1840-1845]. Three volumes, large 4to; I. pp. 648, with 39 engraved plates, several folding; II. pp. viii, 672, with 55 engraved plates, several folding; III. pp. viii, 672, with 66 engraved plates, several folding; in all 160 plates; according to the three plates lists all present, though not all bound in the correct volume, and with a number of additional plates not called for; many of the plates somewhat foxed and browned, with some irregular creasing due to folding errors, one or two of the larger folding plates with tears at the gutter, the majority not impacting the image, though more prominent to plates at Vol I. p. 252, p. 278, p. 626 (with old repair), Vol II. p. 200 (marginal tear touching image); small ‘burn holes’ affecting upper margin Vol I. pp. 621-626, small paper flaw in Vol. II p. 641; overall very good; in contemporary half calf over marbled boards, spines and joints neatly repaired retaining the original spine, lettered and tooled in gilt, some light wear to extremities; a good copy. First edition, all published, of this extensively illustrated and comprehensive scientific periodical, the brain-child of James Ainsworth in Manchester, born out of the burgeoning mechanics institute movement. This encyclopaedic periodical seems to have been first published by Ainsworth, and printed by Mackenzie in Glasgow, in around 1840-1841, although the exact date of issue appears uncertain.
According to the preface of Volume I, the journal was a subscription publication, though we have been unable to establish how frequently the parts were issued. It was published in response to what they believed to be ‘a want of some useful work, affording - at a cheap rate, and in such portions as may be easily perused by those whose time is chiefly occupied in providing for the wants of the day - the means of acquiring all that knowledge which will assist them to perform well the various duties of life’. A further paragraph in the main text preface shines light upon their intentions: ‘The general way in which the working classes attain scientific knowledge is, by attending Mechanics’ Institutions. The benefits of such institutions cannot be too highly extolled; but the experience of every student must teach him, that something more than the fleeting words of the lecturer is necessary to make his studies satisfactory. Reading and investigation are necessary; and although our libraries afford an easy access to books, those books cannot be retained long enough to afford time to digest their contents. The next resource is to purchase books; but the high price of scientific works places them beyond the reach of working men. There is, therefore, a great desideratum, which it is the purpose of the Imperial Journal to supply. Each illustrated essay on Science will be a lecture - the whole work a Mechanics’ Institute’ (Vol I. p. iii).
We have previously handled copies of the particularly striking phrenological chart which is found in Vol. II. Bearing in mind that the work was published in parts, and may well have been used lecturers for the Mechanical Institute, this does perhaps, go some way to explaining why some of the more popular plates are therefore found separately, sometimes laid down onto linen to allow for wall-hanging. As interesting example of readership and the adaptation of such works.

1794. Folio, pp. [8]; with woodcut ornament on title-page; lightly soiled, with old accession number in upper margin, and faint signs of signature at tail though seemingly bleached out, otherwise clean and fresh; uncut, unbound and unstitched as issued. The fear of being buried alive is arguably one of humanity’s greatest anxieties, with terrifying accounts of wrongful burial recorded throughout the centuries. Towards the end of the 18th century, however, a corpus of literature emerged on the resuscitation of the apparent dead, ‘a matter of particular importance at the end of a century in which the fear of being buried alive was an overriding concern’ (Lesky, The Vienna Medical School of the 19th century, p. 88). ‘Special lectures on the subject had been instituted in Prague since 1779 and a rescue society as well as a special rescue house had existed there since 1797’ (ibid).
The present Royal decree issued by the Prussian Health authorities in Berlin provides instructions for rural village preachers in particular, so that they, in turn, could instruct members of their congregation about the signs of actual death, ‘so that no living person is buried’. In the absence of city physicians, certification of the dead was the duty of the clergy. Eight signs of death are listed, ranging from the lack of a pulse and not breathing to being ice cold, with advice then given on how to determine these (for example placing a flame in front of the nose of mouth to check for signs of breathe). Other suggestions include tickling the throat with a feather, burning a feather or ammonia under the nose, or placing a burning candle in front of the eyes to check for eye movement, and in the case of apparently stillborn children, vigourous rubbing and blowing air into the lungs. Other techniques such as blood-letting, galvanic impulses, the application of cold and hot compresses to the heart, and the use of tobacco smoke are also mentioned. It suggests that too, no deceased person, even if signs of death are observed, should be laid out naked in a cold room, but should be left clothed in moderately warm air, for at least one or two days in summer, spring and autumn, and three to four days in winter. The instructions also describes the signs of putrifaction, the various conditions that might lead to death, and provides advice on how best to store corpses whilst awaiting burial in different seasons.
Footnotes at the end reveal that the authorities have drawn upon Hufeland’s work of 1791, Über die Ungewißbeit des Todes as well as Mayer’s treatise Abhandlung von den zeichen des wirtlich ersolgren todes und von der zur verhütung des lebendig-begrabens notingen vorsicht bey behandlung der leichen, published in Berlin in the same year. This dealt in particular with the setting up of temporary mortuary tents and coffin design for use in rural areas, and for those areas too far from the public mortuaries recently built in cities such as Weimar, Brauschweig and Berlin.

