Rare Books Berlin - Internationale Messe für Bücher und Graphik

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James Cook

Voyage dans l'hémisphère austral, et autour du monde, fait sur les vaisseaux de roi, l'Aventure & la Résolution, en 1772, 1773, 1774 & 1775 ... Dans lequel on a inséré la relation du Capitaine Furneaux, & celle de MM. Forster. Traduit de l'anglois par J.B.A. Suard. Paris, Hôtel de Thou, 1778. 7 Bände Text in 8° sowie ein Atlasband in 4°. Mit 66, größtenteils gefalteten prachtvollen Kupfertafeln (Ansichten von Küsten und Häfen, ethnographische Darstellungen der Insulaner Polynesiens, Melanesiens und Feuerlands, botanische und zoologische Tafeln, Abbildungen von Geräten, Waffen und Wasserfahrzeugen). Zeitgenössischer Ledereinband, Rücken jeweils mit zwei goldgeprägten Rückenschildern und reicher floraler Rückenvergoldung; der Atlasband in stilistisch der Zeit angepasstem Halbleder mit ebensolcher Rückenvergoldung und zwei Rückenschildern. Minimal berieben und an den Kanten leicht beschabt, insgesamt jedoch ein bemerkenswert wohlerhaltenes, dekoratives Exemplar. Beddie 1223; Cox I, 60; Henze I, 543 ff.; Sabin 16249; O'Reilly, Tahiti, 419. - Erste französische Ausgabe der offiziellen, von Cook selbst verfassten Darstellung seiner zweiten Weltumsegelung (1772–1775) an Bord der Resolution, begleitet von der Adventure unter Kapitän Tobias Furneaux. Die Reise war unmittelbar von der Royal Society und der britischen Admiralität mit dem Ziel initiiert worden, die seit der Antike diskutierte Hypothese eines großen, bewohnbaren südlichen Kontinents – der sogenannten Terra australis incognita – endgültig zu klären. Cook durchsegelte hierfür als erster Seefahrer den Südlichen Ozean in mehreren Vorstößen bis über den 71. Breitengrad hinaus, überquerte dreimal den Südpolarkreis und konnte durch dieses systematische Vorgehen die Nichtexistenz eines bewohnbaren Südkontinents in gemäßigten Breiten schlüssig widerlegen. Damit setzte er einen der folgenreichsten Wendepunkte der geographischen Entdeckungsgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts. Die Expedition gilt zugleich als die erste eigentliche wissenschaftliche Forschungsfahrt in polare Gewässer. An Bord befanden sich mit Johann Reinhold Forster und seinem Sohn Georg Forster zwei der bedeutendsten Naturforscher ihrer Zeit, die im Auftrag der Royal Society umfassende botanische, zoologische und ethnographische Beobachtungen sammelten. Georg Forsters eigenständiger Bericht A Voyage Round the World (1777) gilt heute als Meilenstein der wissenschaftlichen Reiseliteratur und beeinflusste maßgeblich Alexander von Humboldts spätere Forschungsreisen. Die in Suards Übersetzung eingearbeiteten Passagen der Forsterschen Aufzeichnungen verleihen der vorliegenden französischen Ausgabe einen eigenständigen wissenschaftlichen Wert gegenüber dem reinen Cookschen Originaltext. Kapitän Furneaux' separat integrierter Bericht dokumentiert die Erlebnisse der durch einen Sturm von der Resolution getrennten Adventure, darunter die Erkundung Van-Diemens-Landes (Tasmanien) und den tragischen Zwischenfall mit Teilen der Besatzung in der Bucht von Grass Cove auf Neuseeland. Zu den geographischen Ergebnissen der Expedition zählt ferner die Entdeckung der Südlichen Sandwichinseln sowie die Vermessung zahlreicher pazifischer Inselgruppen. Die 66 Kupfertafeln, nach den an Bord entstandenen Zeichnungen William Hodges' gestochen, zählen zu den frühesten und ethnographisch bedeutendsten bildlichen Dokumenten des Südpazifiks und Feuerlands und besitzen über ihren dokumentarischen Wert hinaus auch kunsthistorischen Rang als Zeugnisse der aufklärerischen Bildwissenschaft. Beigebunden (Bd. 7): [RICKMAN, John]. Troisième voyage de Cook, ou journal d'une expédition faite dans la mer Pacifique du sud & du nord, en 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779 & 1780. Paris, Berlin, 1782. Zweite Ausgabe der französischen Übersetzung von J.