ca. 1930.]. Vertical folding chromolithograph card playing board, 520 x 220mm folding into four 130 x 220mm, together with accompanying printed rule sheet 210 x 135m, light wear to folding joints of playing board, with some minor scuffing and soiling, text leaf lightly browned with a couple of minor nicks and evidence of previous folds; as often, now without the original box, set of coloured ‘tiddlywink’ counters, & wooden bowl; still an appealing example. A vibrantly coloured ‘grand jeu de la puce’ or game of ‘tiddlywinks’, with accompanying rules, celebrating the first East to West aeronautic crossing of the Atlantic undertaken by Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte flying the ‘Point d’Interrogation’, a Brequet Super Bidon long-ranged aircraft designed specifically for the attempt. The crossing took 37 hours in total, leaving from Le Bourget on September 1st 1930 and arriving at Curtiss Field in New York.
A game for 2, 4 or 6 players, the board is marked with 12 destinations: Toulouse, Casablanca, Dakar, the Ocean, ‘Açores’, ‘Bermudes’, ‘Terre-Neuve’, Halifax, Boston, Washington and New York (numbered 1, 3, 6, 10, 14, 15 and 16). Following a hopscotch style progression, players must land their counter on the chosen destination. Once at Dakar, there is a choice of two routes: one via Newfoundland and Boston, the other via Bermuda and Washington. Any player whose chip lands in the ocean is out of the race. Maximum points could be achieved by taking a direct flight from Paris to New York.
The game was originally presented in a decorative box, and would have come with counters, and a wooden shaker - to be placed in the New York square - the players having to get the counter into the bowl.

-1908.]. Large 8vo, pp. [vi], 503, [1] blank; with frontispiece, double-page map of the North Pole, and 46 illustrations, several full-page; paper a little browned and foxed due to quality; in the original red publisher’s cloth, with bevelled edges, all edges gilt, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, upper cover with mounted chromolithograph label of a polar bear on an ice flow, watching the arrival of an airship, blindstamped and lettered in gilt, with publisher’s monogram in blind on rear cover, head and tail of spine a little bumped, some soiling to spine, upper joint slightly cracked at head, lower joint with small split at tail, extremities lightly bumped; a good copy. First edition, handsomely published, of this romantic adventure story, and the work of the popular writer Emile-Augustin-Cyrpien Driant (1855-1916), writing under his pseudonym of Captain Danrit.
A French balloon, the ‘Patrie’ breaks free from its moorings, after an act of sabotage, setting adrift balloonist officer Lieutenant Georges Durtal, and Christiane de Soignes, whom Durtal had invited onboard. Driven by a storm the balloon reaches Norway, where it is picked up by an American billionaire aboard his yacht, who offers to hire the intrepid pair to help him win a bet to reach the North Pole. Durtel accepts and thus begins an exciting race to the Pole, against the backdrop of ensuring that the airship does not fall into German hands.
Driant drew inspiration from two unsolved mysteries of the day: the disappearance of the Swedish explorer Salomon Andrée’s 1897 expedition across the Arctic, and the 1906 disastrous flight of the French dirigible, the ‘Patrie’ which had disappeared at sea. In the present novel, the airship crash lands on the ice floe, the intrepid pair heading off on foot towards the North Pole. There they discover a Swedish flag, no doubt planted by members of the Andrée expedition, before discovering human remains in a nearby cave.
This tale of derring-do was also serialised in Le Journal des Voyages from October 18, 1908 to May 2, 1909.
Driant joined the military shortly after 1871, and went on to lead a distinguished career. He began writing and publishing in 1889, his military experiences very much forming a backdrop for most of his works. He attention turned fully to writing upon his retirement in 1905, when he began a career as a journalist, and continuing to publish fictional works. When war was declared in 1914, he asked to return to service, and was eventually killed during the battle of Bois des Caures in February 1916.

1821. Together two companion works, small folios; pp. xii, 90 with 5 engraved, partly coloured plates by J. F. Rosenmüller del. and J. F. Schröter, sculp., numbered Tab. I-III 3 with two plates in outline, Tab III misbound; pp. 15, [1] blank, with 4 engraved plates (two in outline and two hand-coloured), numbered IV-V, printed on differing paper stock and somewhat browned; small tear at tail of final leaf of first volume but with no loss, both volumes somewhat browned and foxed, and both text with marginal dampstaining, mainly affecting the fore-edge and tail, more prominent in the second work, though never touching either text and not affecting plates; contemporary half calf over brown marbled boards, retaining original silk marker, spine tooled in gilt with green morocco label, head and tail of spine nicked and worn with slight loss, joints rubbed and scuffed, with some white paint(?) staining touching label, covers scuffed, extremities bumped and corners bumped and worn; with book-plate on front paste-down, name partially obscured, but that of Cornelius Henricus À Roy, Doctor of Medicine (1750-1833). Rare first edition, complete in two parts and published over four years, of this finely illustrated treatise on the spinal nerves, which carry motor, sensory, and autonomic signals between the spinal cord and the body. In this early and little known work by the Prosector of Leipzig University, August Carl Bock (1782 - 1833), the noted German anatomist illustrates his work with striking copper engraved plates, some of which are hand-coloured in red to highlight the arteries. The plates are the work of the renowned Leipzig engraver J. F. Schröter, and those in the first volume drawn by the Leipzig surgeon Johann Christian Rosenmüller (1771-1820), who had himself published in 1805-7 his own finely illustrated surgical atlas Chirurgische-Anatomische abbildungen für Ärzte und Wundärzte. Both Bock and Rosenmüller took great pride in combining the arts of painting and anatomy, their works being particularly noteworthy for clarity and detail.
Bock was renowned as an excellent teacher of anatomy, able to provide clear representations of anatomical objects and preparations for his students, and indeed his anatomical preparations enriched the anatomical museum in Leipzig. This early work vividly conveys his great skill. He published a number of anatomical works, culminating in his large and noted atlas of 1833 Chirurgish-Anatomische Tafeln, which adopted the use of striking 'key-hole' cross sections, with various small portions of skin and muscles removed to enable the student to comprehend the complex layered nature of the human body.