1900.]. Transformational lotto games, comprised of six chromolithograph cards each with framed with gold braid (slightly varying in size but approx. 225 x 125 mm each), three cards from two separate lotto games but on the same theme, each depicting a child with 10 numbers around its edge, together with accompany sets of 10 chromolithograph transformational cards (approx. 45 x 60 mm), noting the arithmetical operation to be performed (addition, subtraction, division and multiplication); some light signs of use and wear, larger chromolithographs mounted on later card, with the smaller counters seemingly the original card; lacking original instructional sheets, and without cloth bag; the two games housed within a later 20th century box, (250 x 330 x 25 mm) with mounted chromolithograph sheet bearing three of the figures from ‘Le Bal masqué des enfants’, also edged with gilt braid, inner lid with stamp of Parisian bookseller; an appealing set. A later made up box combining two appealing transformational lotto/bingo games which aimed, in addition to entertaining children, to introduce them to arithmetic and the four common operations of calculation.
This ‘set’ includes three cards from ‘La lessive de mes poupées’ or ‘My Dolls' Laundry’, in which the child must wash the dirty dolls and get them back into a clean state. The large cards depict the dirty dolls, and contain the answers to the arithmetical problems which are posed on the accompanying set of smaller cards. According to a set of the instructions found online, we appear to have Caspar and Lise who are covered and stained in ink, and little greedy Frédéric who has covered himself in chocolate. Not present are Pierre and Lise with dishevelled hair, and Trine - another lover of chocolate! The smaller cards would be placed into a small cloth ‘laundry bag’ (not present), each child taking it in turn to draw a card. The winner is the first person to correctly place the answers on the larger card, making his or her doll ‘clean’.
The other three cards come from ‘Le Bal masquè des enfants’, and which is based on the same principle. Three children (here two girls and a boy) are heading to a ball, and to reveal their disguise, the arithmetical problems must be answered. Thus a young girl is transformed into a beautiful gardener, another becomes Little Red Riding Hood, and a young boy turns into a chimney sweep. The three other cards not found here apparently transformed into Prince Charming, and Pierrot and Pierrette.
Clearly produced by the same publisher, the site jeuxanciensdecollection.com suggest perhaps Saussine. They point too, to the possible German origin. Though not present here, the character Pierre in ‘La lessive de mes poupées’ bears a striking resemblance to Hoffmann’s Struwwelpeter, as does ink stained Lise, with her long fingernails. Complete sets appear rare, and the present made up set is nevertheless both attractive and playable.

1774. 12mo, pp. [iv], hand-coloured coat of arms, and title, 592; with four further attractive hand-coloured ‘coats of arms’ adorning sectional titles at pp. 233, 245, 263, & 413; penned in a neat legible single hand in brown ink; some occasional minor spotting and soiling, but otherwise clean and bright; in contemporary full marbled calf, spine in compartments with raised bands, attractively tooled in gilt, with red morocco label lettered in gilt (slightly chipped), all edges gilt, head of spine chipped and worn exposing headband, joints a little rubbed, some minor surface wear, extremities rubbed, corners somewhat worn and bumped; with the engraved book-plate of the Lille pharmacist Edmond Leclair on front paste-down; an appealing survivor. An attractive and beautifully penned late eighteenth century manuscript transcribing an early, perhaps indeed the inaugural, surgical course given by Philippe Joseph Arnould (1740-1790) at the Royal College of Surgery in Lille in 1774. The course notes have been neatly compiled by Jean-Baptiste-Ignace Joseph Quittez, son of the Lille Master Surgeon François-Joseph Quittez, and who has signed his initials on the final leaf. He was himself to become a master surgeon and Professor of Osteology at the Lille school.
This attractive manuscript is divided into five parts: ‘De la physiologie’ (pp. 1-231); ‘Hygiène’ (pp. 233-243); ‘Pathologie’ (pp. 245-262); ‘Thérapeutique’ (pp. 263-412); ‘Des maladies en particulier’ (pp. 213-586); and concluding with a detailed index (pp. 587-592).
By a declaration of June 1772, Louis XV transformed the guild of surgeons of Lille into a college and ordered the establishment of a school of surgery, which opened in May 1773. Thus we find an attractive hand-coloured rendition of the Arms of the House of France at the start of the volume, below which are penned the words "By order of the King. 1774." The second, third, fourth, and final sections are each further attractively adorned with painted coats of arms: royal arms (p. 233); arms of Lille (p. 245); royal arms supported by two angels (p. 263); and arms of the surgeons supported by two angels (p. 413). As such the present manuscript provides an invaluable insight into the curriculum of the day at the newly established Royal College
Provenance: The manuscript was once in the possession of the the pharmacist and medical historian Edmond Leclair, who cites it in his ‘Histoire de la chirurgie à Lille’, vol. II, p. 302 giving the following note about Arnould (here in translation):
‘Born in Lille on August 23, 1740, admitted as a surgeon on January 31, 1765, married Geneviève Jesupret, a native of Saint-Amand, in Lille (La Madeleine) on October 12, 1773. A consulting surgeon at the Comtesse Hospital and the Saint-Sauveur Hospital, he was Master of the Corps from 1768 to 1770, Assistant Professor in 1773, and Full Professor in 1775. He appears as "absent" on the lists of 1792. Our collection includes the lectures dictated by Arnould to his students in 1774 and 1775, which were compiled by his student J. B. J. J. Quittez’.

1970. Small oblong 8vo, pp. [3]-94, with colour illustrations throughout; internally clean and bright; in the original red pictorial publisher’s cloth, with unclipped dust-jacket priced at 6s net, spine a little sunned small nick at head of spine, with light creasing and minor wear; pp. 91, [1] blank, with vibrant colour illustrations throughout; internally clean and bright aside from some minor foxing; in the original yellow pictorial publisher’s cloth, spine a little bumped and soiled, with unclipped dust-jacket priced 5s. 6d, minor wear to head and tail of spine and margins, with some soiling, but good; pp. 93 (final page mounted on inside rear cover), with colour illustrations throughout; in the original pink pictorial publisher’s cloth, head and tail of spine and corners with minor wear, with unclipped dust-jacket priced ‘35 p net/7s net’, jacket spine sunned, with some light creasing to margins and light wear to extremities. Offered together three charming ‘alphabetical stories’ for children (in first edition, and then two later editions), and part of the famous ‘Ant and Bee’ series written to teach children not only the alphabet, but numbers, shapes, colours, countries of the world etc. The idea of Angela Banner (1923-2014), the stories centre around good friends Ant (the more adventurous of the duo), and Bee (the more practical and sensible of the pair). The series comprised of thirteen volumes, with the first work published in 1950, and all were to go through several editions. Intended to be read together with a parent, the young reader is encouraged to read out the larger words in red, whilst the parent reads the story printed in black.

