth. Offenbach, 1722.

Fifth edition of this important and scarce treatise on the Jewish calendar (the first with Himmelburg’s important appendix), with woodcut illustrations and tables, including the circular table “which facilitated the determination of holidays and other important dates.” $2500.

SIGNED BY WATSON AND CRICK

WATSON, James D., and CRICK, Francis H.C. Philadelphia Liberty Medal. Philadelphia, 2000.

Original program for the luncheon celebration of the awarding of the 2000 Philadelphia Liberty Medal, awarded to James D. Watson and Francis Crick, signed by both of them on the title page. $2500.

THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF SCHRODINGER'S CAT

SCHRODINGER, Erwin. Gegenwartige Situation in der Quantemechanik. Berlin, 1935.

First edition of the famed "Schrödinger's cat" thought experiment, illustrating one of the central paradoxes of quantum theory. $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.

"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.

“…FOR THEN WE WOULD KNOW THE MIND OF GOD”

HAWKING, Stephen. Brief History of Time. London, (1988).

First edition, first British issue, of Hawking’s popular treatment of quantum physics. $2000.

FIRST APPEARANCE OF EINSTEIN'S FIRST SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATION AND OF PLANCK'S REVISED QUANTUM THEORY

(EINSTEIN, Albert) (PLANCK, Max). Annalen der Physik. Leipzig, 1901.

First edition of Einstein's first published paper, a study of capillary action as connected to the atomic weight of different liquids, accompanied by the first appearance of Planck's groundbreaking second paper on quantum theory, in the 1901 edition of the Annalen der Physik, “one of the most remarkable volumes in the whole of scientific literature” (Max Born). $2000.