1814. 12mo, pp. 253; printed in parallel text in French and Spanish; with woodcut printer’s device on both title-pages; occasional light spotting and foxing, but otherwise clean and crisp, with discrete old paper repair to lower corner of p. 192; with contemporary ownership signature of ‘Fredrich Habicht, 1821’ on front free endpaper; in contemporary half-calf over blue marbled boards, with blue sprinkled edges, spine in compartments ruled in gilt, with yellow paper label lettered in gilt, (label a little chipped), joints and spine slightly rubbed, some scuffing with minor loss of paper on upper cover, extremities lightly bumped and worn; an appealing copy. First edition of this translation, and an uncommon bilingual guide to the art of commercial correspondence, with the numerous examples and templates given printed in both Spanish and French on facing pages.
It is our understanding that the guide is a translation and revision of a work first issued in French and English as The Commercial Secretary, or a collection of commercial letters, invoices, accounts of sale, bills of lading and exchange etc, for the use of young gentlemen bred up to the trade/Le secrétaire du commerce ou recueil de lettres de commerce, published in Paris by Saintin in 1805, and which was illustrated with a number of numismatic plates. It appears to have gone through two editions in 1805, with a Bordeaux printing by Beaume as here in 1807 (not illustrated), and then an Italian/English edition printed by Gamba in Livorno in the same year as this French/Spanish iteration. The present translation follows closely that of the 1805 original, though has been revised and updated. It was further published in 1822 and 1824. It is perhaps no coincidence, that the publication of both this French and Spanish edition, and that of the one in English and Italian, appeared in the year which saw the end of the War of the Sixth Coalition and the defeat and deposition of Napoleon, with hopes, no doubt, of more stable and conducive trading conditions across Europe.
This scarce works provides an insight into the flourishing colonial trade of the early 19th century. Whilst the various examples make no mention of the slave trade itself, the majority of the sample letters, invoices, bills of lading discuss the sale, purchase, and movement of raw and refined sugar, coffee, tobacco, cotton, cloth etc, between the East Indies (Java) and Caribbean (St Domingo) and the European cities of London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Rostock and Cadiz. Several merchants, insurers, agents, and ship-owners are mentioned throughout the examples, though we have been unable to establish whether they are fictional or existing companies. Nevertheless, there are frequent references to Johann Wolff of Bremen, Johann Baller of Minden, James Phillips & Company of London, Peter Smith and Thomas Simpson of London, and Jan Veerding of Amsterdam. The samples also highlight the perils of global trade at the time, with several mentions to the ‘political’ situations, as well as to concerns about French privateers, ‘la crainte des corsaires français est tellesur cette place’ (lettre XXII, p. 61) which could lead to price rises.

1802. Two volumes, small 8vo; pp. xxiv, 383, [i] errata; vii, [i] blank, 370, [1] errata, [5] blank; some occasional light foxing, a little more prominent in places, but otherwise clean and crisp; in contemporary mottled Spanish sheep, spines ruled in gilt with red and black lettering and numbering labels, with attractive decorative endpapers (upper joint for first flyleaf split but holding firm), head and tail of spines lightly worn with small nick at head of Vol I, and small wormhole touching lettering label, small wormhole in rear joint of Vol. II, joints and extremities lightly rubbed; an appealing copy. First Spanish edition (first Italian 1796) of this scarce introduction to chemistry for ladies, by Guiseppe Compagnoni (1754-1833). The popularity of books such as Francesco Algarotti's ‘Newtonianismo per le dame’ spawned a genre of similar works of which the present work by Compagnoni is ‘an excellent textbook for women readers, based on the new chemistry of Lavoisier as enunciated in the Fondamenti della Scienza Fisico-Chimica of Vincenzo Dandolo. Presented in a series of 101 letters, this work covers the history of chemistry, elements and compounds, attraction, affinity, caloric, fire and light, the phlogistic versus the new chemistry, gases, combustion, acids and alkalis, salts, the old and new nomenclature, minerals etc. Pages 147-237 of Vol II entitled Lettere Aerologiche, discuses the physical and chemical properties of the atmosphere and various gases, with references to ballooning by the Montgolfier brothers’ (Neville I, p. 287).
‘Compagnoni created the last of a number of fictional women whose questions about scientific learning facilitated the popularization of new doctrines in the early modern period. His Chemistry for Ladies (1796), explicitly modelled upon Francesco Algarotti’s Newtonianism for Ladies (1737) rather than Marie Meurdrac’s Chemistry made easy for Ladies (1666), began as a series of letters between himself and Countess Marianna Rossi of Ferrara on the ideas of Lavoisier. Expressing scepticism over a woman’s desire to learn a subject as dry and difficult as chemistry, Compagnoni is reassured by the countess that she indeed wishes to be initiated into the mysteries of Lavoisier’s new language because chemistry ‘by now has become the fashionable science’ (Findlen, Translating the New Science).
Neville considers the first edition to be very rare, with Bolton’s first supplement p. 131 referring only to the second edition, and Duveen citing the present rare Spanish translation.