1840. 8vo sheet (130 x 215mm), printed on grey card (verso off-white), with letterpress and three wood engraved illustrations; two folds, wallet-style with one panel forming a flap; very clean and crisp; wallet style construction apparently stiffened with printer’s waste, with some show through. A charming battledore published by the Kettering printer Joseph Toller. "The battledore was an offshoot of the hornbook, and was printed... for the double purpose it had to serve. In school it was used for teaching children the alphabet, whilst out of school it served as the battledore in the game of shuttlecock and battledore" (Rosenbach). 
Apparently four issues of Toller’s Kettering ‘New Royal Battledore’ are known, with different illustrations. Here we have one of a girl spinning next to a cottage, and a marine guardian angel with cupid on a raft. The final wood engraving is of Old Mother Hubbard and her cat, and z zebra on the flat.
The other one with a different illustration on a person spining, an elaborate courtroom battle scene, again Old Mother Hupbbard with a cat and a dog, and a zebra on the flap. 

1819.]. 12mo, pp. 116; with woodcut frontispiece, woodcut title-page vignette, and 34 small wood engraved portraits; without front free endpaper; title-page with some offsetting from frontispiece, a little browned throughout due to paper quality, with some marginal soiling and foxing in places, some insignificant nicking to upper margin of p. 53, with some creasing in places; contemporary red morocco backed marbled boards, spine ruled in gilt, head of spine nicked with small loss, spine sunned with some ink staining at tail, joints rubbed, covers with some surface abrasions, extremities bumped and lightly worn; with contemporary(?) ownership signature of ‘Edward Lawrence, Marsh House, Thatcham, Berks’ on front paste-down; despite slight wear still an appealing copy. Scarce first edition of this attractive historical work for children, including 34 circular woodcut portraits of Scottish monarchs, and the work of Alexander Bower (fl. 1804-1830), one time teacher and then assistant-librarian at the University of Edinburgh. In his brief preface Bower notes that he has consulted ‘the best authorities on the subject, viz. Fordoun, Boethius, Buchanan, Leslie, Pinkerton, Lord Hailes, Robertson, Laing, &c. The transactions of a more recent date are taken from the most authentic sources; and nothing is advanced of the truth of which the young reader can have any doubt, if credit can be given to the early history of any nation’. Bower begins with the reign of Fergus I and concludes with the death of Anne in 1714. Barely a paragraph is given over to the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745, and Bower concludes by saying ‘During the reign of his present majesty, George III., very little can be mentioned in regard to Scotland which does not equally apply to the other parts of the British dominions. In every public question the Scots take a similar interest with their other fellow subjects; and in the late arduous contest in particular, have distinguished themselves by their loyalty and zeal for the prosperity of the public service’ (p. 111).
Bower published a similar abridged history of Ireland for children in 1819, and it is commonly assumed that the present work was published in the same year. He is also remembered for his ‘Account of the Life of James Beattie’ (1804), ‘Life of Luther’ (1813), a three volume ‘History of the University of Edinburgh’ (1817-1830) and ‘The Edinburgh Student’s guide’ (1824).

ca. 1862. Three parts in one volume, continuously paginated, 12mo; pp. 32, with 16 small wood-engraved illustrations; pp. [ii] part title, 33 - 62, with 12 small wood engravings numbered 17 - 32; pp. [ii] part title, 63 - 90, with 10 wood engravings numbered 33 - 42; lightly foxed throughout, with very small dink affecting upper margins at gutter; rebound in modern green boards. Uncommon later edition of this appealing educational work on human biology and physiology for children. According to COPAC, the date of the first edition appears uncertain, though we believe that it was first originally published anonymously in 1850 under the variant title Every-day wonders; or, facts in physiology which all should know, one of a number of works written anonymously by Anne Bullar (1813-1856) and published by John van Voorst. An 1858 publisher’s advertisement for Voorst ascribes this to be from her pen, together with Domestic Scenes in Greenland and Iceland (1844), England before the Norman Conquest (1851), and Sunday Book for the Young (1855) - none of which are ascribed to her by COPAC.
This presumed later edition, is now fully ascribed to her. It is our understanding that it was originally issued in three separate parts, each in their own printed wrappers, and issued under the banner of the ‘Ladies Sanitary Association’ as part of their series of popular tracts on health. At some point it appears to have been bound together by a previous owner, and then more recently bound in modern boards. The three parts deal in turn with: 1. Breathing, blood, digestion, food, and nerves; 2. Bones, the muscles, and skin; and 3. The teeth, the eye, the ear, feeling, tasting, smelling.

