Principles of Chemistry First Edition - Dmitrii Mendeleev - Bauman Rare Books

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Principles of Chemistry

Dmitrii MENDELEEV

Item#: 120945 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Principles of Chemistry

Principles of Chemistry

THE DISCOVERY OF THE PERIODIC LAW: MENDELEEV’S PRINCIPLES OF CHEMISTRY, FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH

MENDELEEV, Dmitrii. The Principles of Chemistry. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1891. Two volumes. Octavo, original maroon cloth. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

First edition in English of Mendeleev’s landmark chemistry textbook, providing the basis of the Periodic Law. With numerous in-text illustrations and diagrams.

Mendeleev, already a renowned chemist, was appointed the chair of the chemistry department at the University of St. Petersburg in 1867. Unable to find a proper text for his students, he decided to write his own. "He derived his basic plan for his book from Gerhardt's theory of types, whereby elements were grouped by valence in relation to hydrogen. The typical elements hydrogen (1), oxygen (2), nitrogen (3), and carbon (4), were listed first, followed, in the same order, by the halogens (1) and alkali metals (1)… Mendeleev's work towards [The Principles of Chemistry] led him to the periodic law, which he formulated in March 1869: 'Elements placed according to the value of their atomic weights present a clear periodicity of properties" (DSB, 288). Based on this work Mendeleev was able to compose the first periodic table (as shown in the preface to Volume I), which remains strikingly similar to the first modern periodic table, devised by Moseley in 1914 (see PMM 407). Mendeleev was able to successfully predict the discovery of as yet undiscovered elements that would fit in according to his law, as demonstrated by the specific gaps he left in his table. First published in Russian in 1868, the English edition is based on the fifth Russian edition. "The periodic law is the focus of the work; beginning with the third edition it is more prominent because it had been verified experimentally. Mendeleev rewrote each edition, including all new scientific data-particularly confirmations of the periodic law-and reanalyzing difficulties that had arisen to hinder its confirmation (inert gases, radioactivity, radioactive and rare-earth elements)" (DSB, 293). Horblit 74. Norman 1493.

Spine with mild toning, light wear to spine ends. Near-fine condition. A wonderful copy of this scarce and important work.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
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