1839. 4to, pp. [iv], 77. [3] blank; with 40 plates (both engraved and lithograph and printed on differing stock) of which 27 are hand-coloured and seven are folding (including the large, striking plate of Mont Blanc); small nick to fore-edge of plate 11 but without significant loss, plates a little browned due to paper quality; some occasional light foxing and browning throughout, with some occasional minor edgewear, but otherwise good; with illegible signature on upper cover and blurred ownership stamp on title-page; in contemporary printed drab boards with blue paper reback, remains of paper label on spine lettered in ms, head and tail of spine worn with loss of blue paper exposing cloth below, lower spine dampstained, covers soiled, extremities and corners rubbed and lightly worn; a good copy. Uncommon first French edition of this detailed geological work, first published in 1830 as ‘Sections and Views, illustrative of geological phaenomena’ by one of first professional British geologists of the early 19th century, Henry Thomas De la Beche (1796-1855). A gifted draftsman, ‘De la Beche was noted for his role in pioneering the visual dimensions of geology’ (ODND), and this is never more evident than in the present work which is of particular note for the finely executed plates. Based upon his own simple pencil sketches, 27 are hand-coloured and depict a myriad of predominantly European geological features, several of which are found in Scotland. Particularly striking however, is the large folding hand-coloured depiction of Mont Blanc and surrounding peaks, as well as the line engraving of the crater of Vesuvius.
De la Beche was born in London, went to military school, though was sent down after four years for encouraging ‘a dangerous spirit of Jacobinism’ (ibid). He joined the Geological Society of London in 1817 and travelled extensively during the 1820s through Great Britain and Europe, and also spent time on the family sugar plantation in Jamaica, and on his return published the first description of the geology of Jamaica and its first geological map. The abolition of slavery and the collapse of the sugar market led to the collapse of his Jamaican income, leaving him in financial difficulties. Seeking employment he wrote to the Board of Ordnance offering to complete the geological mapping of Devon for the government. His application was successful and was appointed Geologist to the Ordnance Trigonometrical Survey. Having completed his work in Devon, De la Beche went on to work on the geological mapping of Cornwall. In 1835 the Ordnance Geological Survey was established, and out of this grew today’s British Geological Survey. In 1837 he moved to Swansea, where he became involved in the local scientific community, carrying out further pioneering fieldwork along the Pembrokeshire coast and of the Welsh coalfields. ‘While De La Beche, over a period of nearly forty years, contributed much to the general stock of geological knowledge through his publications, his whole-hearted and determined efforts to advance the then comparatively new science of geology by every means in his power were no less important’ (DSB). Perhaps best remembered for his principal work ‘The Geological Observer’ (1851), he was also a friend and supporter of the renown fossil collector Mary Anning (1799-1847), and worked on the first descriptions of the large fossil marine reptiles, the ichthyosaurs and the plesiosaurs. His Duria antiquior, an 1830 watercolor rendering of ancient Dorset and its inhabitants sold in aid of Anning, was widely circulated in lithograph form. His archive is held at the National Museum of Wales.

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.

1835?-1837.]. Offered together eleven letterpress broadsides, all approximately 475 x 380mm; each containing a series of small hand-coloured wood-cut vignettes with accompanying text; some general light soiling and marginal browning, with a few marginal nicks and tears in places as would be expected, though most pronounced along the right hand margin of ‘Period 14’ with slight loss of printed border; faint signatures visible at head of periods 5, 6 and 7, possibly ‘Miss Deacon’, ‘Miss Jackson’; though only a partial set, a most attractive and vibrant example of early Victorian school teaching aids. An extremely scarce, and wonderfully vibrant partial set of this illustrated introduction to world history for children, published as a series of picture sheets priced at 1s by J. Wacey of London. Picture sheets, by their very ephemeral nature, are scarce and to find such an extensive run is rare and we have found virtually no other examples, either individually or in a run. A contemporary advertisement in Bent’s Monthly Literary Advertiser, of October 10 1837 notes: ‘Dedicated, by permission, to the Most Noble the Marchioness of Hastings and her Children. Now publishing monthly, and to be finished in 20 Nos., price 1s each... designed to impress on the minds of children the principal contemporary events in the Empires and States of the known World, during twenty-one distinct periods... on the 1st October, the 14th Periods was published, containing Eleven coloured woodcuts, etc.’ (p. 111). A later advertisement suggests the series had been completed by 1838. ‘This is a highly instructive series of historical tables, with appropriate pictorial illustrations for young people. The design is excellent, the outline of facts selected very judicious, and the moral and religious impressions conveyed, greatly calculated to improve and elevate the youthful aspirant after sound knowledge’ (The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle p. 332).