1850. Folio, bound manuscript in a single calligraphic hand in a variety of colours; pp. [iv] half-title with calligraphic flourish and title-page penned in landscape and elaborately hand-coloured, 1-190, 191 part title ‘Actes Divers’ elaborately and colourfully penned in landscape, 192 blank, 193-252, 253 part title ‘Procès verbaux’ elaborately and colourfully penned in landscape, 254 blank, 255-290, 291 part title ‘Actes Civils’ elaborately and colourfully penned in landscape, 292-323, 324 blank, [4] blank; with a number of small neat line illustrations and diagrams; text in a single hand predominantly in brown ink, ornately embellished with colourful calligraphic headlines and flourishes in light green, golden yellow, various shades of blue, pink, red, orange, purple and brown; some light marginal browning and foxing throughout, with some ink bleed through due to liberal application, half title slightly creased; retaining remains of original pink silk page marker; in contemporary calf backed green marbled boards, spine lightly scuffed and rubbed, covers a little scratched, extremities lightly rubbed; a most attractive example. A most attractively executed calligraphy exercise book, the work of Eugène Chênè (born we are told in Campeaux in 1836), and a student of M. Deschamps, a teacher in Campeaux, the French commune located in the department of Calvados. The striking title-page sets the tone, Eugène elegantly and colourfully penning the title in landscape, and employing a number of calligraphic styles for the lettering. We believe his instructor to be a M. Pierre Deschamps, who between 1846-1865 taught in five towns in Calvados, though according to the biographical record for his son Leon (1849-1927), was forced to leave his post in Champeaux in 1850 having fallen foul of the Catholic authorities in the area.
This extensive manuscript is divided into various sections dealing in turn with the general principles of arithmetic (covering addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, fractions, simple and compound interest etc.); geometry, a section highlighting miscellaneous legal documents (receipts, leases etc.); a section of templates or ‘procés verbal’ on filing minutes or reports; and concluding with a section on civil acts (registering births, marriages, deaths etc.). It would appear that Pierre Deschamps was also acting as an agent for an insurance company, and this may explain his focus upon legal and business matters. From the subject matter of some of the sample templates included, one would imagine that the 14 year old Chênè was being prepared for a legal apprenticeship perhaps, some of the ‘procés verbal’ dealing with how to record the statement of an individual caught ‘en flagrant de lit’, a statement recording a disgrace, and how to report an accident involving a carrier. A most appealing and striking example.

1901. 8vo, pp. xvi. 727, [1] blank, [4] advertisements; with a number of engravings and diagrams within the text; lightly browned throughout, with some occasional soiling and staining; one or two contemporary pencil calculations within margins; final advertisement leaf soiled and creased, and with tear at upper margin of final free endpaper with small loss; in the original publisher’s cloth, ruled and lettered in gilt, inner hinges split but holding, small nick at head of spine, spine a little sunned and creased, covers lightly soiled and scuffed, extremities bumped and worn; a sound copy. Uncommon second edition (first 1896) of this detailed and extensive text book, one of a series of works issued by James Cusack, and providing an insight into the provision of mathematical education at the turn of the century.
‘The present work is not intended as a first book on Arithmetic; it is intended for students already acquainted with methods, but who look for a rational explanation of those methods, and of the principles underlying them... Throughout the work I have kept constantly before me the needs of the large number of young students scattered over the rural districts, who have little or no opportunity for receiving oral instruction in this important subject. Should any such student find any of my explanations insufficient, on receipt of a letter to that effect I shall be pleased to send whatever further explanation may be necessary’ (preface).
S. Blows in his 1890 ‘Cusack’s Principles of Logic, prepared expressly to meet the requirements of the syllabus for certificate students’ (second edition), describes Cusack as a London Professor, and we believe that for some time he ran a private school in the city. Indeed the preface is signed by Cusack at ‘Day Training College, Moorfields, London, E.C.’ He produced a series of textbooks, all published by the City of London Book Depot, together with a number of boxed education kits, to be used in conjunction with the accompanying text-book. He appears to have worked in collaboration with not only S. Blows, but with Henry Armstrong, who penned ‘Cusack’s Solid Geometry’, which was to be used alongside his ‘Geometrikon’ boxed set.
Other sets were produced to aid the teaching of drawing and shading models, with OCLC locating later 20th century publications on topics such as double-entry bookkeeping, (1911) and ‘the arithmetic of the decimal system’ (1920).

1873.]. Set of ten large, thick card tablets, 480 x 320 x 5mm; each with mounted printed sheet, with engraved vignette either at head or centrally, sheets all a little browned with some staining, soiling and scuffing or creasing in places, plain blue paper on verso, boards 1- 7 with the original green mottled paper edging (somewhat chipped and worn), boards 8 & 9 with later green cloth edging, and final board with no edging remaining and exposing the inner board; though extremities all somewhat rubbed, worn and a little dog-eared, otherwise a striking and rare survivor of an ephemeral teaching aid. A scarce set of this series of ten printed teaching aids introducing children to the basic principles of the ‘Abécdaire français’, through a series of engraved images with accompanying moralistic printed text or verse. A private semi-religious Catholic educational establishment established by Adeline Désir (1819-1875) in 1853, the school welcomed girls from the Parisian upper middle class. It aimed to produce ‘cultured women’, with a focus upon religious education, and the arts, although Désir placed importance upon the role of science in their education. The school took in full-and half boards, as well as some day pupils, from primary stage through to the baccalaureate, and also included a school for the training of women teachers. As the famous alumnus, Simone de Beauvoir, recounted in her Memoirs of a Young Girl, the school took care to distinguish itself from similar secular establishments, with the young girls enlisted into a ‘Eucharistic crusade’ as soon as they arrived. The number of hours of teaching a week did not exceed 12, and annual retreats were an important part of the school calendar. Students of the school were instantly recognisable by the manner of their bow: ‘un coup de pied droit en arrière avec un léger fléchissement de la jambe gauche’.
The themes of the ten wall charts include the nativity, the farm, ‘Creator God’, a nest, the tale of the ‘Good little Marie’, ‘the two Ceciles’, the good brother, and the Innocent Saints, together with the remaining two boards giving an overview of the linguistic principles so far introduced.

