TRAITTE DE L'AIMAN; Divise en deux parties. Le premier contient les experiences; & la second les raisons quo l'on en peut rendre.
Amsterdam: Henry Wetstein, 1687. Adriaan Schoonebeck. First Edition. 12mo, pp. 6 leaves, [viii], 140, viii. Etched title and 32 (of 33) full-page etched plates by Adriaan Schoonebeck (1658-1705) a pupil of Romeyn de Hooghe. Bound in contemporary calf with armorial stamp on the covers, hinges rubbed and worn. With armorial bookplate of Nicolai Joseph Foucault (1643-1721). Little water stain, internally, a very good copy. Brunet 5, 918; Wheeler Gift 200; Hofer, Baroque book illustration 142. Item #33940
A nice copy of an illustrated treatise on the magnet and magnetism. Wheeler Gift: " General treatise (rare) on the magnet and its uses. Invention of the compass; magnetic mountains of America; declination; disproval of magnetic suspension of Mahomt's coffin; fallacy of magnetic unguents; orientation of compass-needle in a magnetic field." The plates remind one of the emblem books of the time although the images seem to nicely compliment the text (as # 18, illustrated by Hofer, showing bodies being thrown in all directions as an illustration of the power of magnetism.
Price: $650.00 save 20% $520.00