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).

1843. 8vo, pp. 54; with lithograph frontispiece portrait and with 38 lithograph plates (numbered 1 - 37, including 10 bis); lightly foxed and toned throughout, but generally clean and bright; uncut in the original blue printed wrappers, head and tail of spine a little chipped and worn, covers a little soiled, with a number of small marginal tears and some furling, with signature of ‘Hri de Crouzet de Rayssac’? at head of front wrapper; a very good copy. Extremely scarce first edition of this self-published treatise on the art of fencing with a cane, including 38 striking lithograph plates, the work of Louis Armand Victorin Leboucher (1807-1866), a professional teacher in the arts of boxing, and fencing with canes and sticks.
Basing himself in Paris, Leboucher established a school of self defence at the rue de la Michodière, and became renown as a powerful and, by the sounds of it, a fearsome fencer. As he notes in his preface, man’s first means of defence, other than the fist, would have been a large stick or club. Whilst carrying a firearm may not be socially acceptable, carrying a walking cane was commonplace, so why not learn to employ it for self defence if required when travelling. His methods focused upon strength and speed. As he continues, far from being futile as some may think, fencing with a cane was an essential personal defence skill, providing ‘a means of repulsion useful in certain circumstances’ (p. 4). It should also be seen as an acceptable and suitable form of gymnastic exercise and relaxation. He believes that his 25 lessons will be sufficient for any student to ‘obtain a degree of perfection which would otherwise require six months of practice’ (p.4). It will develop muscular strength in the arms, chest and legs, expand the lungs, and he claims that as a result of the training, most ordinary students should be able to carry out 150 blows in a minute. His students, he states, will be able to defend themselves with poise and dexterity, and he concludes by inviting the heads of military institutions, ‘who have not yet accepted our method, to make their students aware of the advantages of his theories, uniquely established as a system of personal defence’.
In addition to the present work, Leboucher published Théorie de boxe française (1844) and Théorie de boxe française et anglaise pour apprendre à tirer en 25 leçons (1853).
Though the signature is slightly obscure, we believe the copy to have once belonged to the Henri de Crouzet de Rayssac (1853-1930).

1704. Small oblong 12mo, ff. [45], with instruction page and final explanatory page mounted as front and rear pastedowns; ff. 42v and ff. 43 neatly penned in manuscript, otherwise entirely etched/engraved throughout; lightly soiled and browned, with some offsetting to first and last pages from binding, a few leaves cropped a little close shaving a few letters but without significant loss; an attractive copy in contemporary full red morocco, all edges gilt, spine with raised bands, ruled and decorated in gilt, with triple fillet border to covers and inner gilt dentelles; with the ownership signature of ‘P. L. Barville’ at tail of title-page. First edition, seemingly a reissue of the 1703 edition with date amended on title-page, of this rare and elegantly produced historical aide-memoire, a charming typographical curio entirely etched and engraved throughout providing a chronological and historical synopsis of the wars, significant battles and sieges fought by France up until the beginning of the 18th century.
Opening with ‘Instructions for use’ which have been laid down on the front paste down, ‘Squire’ Feuquerolles presents his synopsis through a series of 41 double-page tables, incorporating a number of small symbols to indicate related victories, losses, whether the battles involved the infantry, cavalry or navy, any resulting treaties or leagues, political assassinations, and other associated events. A chronological index table follows, together with a list of French Kings, and a final explanatory note mounted on the rear paste down. In the present copy, the previous owner has added in at Ff. 42v-43 a hand-written ‘Alphabetical Table of the Countries, Peoples and Nations with whom France had fought. The alphabetical index is not present in either the Napoli online version of the 1703 edition, nor the British Library 1704 digitised copy. The tables were originally engraved on a larger sheet and have been then cut down, and in this copy mounted back to back, arranged both chronologically and geographically, to form this pocket notebook. The order found here differs to the British Library copy, the leaves of which do not appear to have been laid back to back. The period spans from the battle of Catalan in 451 through to the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession at the end of 1701. Feuquerolles classifies the campaigns geographically and thematically, beginning with ‘Guerres Gauloises’, followed by France, Lorraine, Belgian, German, English, overseas, Italian, Alpine, Crusades and Holy Wars, Spanish, French civil wars, popular wars and unrest, etc. The columns in each table note the date, place of combat, battle commander, number of dead, wounded, prisoners, besieged cities, the date of the peace, associated treaties, and marriages etc.
Not much larger than the size of a deck of cards, Fequerolle’s work bears a close similarity to the earlier works of Guillaume Marcel (1647-1708), the noted lawyer and historian, and who wrote a number of popular engraved pocket chronological histories including Tablettes chronologiques contenant la suite des Papes, Empereurs et Roys qui ont regné depuis la naiss. de J. Chr. jusqu’à présent (1679) and Tablettes chronologiques contenant avec ordre l'état de l'Eglise en Orient et en Occident (1682). This appears to be the only work by Sieur de Feuquerolles, and he dedicates it to the Duke of Burgundy.