[1761]. Two volumes, 8vo; pp. xliv, 515; [iv], 560; with attractive woodcut title-page vignettes, woodcut arms and headpieces; faint dampstain affecting upper gutter of final few leaves of Vol. I, and also lower margins of ff. 451 to the end of Vol. II (though very faint), both volumes a little browned with occasional light spotting and soiling, though generally clean and crisp, in contemporary full speckled calf, spine in compartments with raised bands, ruled and decorated in gilt with red and green morocco labels, all edges marbled, retaining green silk markers, small nick with loss at head of spine and upper joint of Vol. I, small nick to tail, and to upper cover of Vol. II, with further light surface wear and to extremities and corners; a good copy. An uncommon introduction to science aimed at a female audience. Written in the form of a dialogue with an anonymous Comtesse, the work is modelled on those of Fontenelle and Algarotti, though according to the dedication to the Comtesse de Rochechouart, the present treatise offers a more complete course of physics than either previous work. The dedication also includes an interesting discussion on the education of women, contributing to the ongoing debate surrounding the role of women in society.
Prompted by the reappearance of Halley's comet in 1758, the countess is keen to understand the phenomena, but resents the fact that savants spend so little time on female education, and feels that most men want to limit their knowledge to 'feeble notions of geography, mythology and history'. Having emphasised that science is as much a practical study as a theoretical one, Devillers agrees to embark upon a course of instruction which he divides into 18 days, and deals with subjects such as pneumatics, hydrostatics and hydraulics, electricity (II, 1-65 with a section on medical electricity), gravity, the laws of motion, optics and the telescope and astronomy (days 16-18, II, 377-557).
Devillers moved to Lyons early in his career, and began lecturing on physics, later taking a room in the town hall to present his lecture series. He was elected a member of the Academy of Lyons, and was noted for his fine collection of instruments, or 'cabinet de physique'.

1800. 12mo, pp. xii, 154; with folding engraved frontispiece map of the world, a folding plate of the spheres, and two further engraved plates of ‘Geographical terms and figures exemplified’; lacking the front free endpaper; some occasional light soiling, upper margin of frontispiece with faint stain, otherwise clean and bright; with a few neat pencil markings throughout; with the signature of ‘A. W. Wells’ on front pastedown, and of ‘Parker’ on rear pastedown; a most appealing unsophisticated copy in the original full sheep, ruled in blind, spine in compartments with raised bands, some loss of spine at head and tail, and upper joint cracked but holding firm, extremities a little rubbed; with the name ‘Parker’ stamped in black vertically on upper cover. A scarce provincial printing and charming unsophisticated copy of this popular geographical work by the noted historian Abbé Pierre Nicolas Lenglet du Fresnoy (1674-1755), originally published in 1736 as Géographie des enfans. The first English edition appeared in the following year. One of the earliest geography text-books aimed specifically at young children, the work comprises a series of sixty-six lessons, organised by country and area, and adopts the question and answer format to help instil into young minds. Thus they are given the key facts about major cities, rivers, population and systems of government. The final lessons introduce the reader to the use of the terrestrial globe, and concluding with a table of longitude and latitude. By studying for an hour a day, ‘all this knowledge may be acquired in less time than three months’ (p. x).
Not only aimed at children, however, as the preface notes: ‘This outline may likewise be useful even to those of riper years, for there are many, who, though they have had a good general education, are ignorant even of the first rudiments of this science... Young ladies, in two months time, may be instructed in the rudiments of Geography, and be able to give a pertinent answer to a question, that they would blush if they were unable to resolve’ (p.iv-v). The work proved to be extremely popular and enduring, as the present ‘twenty-second’ edition and Shrewsbury imprint suggests.
The author of several works, Du Fresnoy published his more extensive Methode pour etudier la geographie in 1716, the 1736 work presumably being an abridgement based upon that work.

1875-1876. Bound lined paper notebook, 4to; pp. [2] tipped in printed sheet ‘Instruction sur la tenue des cahiers de notes et des cahiers de problèmes’, 42, [2], 43 - 249, [250- 256 blank], folding table mounted on p. 66; [2] tipped in printed sheet ‘Instruction sur la tenue des cahiers de notes et des cahiers de problèmes’, 257 - 323, 225 (pagination error) - 400, (leaf excised at p. 349 due to correction with no interruption of meaning), 341 (pagination error) - 345, [1] blank, [2] tipped in leaf ‘Instruction sur la tenue des cahiers de notes et des cahiers de problèmes’, 347 - 490, (p. 457 glued together), [491-495, blank], [96] blank; penned in a single neat hand with numerous pen and ink diagrams and illustrations, often found on verso facing page; some occasional foxing and soiling, but otherwise good; in contemporary sheep backed marbled boards, spine ruled in gilt, with two black morocco labels lettered in gilt, with the initials ‘V.G.’ in gilt at tail, and additional gilt volume number, tail of spine slightly nicked, some light scuffing to spine and covers, extremities a little bumped and worn, book-block a little shaken, but otherwise good. Extensive and neatly transcribed lecture notes for the course on general physics taught by Professor Daniel at the École Centrale des Arts et manufactures, also known as the École Centrale de Paris, between November 1875 and June 1876, providing an insight into the curriculum of such courses, and the standards required. According to Guillet in ‘Cent ans de la vie de l'École Centrale des Arts et manufactures, 1829-1929’, Daniel was Chair of Physics from 1861-1881. This neat manuscript contains the entire course, and is composed of 25 lectures on heat, 21 on electricity, three on acoustics, and 11 lessons on optics. This course is very similar in structure to Daniel’s 1880 course described by Guillet, with a few variations. The notes have been richly illustrated with careful diagrams and explanatory drawings.
The initials ‘V.G.’ are found on the spine of the volume, the signature ‘M. Gueldry’ can be found at the end of a number of sections, alongside the initials ‘S.M.’ This could perhaps have been another professor, or perhaps the leading student of the class. Previously handled technical drawing albums or ‘epures’ exhibit similar ‘sign offs’ as sections were completed successfully.