-N. Démeunier, mit einem gefalteten Frontispiz und einer gefalteten Karte. Rickmans – zunächst anonym erschienener – Bericht über Cooks dritte und letzte Reise, während der der Entdecker 1779 auf Hawaii den Tod fand, ergänzt die Sammlung um den chronologischen Abschluss der Cookschen Pazifikexpeditionen. Es fehlt der Reihentitel in Bd. 2; ansonsten ein insgesamt sehr schön erhaltenes, vollständiges Exemplar dieses für die Geschichte der Geographie, Ethnographie und Naturwissenschaften gleichermaßen bedeutenden Reisewerks der europäischen Aufklärung. - 7 text volumes in octavo, plus an atlas volume in quarto. With 66, mostly folding, copper-engraved plates (views of coasts and harbours, ethnographic depictions of the islanders of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Tierra del Fuego, botanical and zoological plates, and images of implements, weapons, and watercraft). Contemporary leather bindings, each spine with two gilt-lettered labels and richly gilt-tooled decoration; the atlas volume in half-leather executed in the style of the period, with matching gilt spine decoration and two spine labels. Minor rubbing and slight chafing to the extremities, but overall a remarkably well-preserved and handsome set. First French edition of the official account—written by Cook himself—of his second circumnavigation of the globe (1772–1775) aboard the Resolution, accompanied by the Adventure under Captain Tobias Furneaux. The expedition had been commissioned directly by the Royal Society and the British Admiralty with the aim of finally resolving the question, debated since antiquity, of a great habitable southern continent—the so-called Terra Australis Incognita. Cook was the first navigator to systematically penetrate the Southern Ocean in repeated forays beyond the 71st parallel, crossing the Antarctic Circle three times, and through this methodical approach was able to conclusively disprove the existence of any habitable southern continent in temperate latitudes. This achievement marks one of the most consequential turning points in the history of geographical discovery in the eighteenth century. The expedition is likewise regarded as the first genuine scientific research voyage into polar waters. On board were Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg Forster, two of the most eminent naturalists of their age, who—commissioned by the Royal Society—gathered extensive botanical, zoological, and ethnographic observations. Georg Forster's independent account, A Voyage Round the World (1777), is today considered a landmark of scientific travel literature and significantly influenced Alexander von Humboldt's later expeditions. The passages from the Forsters' records incorporated into Suard's translation lend this French edition a distinct scientific value beyond Cook's original text alone. Captain Furneaux's separately integrated narrative documents the experiences of the Adventure, which had been separated from the Resolution by a storm, including the exploration of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and the tragic incident involving members of the crew at Grass Cove in New Zealand. Among the expedition's geographical achievements was the discovery of the South Sandwich Islands, along with the surveying of numerous Pacific island groups. The 66 copper plates, engraved after drawings made on board by William Hodges, rank among the earliest and most ethnographically significant pictorial documents of the South Pacific and Tierra del Fuego, and beyond their documentary value hold considerable art-historical importance as testimonies to Enlightenment-era visual science. Bound in (Vol. 7): [RICKMAN, John]. Troisième voyage de Cook, ou journal d'une expédition faite dans la mer Pacifique du sud & du nord, en 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779 & 1780. Paris, Berlin, 1782. Second edition of the French translation by J.-N. Démeunier, with one folding frontispiece and one folding map. Rickman's account—initially published anonymously—of Cook's third and final voyage, during which the explorer met his death in Hawaii in 1779, rounds out the collection with the chronological conclusion of Cook's Pacific expeditions. The half-title is lacking in Vol. 2; otherwise a wholly attractive, complete set of this travel work of the European Enlightenment, of equal importance to the history of geography, ethnography, and the natural sciences.