1759. 4to, pp. [ii] engraved title-page, [iv], 52; with three folding engraved plates, and woodcut headpieces; paper a little browned throughout, with some occasional light foxing and soiling, a more prominent (though inoffensive) stain on p. 3; a good, crisp copy in modern dark brown sprinkled boards, with white label lettered in gilt, all edges gilt. First edition of this attractively produced ‘Remarks on the Italian building method for the prevention of fires’, the work of the Swedish metallurgist and civil servant Reinhold Angerstein (1718-1760). Written in response to a series of devastating fires in Stockholm, leading to calls for changes in building regulations, Angerstein looks in particular at alternative construction methods, focusing upon the use of different types of stone, and in particular upon the use of granite. Angerstein argues that the stone is common in the mountains of Sweden, and that it would make economic sense, to use a local natural resource, which would also hopefully solve the issue of fire resistance. Hi notes that the art of working with grey stone had died out somewhat in Sweden, but hopes that it could be revived for Stockholm’s benefit - both architecturally and practically. The frontispiece title, after a drawing by Olof Årr, depicts a fire in Stockholm, surrounded by a border of fire-fighting equipment. The second plate illustrated different types of stone, with the final plate an elegant depiction of the Church of St. Peter in Rome and part of the Vatican.
A member of an old family of Swedish Iron masters, Angerstein studied in Uppsala, and then worked as an auditor at the Swedish Board of Mines (the Bergskollegium). Financed by the Swedish Association of Iron Masters, he travelled extensively across Europe, and wrote a series of manuscript travel accounts, focusing in particular upon technical and economic observations from mining and iron and steel works. Apparently during a visit to England and Wales between 1753-1755 he was accused of being an industrial spy. On his return he was appointed Director of Steelworks at the Bergskollegium, and in 1757 he purchased the Vira Iron Works in Uppland. This appears to have been the only published work during his lifetime, though his travel diaries were translated and published in 2000. ‘His published journals show that he had a profound understanding of commerce as well as an ability to understand and record developments in technology. He appreciated the significance of the use of coke in blast furnaces, still practised in only a very small number of ironworks at the time of his visit to Britain, but he also showed an understanding of the diversity of the market for iron in England, and of the way in which niches in it could be filled by imports from Russia, Spain and the Netherlands, as well as from Sweden. He made valuable observations on textiles, mining, railways and river navigation. He was one of many Swedish iron masters who, through their travels, conveyed new thinking about technology and commerce, and left illuminating records of industry in other countries’ (https://www.erih.net/how-it-started/stories-about-people-biographies/biography/angerstein).

1850.]. Boxed set of three puzzles together with accompanying 8vo; comprising three hand coloured and gummed lithograph sheets each depicting 10 Revolutionary figures, laid down on thick card/ply and then dissected, puzzles interleaved with card trays edged on right side with silk pull tie (all a little fragile and one torn) ; together with 8vo text, pp. 16; text a little soiled, with small nick affecting upper fore-edge throughout; puzzles with some occasional light foxing and soiling, paper peeling away at corners of a couple of pieces, with small loss to one blank piece of Gensonné portrait; text stitched as issued in the original yellow printed wrappers, covers lightly soiled, small nick affecting rear wrapper at fore-edge; all housed within the original decorative box 280 x 418 x 28mm, upper cover with chromolithograph sheet by Antoine Bourgerie laid down, finished by hand and gouache, depicting proud Marianne (the personification of liberty, equality, fraternity) surrounded by the main figures of the Revolution, with embossed and gilt ribbon edging, small label with ms accession number adhered to inside lid, internal box lined with yellow glazed paper, left hand corners split but holding, upper cover somewhat soiled and darkened, some wear and rubbing to extremities, gilt edging somewhat faded; still an appealing set. A rare and most attractive boxed jigsaw puzzle set depicting some of the great figures of the early days of the French Revolution, though not, as the title would suggest, confined purely to the Girondins.
The present game, published by the noted Parisian manufacturer Lion, appears to have drawn inspiration from Alphonse De Lamartines (1790-1869) popular eight volume work of the same name, published in 1847. Whilst many of that famous republican political group are depicted, the portraits included are in fact not limited to the Girondists, with other prominent figures depicted, notably Mirabeau and Robespierre. In all thirty characters are represented, ten on each puzzle: Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Mirabeau, La Fayette, Bailly, Philippe-Égalité, Roland, Madame Roland, Dumouriez, Péthion / Vergniaud, Gensonné, Brissot, Guadet, Barbaroux, Charlotte Corday, Marat, Danton, Camille-Desmoulins, Santerre / Robespierre, Couthon, Saint-Just, Billaud-Varennes, Collot d'Herbois, Carnot, Cambon, Fouquier-Tinville, Tallien, Barras.
The Girondins played a leading role between 1791-1793 and included lawyers, intellectuals, businessmen, merchants and financiers. Their most prominent spokesman was Jacques-Pierre Brissot, and for a time some of the group held government positions, notably Jean-Marie Roland. His wife Marie-Jeanne held regular salons that were important meeting places for the group. At the time, they had the support of Thomas Paine. Through the summer of 1792, they vacillated their position towards the existing monarchy under Louis XVI, which was coming under serious attack. The storming of the Tuileries Palace on August 10th, which overthrew the monarchy, took place without their participation and marked the beginning of their decline, as more radical groups such as the Montagnards and Jacobins came to direct the course of the Revolution, and by the end of 1793 many had been denounced and executed or committed suicide, including Brissot, Gensonné, Guadet, Vergniaud and Madame Roland, and Charlotte Corday (after her assassination of the Jacobin leader Jean Paul Marat). Never an official organised political party, the name itself was originally bestowed by the Montagnards - many of the leading figures having been deputies of the department of Gironde. Contemporaries called them Brissotins, or Rolandins, but the term Girondins became standard after Lamartine’s publication.
The earliest examples of what we now call jigsaw puzzles were dissected maps, originally intended as educational games. John Spilsbury (1739-69) is associated with some of the earliest examples of dissected maps for teaching geography produced during the 1760s, and he is regarded as one of the first commercial producers of puzzles. Other early manufacturers of ‘jigsaws’ include William Darton & Son, and John Wallis & Sons in England, and Martin Engelbrecht in Germany. 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. Lion, operated in Paris between 1851-1885 and produced a wide variety of games, including historical and geographical lotteries, chess sets, and puzzles. Other puzzles produced included a History of France, and the History of Napoleon. Though undated, it may well be that the 1848 Revolution, which saw the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the Second French Republic, inspired the makers to celebrate some of their Republican forebears.