1834-1835. Two parts in one volume, large 4to; pp. 508; pp. 404; without title-page as often found; in lithograph throughout reproducing the original manuscript notes with numerous accompanying hand-drawn illustrations throughout both volumes; first volume affected by some prominent coffee(?) or ink staining affecting a number of leaves in the first half of the work, in particular pp. 13-38, 47-63, 113-120, 137-157, 217-227, and with small paper flaw p. 181; fainter stain affecting upper margins of pp. 183-247 in Vol. II; text otherwise generally fresh; with faint pencil signature at head of p. 169 ‘M. Costay’; in an attractive signed binding by ‘Hirou’ in contemporary green morocco backed boards, spine ruled, lettered and decorated in gilt, retaining the original green silk marker, head and tail of spine and joints a little rubbed, covers a little scuffed, corners rather bumped; a good copy. An extensive and rare example of the early 19th century genre of academic course notes printed in lithograph throughout, reproducing the original manuscript and including accompanying hand-drawn illustrations. As revealed by the tooling on the spine, the present notes relate to a course given by the noted engineer and mathematician Gabriel Lamé (1795-1870), who was at the time Chair of Physics at the École Polytechnique. Lamé had accepted the position in 1832, having previously spent a number of years in St Petersburg, after accepting a position at the Institut et Corps du Genie des Voies de Communications as Professor of engineering at the request of Alexander I. There he had lectured on analysis, physics, mechanics, chemistry and engineering topics. Upon his return he remained active as an engineer, and subsequently accepted a post at the Sorbonne as Chair of mathematical physics and probability.
The Ecole Polytechnique was founded in 1794 under the name École Centrale des Travaux Publics, being renamed in the following year. Its mission was to provide its students with a well-rounded scientific education, with a strong emphasis in mathematics, physics and chemistry, and to prepare them upon graduation to enter the national institutes of public works, such as the École d’Application de l’Artillerie et du Génie (School of Artillery and Engineering Applications), École des Mines, and École nationale des ponts et chausses (National School of Bridges and Roadways).
The present volume is divided into two years of study, with topics including the general properties of materials, heat, the conductibility of bodies, latent heats, the laws on the cooling of bodies, molecular attraction, the action of capillaries, on electricity, galvanism, on light, refraction, vision, optical instrumentation, and concluding with a section on acoustics. Lamé went on to publish a printed two volume textbook in 1840, ‘Cours de Physique de l’École Polytechnique’, which whilst drawing upon these course notes, was a substantially revised and new work.
As revealed at the tail of the first page of the second part, the publication was produced by Joseph Auguste Clouet, who was the official lithographer for the École Centrale des Arts et manufactures, also known as the École Centrale de Paris, producing a number of ‘autographed’ course notes for that institution, clearly undertaking similar work for the other leading Parisian scientific Institutions.

1940. Together six large varnished, linen-backed hanging wall charts: I. 767 x 498mm. II. 740 x 498mm. III. 768 x 495mm. IV. 740 x 495mm. V. 768 x 510mm. VI. 765 x 510mm; each retaining the metal hanging bar and metal tail rods, though only two with hanging hook; electric washer with small tears at head and crude tape repair at tail, fridge poster with small tear with loss at left margin, refridgerator unit post with small splits at head and small nick to right hand margin, electric cooker with 9cm tear upper right hand margin touching text but without loss; all six browned and somewhat foxed and spotted, with some marginal fraying and wear in places; overall considering their ephemeral nature, good. Six vibrant and striking educational wall-charts, showing the inner electrical workings of common domestic appliances, from the early days of the Electrical Association for Women. Founded in 1924 by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) to promote training and jobs for women in the field of electrical engineering, it was led by the noted engineer Caroline Haslett (1895-1957). Originally based in the Kensington & Knightsbridge Electric Lighting Co., the headquarters moved to Regent Street in 1933, before eventually moving in 1955 to 25 Foubert Street, just off Carnaby Street, where they remained until the Association closed in 1986. Demonstration rooms and kitchens were integral parts of every location, and the association also employed lecturers and demonstrators to travel to schools and W.I groups around the country. Wall charts such as these were no doubt used both at the Association’s own demonstration kitchens, but were designed to be portable, and could be used by E.A.W. lecturers and demonstrators. John Snell in his introduction to the 1936 edition of the ‘Electrical Handbook’ talks about the Association’s collaboration with the Federation of Women’s Institute. Mrs Florence Key, editor of the Woman Teacher, also praises their use in her review of December 13^th 1940: ‘Three New E.A.W. Charts... These coloured charts are designed to show in a simple manner the construction of an Electric Iron, and Electric Cooker and an Electric Washer and Wringer. They measure 20 inches by 30 inches, are linen backed and varnished and are mounted on rollers. They will be found useful for schools and a great aid to those who wish to understand, or to explain, the working of the electric servants of the home’ (review by Mrs Florence. E. Key, editor of The Woman Teacher, Vol. XXII, No. 5, December 13th, 1940 p. 68).
Although the E.A.W.'s happily collaborated with several leading male authors, and included men within its financial and advisory structure, the group proudly insisted that it was a women's organization in which women addressed other women about women's concerns and well-being. Formed only four years before the 1928 Equality Franchise Act which gave all women over 21 the right to vote, several other prominent figures of WES were involved in the EWA, all of whom had considerable experience and expertise. Many had been involved in W.W.I. war work including munitions and other factories, and their experience of running and managing factories, working on the shop floors, design studios, workshops and engine sheds (particularly in the nascent aeronautics industries) gave them experiences and skills they could never have expected to access in peacetime. Not only hoping to train women in the field, the E.A.W actively focused upon educating the wider female populace about the phenomenon of electricity, at a time when households were moving away from a reliance upon gas in the wake of optimism about the potential of this cheap and abundant source of energy as a technology of social transformation. With the creation of a national grid, by the 1930s electricity was celebrated as a means of making homes cleaner and healthier, by removing the dust and germs which had so dominated public health concerns of the 19^th century. For over half a century, the E.A.W. worked to modernize the British home by bringing the blessings of labour-saving appliances to the aid of British women. It sought to open up career paths for women, although ultimately these tended to be focused upon more ‘genteel’ roles, such as technically trained teachers and demonstrators, rather than returning to the front-line, roles which many of the original E.A.W. members had enjoyed during both wars. It sought to both educate women about electricity and its advantages in the home, whilst also seeking to discover the real needs and desires of the women themselves, and to bring this forcibly to the attention of the electrical industry in Great Britain; to make the 'women's point of view', as it was called, a factor in the production, distribution and application of electricity in the home.
For many years it proved immensely popular and influential. As Carroll Pursell notes ‘the E.A.W. was a part of that inter-war call to women to come 'back to home and duty', as historian Deidre Beddoe has termed it. It exemplified both the splintering of the women's movement into special interest groups, and a primary focus on the married woman in her home rather than in a job. At the same time, it also reflected notions of companionate marriage and the involvement of men, or at least men's technological advantages, in the care and maintenance of the home.... It may be that, finally, the E.A.W. is best seen as an expression of what Alison Light has called 'conservative modernity': it was a period when women and the home were placed at the centre of British national life, as well as a time which marked 'for many women their entry into modernity, a modernity which was felt and lived in the most interior and private of places'. (Domesticating Modernity, p. 48).
‘Was it feminist, as was often suggested, or really retrogressive, since it tended to accept the position of women in society as home-maker?’, is the question posed, however, by Gavin Weightman, (Children of the Light, How Electrification Changed Britain Forever, 2011 p. 165). By the 1970s, the world was a very different place, and the Association began to struggle, failing to attract and retain young members, combined with a loss of older members and branches. By 1977 it had ‘suspended its educational programme: demonstrators had been replaced by salespeople; the electricity boards had their own training programmes for staff and no longer recognized the E.A.W. diploma; science, rather than 'domestic' science, teachers now covered electricity in the schools; and schools became generally more resistant to using E.A.W. materials. Nor was the once-popular kitchen facility at headquarters immune from the changing times. When it was suggested that the fact that the front door of the headquarters at 25 Foubert's Place was kept shut might account for a falling off of visitors, the director denied it. It was more likely that the low number of visitors was due, she guessed, to high public transport fares, which kept suburban women at home, and to 'an overwhelming increase in foreign tourists' drawn to the area, presumably, by the modish drama of nearby Carnaby Street. 'In any case', she added, 'the door was closed on the advice of the police for security reasons in the high-risk area where the Headquarters offices are situated'’ (Pursell, p.65). The Association was eventually dissolved in 1986, the victim of large social changes, some of which it had proudly helped to bring about. ‘The Guardian noted that 'its headquarters in the West End of London, a few yards off Carnaby Street, have survived until now as an anachronistic oasis surrounded by the tacky clothing shops and high-tech showrooms. There is very little high-tech', it pointed out, 'at the E.A.W., which has a giant model of an electric plug for teaching women how to connect appliances to the electric supply' (ibid p. 66).

