June 2021 Catalogue

S c i e n c e 13 “The First Experimental Scientist In The Modern Sense” 11. BOYLE, Robert. Medicina Hydrostatica. London, 1690. Small octavo (4-1/4 by 6-1/2 inches), contemporary speckled brown sheep rebacked. $11,000. Click for more info First edition of the “first tract in English upon the determination of specific gravity,” containing engraved frontispiece of weighing scales, bound with Catalogue of Philosophical Books at rear, a handsome copy in contemporary boards. “A disciple of the empiricism and rationalism of Bacon and Descartes, Boyle devoted his life to establishing an empirically based, mechanistic theory of matter” (Norton I:298). A pillar of the Scientific Revolution with Locke and Newton, “Boyle was arguably the most influential figure in the emerging scientific culture of late 17th- century Britain,” and is substantially viewed as “the first experimental scientist in a modern sense” (Hunter, 1). “ One of Boyle’s last writings and important as the first work in English on determining specific gravity . The catalogue at the end is rare and was added to only a few copies” (Neville I:200). Bound with second edition of Catalogue of the Philosophical Books and Tracts (first issued in 1689): separately paginated with separate title page containing publisher’s imprint dated the same as Medicina title page. First edition of Medicina : “leaf A1 was a title page, subsequently cancelled,” replaced with pi2 (engraved frontispiece and title page within double-ruled border). “Table” at rear identifying the specific gravity of ivory, coral, copper and other materials. Half title with early owner bookplate. Occasional early marginalia. Interior fresh with lightest scattered foxing and toning, a few marginal paper flaws, faint marginal dampstaining to early leaves. A most desirable copy of a signal work in the history of science. SCIENCE