1750. 4to; pp. [2], [2] title-page, 104, 95, 1-27, 38-52, 58-137; with hand-coloured title framed within armourial border, 25 throw out plates drawn in pen and ink and shaded, and numerous neatly drawn text figures and illustrations, some full-page and decorative, a number hand-coloured or shaded, and three mounted corrected images; penned in a single hand throughout; some occasional foxing and soiling, one or two small paper flaws, some edgewear to fore-edge of plates; final endpaper missing; bound in contemporary full calf, spine in compartments with raised bands, tooled in gilt, with evidence of previous lettering label, head of spine worn exposing headband, general light rubbing and scuffing to joints and covers, covers a little sprung, extremities and corners bumped and lightly worn. A most attractively compiled, and seemingly early to mid 18th century manuscript course on practical geometry. The name Chambaud appears on the first free endpaper, and with a further small signature of [?] Mercier found at the tail of the first page, though we have sadly been unable to discern the first name, but it could be Jean-Henri.
The volume begins with an attractively hand-coloured title framed within an armourial border incorporating a crown, a battle-axe, and six flags adorned with a blue cross. The compiler concludes the volume with a further small armourial flourish. Very much a practical work, full of day to day problems and examples, though with some occasional more whimsical and artistic illustrated section dividers (including flowers, and flower arrangements), the volume has the air of having been compiled by a either a French gentleman under private tutorship, or perhaps that of a student/apprentice surveyor or engineer. The volume has been divided into three parts, dealing in turn with ‘a treaty of practical geometry and practice of the compass’; ‘practical geometry or the measurement of surfaces’; and concluding with fractions. The whole volume is most attractively illustrated, containing numerous geometric figures, both within the text, and then 25 throw-out plates bound at the end of the volume. The majority have been rendered in pen and wash, though several have been hand-coloured, notably those at the beginning or end of a chapter.
As far as we can ascertain, there are no author citations within the manuscript, and so this does not appear to be a transcription of an already published work, and is very much practical rather than theoretical. Whilst the basic principles of geometry are outlined, and occasional remarks given, the focus is upon problems and examples to be solved, with no mention of theorems or corollaries. Having handled previous geometrical manuscripts, this does not feel, therefore as though it is following an academic course of instruction at a College.