1906. Large 4to, pp. [ii] title-page, 76; with 72 stereoscopic photographs, some with additional hand-colouring, mounted in 18 blue card sleeves; some light browning to text, a few leaves with some marginal dust-soiling visible along fore-edge aligning with tabs on plates; in the original blue publisher's cloth, upper cover and spine lettered in gilt, head and tail of spine a little rubbed and bumped, with further light scuffing and rubbing to covers and extremities, corners lightly bumped; a very good copy. First edition of this striking and unusual atlas, giving a graphically illustrated account of the various types of hernias using stereoscopic photographs. A hernia occurs when an internal part of the body pushes through a weakness in the muscle or surrounding tissue wall. They can occur throughout the body, but most often develop in the area of the body between the chest and hips. The most common type is the inguinal, but other types include femoral, hiatus, incisional and umbilical.
‘Stereoskopbilder zur Lehre von den Hernien is an example of the co-operation between surgeon Eugen Enderlen and anatomist Emil Gasser. It includes photographs of dissected preparations that illustrate the anatomy of hernias. They come from what is known today as the Gasser-Strahl collection in the Anatomical Institute at the Philipps University in Marburg, Germany... Each pair of images is matched with a corresponding description on the opposite page. For purposes of clarity, some of the photographs were enhanced with color. The same color code was used throughout the atlas: red for arteries, blue for veins, and yellow for nerves. When adding color was superfluous, the images were left unchanged. As intended by the authors, the atlas can be viewed using any standard stereoscope. However the naked eye can be trained to perceive the depth of stereoscopic pictures and give the user the illusion of a 3-D image without the use of a stereoscope’ (University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library, online Treasures from the Rare Book Room: Photography and Medical Books, Part 3).

1871 and 1880. Together, two volumes, 8vo and folio portfolio; pp. [ii], 45, [1] blank; with five chromolithograph wall charts mounted on linen, 565 x 715mm, each with two eyelets in upper margin; text volume somewhat browned and spotted, plates also a little foxed and browned, with some staining to verso, but otherwise good; text in contemporary cloth-backed blue marbled boards, with title label mounted on upper cover lettered in ms, with library stamp on upper cover, extremities a little rubbed and worn; wall charts housed within the original drab grey cloth-backed card portfolio, with printed label mounted on upper cover, preserving the original cloth ties, head and tail of spine a little worn, covers lightly scuffed and stained; overall a good copy. Scarce, though mixed set, of the first edition of the text and the second edition of the charts, of this striking example of ‘infographics’, introducing the study of geology and prehistory via a series of large wall-charts, by the German geologist Oskar Friedrich von Fraas (1824-97). As such it provides a fascinating view of contemporary geological theory. Fraas was the geological curator at the natural history museum in Stuttgart, and had been strongly influenced by the success of Louis Figuier’s ‘La terre avant le Déluge’ published in 1863, and which prompted him to publish his own ‘Vor der Sündfluth!’ in 1866.
The second edition of 1880 was expanded from four to five wall charts, the first four depicting the geological profiles and landscapes of the Silurian to Permian period; the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous; the Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene age; and the Pleistocene period. The final plate is a prehistoric chart illustrating the Stone Age.

