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Catalogue
78
Voyages
& Travels
History
& Natural History
Science & Technology
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61.
MARTONY DE KÖSZEGH, CARL (1783-1848). Versuche über
den Seitendruck der Erde, ausgeführt auf höchsten Befehl
des Herrn General-Genie-Directors Erzherzog Johann, kaiserliche
Hoheit, und verbunden mit einer theoretischen Abhandlung über
diesen Gegenstand nach Coulomb und Français nebst einer Nachweisung
älterer Versuche dieser Art von Carl Martony de Köszegh,
Major im k.k. Ingenieurs-Corps. Wien, aus der kaiserl. königl.
Hof-und Staats-Aerarial-Druckerey, 1828. $650
4to; pp. 221, [4] (index); 19 folded lithographs of plans; tables
throughout text; title vignette has arms of the Austrian Empire.
Contemporary half calf and marbled paper over boards; rebacked long
ago, with original spine and labels laid down; neat stamp at heel
of title; occasional light spotting in upper margins of few leaves;
illustrations very clean and sharp; a very good, wide-margined copy.
Copies located at BL; Cornell; German libraries: BVB; SBB; TIB.
This work relates to the retaining and support of walls, and has
some relationship to the work of the French physicist, Charles-Augustin
de Coulomb (1736-1806) who developed Coulomb's law, the definition
of the electrostatic force of attraction and repulsion.
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62.
MIERS, JOHN (1789-1879). Travels in Chile and La Plata, Including
Accounts Respecting the Geography, Geology, Statistics, Government,
Finances, Agriculture Manners and Customs, and the Mining Operations
in Chile. Collected During a Residence of Several Years in These
Countries. London, Printed for Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, 1826. Two
volumes. First edition. $1,200
8vo; pp. xv, [1], 494; vii, [1], 532; three folding maps, 19 engraved
plates, including two folded. and two plans. Later half calf over
marbled boards, corners lightly worn; spine gilt-stamped, gilt morocco
labels; t.e.g.; maps little foxed, small tear near gutter on two
maps, one repaired; missing piece in margin of title-page repaired
(vol. I), affecting one letter; one page has notation in margin;
vol. II has some offsetting to title; two leaves with small tears
but no loss; Appendices D and E are lists of plants and birds respectively,
"noticed in Chile by the Author".
Sabin 48889; Goldsmiths' 24798; Copac. John Miers' early passion
for mineralogy and chemistry, and a publication of several papers
on those topics led Lord Thomas Cochrane (1775-1860) to invite Miers
to explore the mineral resources of Chile in 1819. Miers' interest
turned to natural history, and he began collecting birds, insects
and plants of the region. He settled in Buenos Aires but returned
to England in 1825 to study botany and prepare for the trip which
was the subject of this book. He was selected as a fellow of the
Royal Society in 1843, and he bequeathed his herbarium of over 20,000
species to the British Museum (DNB).
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63.
MU[E]LLER, G.P. (i.e. G.F.) [GERHARD FRIEDRICH]. Voyages
et Decouvertes Faites par les Russes le long des côtes de
la Mer Glaciale & sur l'Océan Orientale, tant vers le
Japon que vers l'Amérique. On y joint l'Histoire du Fleuve
Amur et des pays adjacens ... Amsterdam, Marc-Michel Rey, 1766.
Two volumes. First edition in French. $9,000
12mo; pp. x, [2] (Avis du traducteur), 388; pp. iv, 207, [22] (Table
des matières), [3] (Publ's. adverts); one large, folding
engraved map; contemporary full sprinkled calf, marbled endpapers;
spines gilt in compartments, with the lowest being an armorial insignia;
in vol. II, two leaves of prelims lightly stuck together at gutter;
still, the finest set we have had or seen.
Howes M884; Streeter Sale VI:3462; Sabin 51286; Wagner, Cartography,
614; Wickersham 6333; Lada-Mocarski 17 note; Frank Streeter Sale
376. This work of Müller (1705-1783), on the Northeast Passage,
was first published in 1758 as Nachrichten von Seereisen and represents
the most comprehensive geographical knowledge to that date. Müller
was a scientist attached to Bering's second expedition, and this
account contains original information about that expedition, and
about the discovery of the strait bearing his name, as well as a
description of the western limits of North America. The map has,
as its title, Nouvelle Carte des Découvertes faites par des
Vaisseaux Russiens Aux Côtes Inconnues de l'Amérique
Septentrionale avec les Pais Adiacents ... "The first volume
contains the translation into French of Müller's Voyages, said
to be fuller and quite superior to the English translation published
by Jefferys in 1761. The map is a copy of the St. Petersburg 1758
issue of the Müller map." -(Streeter).
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64.
MURATORI, LODOVICO ANTONIO (1672-1750). Relation des Missions
du Paraguai, Traduite de l'Italien de M. Muratori. A Paris, A La
Société Catholiques des Bons Libres, Hôtel Palatin,
Près Saint-Sulpice, M.D.CCC..XXVI (1826). $250
12mo; pp. [4], 302. Contemporary quarter calf, with marbled paper
over boards; binding rubbed, with little loss of paper at lower
corner of rear board; spine with gilt title; sprinkled edges; engraved
printer's device on title; one gathering loose; some light foxing
throughout. Imprint: Senlis, Imprimerie de Tremblay, Imprimeur de
S.A.R.Mgr. Le Duc de Bourbon - half-title verso.
Borba de Moraes 603-604; Wellcome; vide Sabin 51420; vide De Backer
and Sommervogel V, 37. Luigi Muratori, the historiographer and philologist,
was born in Vignola, Italy. He was educated by the Jesuits and at
the University of Modena. Ordained a priest in 1694, he was appointed
to the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana in Milano by Count Charles Borromeo.
Muratori collected unedited ancient writings for the library, and
published several volumes of them; he also published works on early
Italian history and literature. His collection of essays, Antiquitates
italicae medii oevi (Milano 1738-1742), included the Muratorian
Canon, a bibliography of the earliest known books of the New Testament.
His monumental 28-volume book of Italian chronicles, Rerum italicarum
Scriptores ab anno aerae christianae 500 ad annum 1500 (Milan, 1723-1751),
is a major resource of works on early Italian history. Muratori
held the position of archivist and librarian at Modena from 1700
until his death. This work on the history of the Jesuit missions
in Paraguay is the French translation (by Félix Esprit de
Lourmel) of Il Cristianesimo Felice Nella Missioni de' Padri della
Compagnia di Gesù nel Paraguai (Venezia, 1743) and is one
of the best early works on the Rio de la Plata.
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65.
MURRAY, HUGH et al. Narrative of Discovery and Adventure
in Africa, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time. Edinburgh,
Oliver & Boyd, 1840. Third edition. $375
Small 8vo; pp. 472; extra engraved title; three engraved plates
included in the pagination; several engraved illustrations and two
maps within the text; one folding frontis. map. Contemporary half
hard-grain morocco; marbled boards, endpapers and fore-edges; binding
little worn; text clean and tight.
Vide Cox II:516. A popular work, largely based on John Leyden's
An Historical and Philosophical Sketch of the Discoveries &
Settlements of Europeans in N. & W. Africa ... (1798). This
version by Murray and collaborators was originally published in
1818, with a second enlarged edition appearing in 1832. The third
edition is once again expanded with information about the discovery
of the mouth of the Niger and an expedition to the interior of Africa.
The colonial possessions of Britain and other countries are described
in detail, as well as the exploits of the major explorers of Africa.
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