1940. Mixed set, four volumes, 8vo; I. pp. 128, with unnumbered photograph on contents verso and 96 text diagrams, illustrations and photographs; II. pp. 125, [3] blank, with unnumbered photograph on contents verso and 80 text diagrams, illustrations and photographs; III. pp. 128, with unnumbered photograph on contents verso, four half page photographs and 66 text diagrams; IV. pp. 158, with unnumbered photograph on contents verso, 10 full and half page photographs and 14 text diagrams; all four volumes, aside from some occasional light foxing and minor soiling, clean and bright; each volume with contemporary ownership signature or label; all four in contemporary decorative publisher’s cloth, with series motif of swallow and butterfly on upper cover, in orange, green, red and blue, spines all a little sunned, head and tail of spines lightly rubbed and worn with some minor loss, with further light rubbing and surface wear; an appealing set. Offered together an appealing, though mixed, set of this series of biology text-books aimed at secondary school pupils. The series was begun in 1936, with the present set including two later editions of Books I and III (1940 and 1951), with what we believe to be first editions of Books II and IV (1938), although neither volume is dated. The books effectively take the students’ through four years of study, and deal with the life stories of animals and plants, their structure, function and concluding with the applications of biology to practical problems. ‘Demonstrations and lectures are not enough for children, and the whole book has been based on experiment and observation which they can make for themselves. If they follow out the scheme of “Things you can do at Home or at School,” they will not only be more interested in the work, but will be brought into direct contact with the creatures they are studying and will acquire regular habits of observation... We have particularly kept in mind the needs and conditions of schools in the industrial towns and cities, and have not assumed that every school has the advantage of a special Science room’ (Book I, p. 5). The final chapters of Book IV are devoted to the lives of some notable biologists, including Aristotle, Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Carl Linnaeus, Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Lord Lister and Jean Henri Fabre. Reproduction is touched upon in Book III, but confined to animals and with no mention of human reproduction. The prefaces each make mention of the books leading up to a course of Hygiene, which may well have tried to address these more delicate matters.
Morgan was the author of a number of pedagogical works, including a series of mathematics for senior school girls entitled ‘Real-Life Arithmetic for Girls’ (1936), and ‘The teaching of mathematics in the secondary modern school’ (1959). In 1952 she had collaborated with J. Williamson to publish the ‘Arithmetic Tool Box’, which comprised of 244 cards, which dealt with the elementary processes in number, fractions and British Money, and which was followed by ‘The Decimal Tool Kit’ issued in 1964.

1680. 8vo, pp. 56; with appealing woodcut initial, and head- and tailpieces throughout; title-page a little dampstained, with some light foxing throughout; later ownership note at head of title-page in ms ‘Perugia, 23 Luglio 1894, Cant. 36’; recently bound to style using older marbled paper. Rare first edition of this collection of laudatory and elegiac compositions commemorating the death of the celebrated castrato singer Baldassare Ferri (1610-1680), considered to be one of the first great castrati singers. According to contemporary accounts he possessed a phenomenal voice and he performed at many of the Royal Courts across Europe. By the time of his death he had amassed a large fortune, and he was widely mourned, as the present compilation illustrates.
The collection was compiled by Ferri’s nephew Giovanni Angelo Guidarelli (1647-1720), and includes 43 poems and sonnets in Latin and Italian by many leading writers of the time, including members of the Arcadia. The various poems in ‘The cry of the swans on the death of the phoenix of music’, whilst exhibiting many familiar tropes of the genre, also provides a chronicle of Ferri’s life, in an attempt to preserve a sense of his incomparable and angelic music for future generations. Contributors include Calo Sabbatini, Batolomeo Colonna, Antonio Cinaronio, Domenico Anselmo, Fioravante Lancellotto, Nicola Barsanti, Marco Antonio Farina, Antonio Ferri, Camillo Boccaccio, Carlo Amadio, Carlo Battisti, Carlo Doni, Carlo Vuetti, Domenico Antisari, Vincenzo Alvitreti, Girolamo Ammiani, Iacomo Rangoni, and Ottaviano Ercolani.

1865. 8vo, pp. 153; with seven large folding lithograph plates (plate 1 duplicated presumably in error); some foxing throughout, a little more prominent in places, with some marginal dust and finger-soiling, with neat tear at upper corner of p. 141, some occasional further minor marginal nicks due to rough opening, faint ink stain affecting fore-edge of Plate V, with a small ink stain affecting fore-edge of a few leaves; uncut in the original yellow printed wrappers, head and tail of spine worn, spine with some cracking at head, but holding firm, covers soiled, extremities a little nicked and warn; a presentation copy from the author inscribed on the upper wrapper ‘A Monsieur Desains, Hommage respectieuse L. D’Henry’. First edition in book form, and a presentation copy, of this uncommon optical treatise on the construction of projection devices, by the Lille chemist and physics tutor at the Faculty of Sciences, Louis d’Henry. A detailed and technical treatise, it is accompanied by six large folding lithograph plates (the present copy in fact including an duplicate of Plate I). The work had first been published in the ‘Memoirs of the Imperial Society of Sciences, Agriculture and Arts of Lille. D’Henry published a number of scientific articles in the Memoirs, with further contributions on spectroscopy, mathematical symbology and notation, and on stenography.
The present copy has been inscribed by the author to Monsieur Desains. Paul Desains (1817-1885) was a physicist who taught for 32 years at the Faculty of Sciences in Paris.