1785-90.]. Partially hand-coloured engraved map mounted on wood and backed with plain paper and then dissected, cut loosely into 53 pieces in the shape of the coastline of England and Wales, approximately 46 x 52 cms, a little browned and dust-soiled, with some spotting in places, pieces interlocking though a couple not very close fitting, with possible loss of one tiny lug of an area of sea, otherwise exceptionally fine and complete; pieces housed within the original oak box 18 x 19 x 5cms, with mounted engraved pictorial label on sliding lid (somewhat browned and faded), with the key sheet of a square engraving bearing the imprint of Sayer mounted on the inside of the sliding lid; an extremely scarce survivor. The earliest examples of what we now call jigsaw puzzles were dissected maps, originally intended as educational games to teach geography. Surviving puzzles from this early period are extremely rare, and the present example is a most attractive and so far unrecorded variant.
Hannas records only one example of this dissection (author’s collection), and which appears to be a variant. The date on the box label is 1st Jany. 1786, and the pieces are not interlocking. The dimensions reveal that it was presented as a square, and used a variant issue of Rocque’s map, including a cartouche of a coach and four horses, with two further riders seen visible below the imprint. The Library of Congress appears to hold the same version. It seems almost impossible to determine which dissection precedes the other. As Shefrin highlights, an advertisement from a 1775 Sayer print catalogue, noted that: ‘Any of the foregoing maps may be had dissected on boards, for the use of such as are learners of geography; whereby they may readily learn the situation of every kingdom, state, or division’ (Shefrin p. 20). ‘The wording of the advertisement implies that puzzles could be made up on request from existing sheet maps rather than necessarily being available for sale in the shop already mounted and dissected, and some dissected maps appear to have been sold this way, produced from stray maps on hand’ (ibid). The present example has clearly been deliberately cut close around the coastline. Rocque’s Traveller’s companion map was originally issued in 1760 and went through various states. The copper plate was acquired by Robert Sayer after Rocque’s death, who appears to have made some modifications himself to the cartouche.
John Spilsbury (1739-69) is associated with some of the earliest examples which he produced during the 1760s, and is thus regarded as one of the first commercial producers of puzzles. How successful he might have been is uncertain, as he died at the age of 29 in 1769. By the 1780s a number of other printers had taken up the mantel, with early manufacturers of ‘jigsaws’ including William Darton & Son, John Wallis & Sons, Elizabeth Newbery and Robert Sayer (as here). Throughout the Victorian period the number of puzzle makers increased, with names such as John Betts, Arthur Parks and William Spooner coming to the fore. All manner of subject matters were used, though maps and religious scenes were the most popular, although a number relating to historical subjects were created. The word ‘jigsaw’ wasn't applied to these puzzles until 1909. By the 1810s John Wallis was proclaiming himself their inventor, Spilsbury’s claim having fallen by the wayside.

[n.d. but ca. 1821-1823.]. 8vo, ff. [18] leaves, printed on one side only, with hand-coloured engraved frontispiece and a further 14 hand-coloured engraved illustrations in the text to make a total of 15 not 16 illustrations as stated by title (other editions make a similar error); all slightly crudely coloured; lightly browned and soiled throughout, with some occasional offsetting and bleed through from ink and colour; stitched, as issued, in original publisher's printed pictorial salmon wrappers, spine rubbed and worn with some loss, with 5cm split at tail but still holding firm, wrappers rubbed and dust-soiled, with some surface loss notably at lower rear corner; though a little dog-eared, overall an appealing copy. Uncommon and attractively illustrated late Regency rhyming riddle game for children, and seemingly an early edition with the A.K. Newman & Co. Dean & Munday imprint. A test of both memory and counting, the format is akin to that of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’, and indeed its appear to date back to a similar time. Of the party who intend on playing one is appointed Treasurer who begins the game by passing an item, 'a penknife, pocket-book, or thimble' are among the suggestions to the person sat next to him stating 'Take this', the player responds 'What's this?', to which the Treasurer replies 'A gaping, wide-mouthed, waddling Frog'. The sequence is repeated, a line added to the nonsense verse with each turn. If a player misremembers a part of the increasingly complex rhyme he or she forfeits and must enact a penalty. Suggested penalties include 'Submit to be tickled by the company for five minutes', and 'Spell and pronounce this word twice within ten minutes, without a blunder - Al-di-bo-ron-ti-phos-ky-phor-ni-os-ti-kus'.
As with many similar chapbooks of the time, dating of the first edition seems unclear. As far as we have been able to establish, one of the earliest appearances of the rhyme in print was in Mirth without Mischief. Containing the Twelve Days of Christmas, the play of the Gaping-wide-mouthed waddling frog, love and hatred, the art of talking with fingers, and Nimble-Ned’s alphabet and figures published by Davenport in 1780. It seems likely that, as was in the case of the French inspired Twelve Days of Christmas, that the recited rhyme in various forms was already popular. In 1817 E. and J. Wallis issued The Gaping Wide-mouthed Waddling Frog, adapted to a Game of Forfeits, coloured Plates. The Osborne copy, and which appears to compare to the present copy, is dated to 1822 - from an manuscript inscription. A watermark date can be seen on [f.6] of 1821. A copy which sold at Christies in 2003, and which they suggested was 1822, had a variant title-page correcting the number of embellished engravings from sixteen to 15, as is in fact the case. Interestingly, that copy had ‘just 13 illustrations which are fully paginated’ (Christies, Dr Nigel Temple Collection of Children’s Books, 2003, lot 53).