Sachgebiete: Illustrierte Bücher, Ozeanologie, Reisen/Reiseliteratur

30.07.2026 - 17:44

3500,- EUR

Jeschke Jádi Auctions Berlin GmbH

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SHELLEY, G.E.

PRESENTATION COPY OF SHELLEY’S SUN-BIRDS A Monograph of the Nectariniidae, or Family of Sun-Birds. London, published by the author, 1876-1880. 4to (318 x 247mm). With 121 hand-coloured lithographed plates by Keulemans. Later Full Blue Morocco Gilt, Original Wrappers Bound In. PRESENTATION COPY FROM THE AUTHOR TO GERALD WALLER  Inscribed Gerald Waller, from the Author 4/10/80" A very attractive clean copy of one of the most beautifully illustrated works by J.G. Keulemans. "An excellent monograph of an interesting family of birds, with descriptions in Latin and English, critical notes, and discussions of habits, etc., from accounts by many different observers. A total of 138 species of the group arerecognized..."(Zimmer II, 588). "Keulemans paid particular attention to colour and structure of feathering and his ability to transmit clear, accurate impressions of various plumages was held in much esteem. Overall, his skills for accurate representations are attributable to his detailed study of birds. He was a keen naturalist and to judge from the narratives of his observations, a field ornithologist of note. These attributes often stood him in good stead, as when his specialized knowledge of a particular species made it unnecessary for the author to check anatomical authenticity. As Shelley points out in the Preface to his Sun Birds: 'The illustrations, which form such an important portion of my Monograph, have been executed by Mr Keulemans, whose name is sufficient guarantee for the accuracy of the details and for high artistic skill. The latter is rendered perhaps more striking from his being acquainted with this family of birds in their native haunts; and his notes upon the Sun-birds inhabiting Prince Island have been incorporated in my work'" (Keulemans & Coldewey, 'Feathers to Brush. The Victorian bird artist John Gerard Keulemans' p. 42. The feathering is highlighted in places by the application of gum arabic. Without notes for binders slip. Usually missing. Provenance: Gerald Waller, from the Author 4/10/80" Nissen IVB, 873; Zimmer II, 588

Sachgebiete: Naturwissenschaften, Ornithologie, Zoologie

30.07.2026 - 17:43

14600,- EUR

Marshall Rare Books

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NEWTON, Isaac.

Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica. London: Joseph Streater for the Royal Society, 1687. ¶ Quarto (240 × 185 mm), pp. [viii], 510 [= 494, page numbers 384-99 omitted because of a change of compositors], [4] (errata and final blank). Folding engraved plate illustrating a comet, woodcut diagrams in text. Contemporary mottled calf, rebacked preserving original spine and recornered, compartments with ornamental frames and central bouquet motif tooled in gold, panelled and with flower cornerpieces in blind, edges sprinkled red. Occasional light toning and spotting, title a little loose, small hole in 2D4 affecting one word on recto only, printing flaw in 2S4 affecting text on five lines on recto and four and verso, small paper flaw in 3M3; a very good copy. ¶ First edition, first issue, of the crowning work of the Scientific Revolution. The Principia represents the first great unification of modern science, presenting Newton's three laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. Where Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler had described the phenomena they observed, Newton explained the underlying laws of motion governing the universe. The Principia marked the first time that a single mathematical framework could explain the motion of objects both on earth and in the heavens. “It was this grand conception that produced a general revolution in human thought, equalled perhaps only by that following Darwin’s Origin of Species” (PMM). The work brought together several of the leading figures of the Scientific Revolution. Prompted by Newton's dispute with Robert Hooke over the inverse-square law, it was financed and edited by the future Astronomer Royal, Edmond Halley, and drew on the observations and advice of the contemporary Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed. In their 2020 census of first edition copies, Mordechai Feingold and Andrej Svorenčík suggest a print run of 600-650 copies. Printing was completed by 5 July 1687, by which date Halley had already sent Newton 20 copies for himself and a further 40 "to put into the hands" of Cambridge booksellers. Halley later granted Samuel Smith exclusive distribution rights on the Continent, leading Smith to issue a new title page with a three-line imprint and his name added to it. Feingold and Svorenčík estimate that copies with the three-line imprint constitute about one-third of the edition. This copy has leaf P4 in the cancelled state, produced to correct the orientation of the woodcut diagram on page 112. ¶ Provenance: early manuscript shelf mark and note on front pastedown, possibly that of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford (1680-1711), his armorial bookplate dated 1703 on title page verso - Edward Neville da Costa Andrade, FRS (1887-1971), British physicist, his bookplate - sold at Andrade’s sale, Sotheby’s, 12 July 1965, lot 371 to - anonymous owner - sold at Sotheby’s, 18 October 1977, lot 300, to Blackwell. A distinguished scientist, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1935, Edward Andrade was also a notable book collector, assembling a collection centred on the 17th century, particularly the works of Newton, Hooke, and Boyle. An active member of the Royal Society's Library Committee for many years, he played an important role in its publication of the correspondence of Isaac Newton. His biography of Newton appeared in 1954. ¶ Babson, pp. 9-10; Dibner 11; ESTC R5707; Gray 6; Grolier/Horblit 78; Grolier Science 78; Norman 1586; Osler 1024; Printing and the Mind of Man 161; Sparrow 151; Todd E1; Waller 12159; Wing N1048. Mordechai Feingold & Andrej Svorenčík, "A Preliminary Census of Copies of the First Edition of Newton's Principia (1687)", Annals of Science 77, 2020, no. 334.

Sachgebiete: Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Mathematik, Naturwissenschaften, Physik

30.07.2026 - 17:29

1200000,- EUR

Peter Harrington