1850.]. Oblong folio, pp. [ii] elaborately engraved title-page, and 30 vibrant lithograph plates finished by hand; plate 26 detached and plate 29 loose, some light foxing and soiling throughout, and with evidence of dampstaining at gutters sporadically throughout, images generally clean and bright though with a few abrasions in places; contemporary sheep-backed red embossed paper boards, with red paper label lettered in gilt on upper cover (chipped with some loss), head of spine chipped with loss, tail of spine nicked and worn, rear joint cracked but holding though rear inner hinge therefore weak, boards somewhat scratched, scuffed and soiled with some loss of paper, extremities rubbed and worn; despite wear, still a striking and scarce album. A wonderful and rare decorative arts album produced in celebration of the French Industrial Exhibition of 1849, comprised of thirty large coloured lithographic plates (divided into six fascicles), a number clearly finished by hand, depicting a selection of fine pieces of furniture made by some of the most noted makers of the day. As such it provides a fascinating glimpse into Parisian mid-19th century design trends and fashions, at the start of the Second Republic under the President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (three years before he overthrew the Republic and proclaimed himself Emperor Napoleon III). A wide range of items are vibrantly depicted which would have graced the finest salons and boudoirs, including fabric drapes for four poster beds by Krieger, armchairs, sideboards and marbled-topped tables by Jeanselme, ornate mirrored armoires by Tetard and also by Richtaedt, billiard tables by Guilelouvette, and dining room sideboards by Charmois and Munz.
Désiré Guilmard (1810-1885), began his career as an engineer-surveyor, though soon developed an interest in the decorative arts. In 1839 he founded the illustrated periodical ‘Le Garde-meuble ancien et moderne’, which specialized in ornament and furniture, the drawings being executed by Guilmard himself. A key figure in the Parisian design community he became an influential purveyor of taste for over fifty years, in a period of economic growth and changing tastes. In conjunction with the first Paris industrial exposition in 1844 Guilmard produced ‘Gare-Meuble, Album de l’exposition de l’industrie, 1844. Ameublemens’, exhibiting in 30 plates the work of some 250 cabinet makers and other artisans.
The present album, whilst standing alone, appears to have been the first in a series published by Jansen and Guilmard for the 1849 exhibition. The album has the ‘No. 1’ on the printed label on the front cover, and the Victoria and Albert Universal Catalogue of Books on Art notes further volumes under the title ‘Le Guide du Fabricant de Meubles et du Décorateur’. Jansen is described on the title page of the seventh part as ‘Profr de Dessin, lithphe, ancien fabnt de meubles’. Only a handful of these albums are now located on OCLC, and we have so far found no copy of a complete run. The pair worked together to produce an album for the 1855 Universal Exhibition.

1750. Small 8vo, pp. [xvi], 72; each page within typographic border, and with numerous woodcut head- and tail pieces; with running headling ‘Lucine affranchie des loix du concours’; small stain affecting fore-edge of pp. 3-16 (possibly candle-wax) and ink stain to final verso, with some very minor and occasional soiling and staining, otherwise clean and crisp; an attractive copy in contemporary half-calf over block printed decorative boards, with red sprinkled edges, spine in compartments with raised bands, ruled in blind, with small paper label at head of spine numbered in manuscript, head of spine chipped with loss, covers a little soiled, extremities and corners lightly bumped. An charming copy of this translation, with substantial additions, by Etienne Sainte-Colombe, of Hill’s famous scientific spoof Lucina sine concubitu. A letter... to the Royal Society London 1750, 4th edition of the same year. The additions are not found in the earlier translation attributed to J. P. Moët of which several editions were printed in 1750.
Written at the peak of philosophical discussions on generation and the preformation of eggs and spermatozoa, this amusing satire, “mockingly” addressed to the Royal Society is based on an idea first posed by William Wollaston in his ‘Religion of Nature Delineated’, “that human seed, or spermatozoa, floated everywhere in the air... [Hill] affected to have invented a machine for trapping the seminal animacules borne on the West wind. ‘Accordingly after much Exercise of my Invention, I contrived a wonderful cylindrical, caloptrical, rotundo-concavo-convex Machine... which, being hermetically sealed at one End, and electrified according to the nicest Laws of Electricity, I erected a convenient Attitude to the West, as a kind of Trap to intercept the floating Animaculae in that prolific quarter of the Heavens. The Event answered my Expectation; and when I had caught a sufficient number of these small original unexpanded Minims of Existence, I spread them out carefully like Silk-worm’s Eggs upon White-paper, and then applying my best Microscope, plainly discerned them to be little Men and Women, exact in all their Lineaments and Limbs, and ready to offer themselves little Candidates for Life, whenever they should happen to be imbibed with Air or Nutriment, and conveyed down into the Vessels of Generation’” (Needham, History of Embryology, pp. 186-87). Having trapped these airborne ‘minims of existence’ Hill offered to administer them ‘as a dose of physick’. His discovery he believes, that the world had been in error in the matter of conception for six thousand years, should be seen as being of more benefit than the discoveries of Newton. It could restore the honour of many women who throughout history had been unable to explain their pregnancy, remove guilt over fornication, the eradication of venereal disease, and even the need for marriage, a tie ‘inconsistent with all the Articles of modern pleasure’,.
Composer, actor, author and botanist, Hill (1714-1775), wrote the work as a hoax on the Royal Society, apparently in revenge for his rejection as a candidate for membership, in recognition he hoped, for his botanical research. His susbsequent monumental 26 volume illustrated ‘The Vegetable System’ was one of the first to adopt the nomenclature of Carl Linnaeus, and indeed he was later created a knight of the Order of Vasa in 1774 by Gustav III of Sweden, after which he adopted the title of ‘Sir John Hill’. The work was quickly taken up as a piece of popular sexology, with a least four more English printings in 1750, and was immediately translated into other languages. ‘This French translation has a new commentary on the text and new material, such as the account of a widow made pregnant by a married woman; experiments on the semen of various animals; a dissertation on human semen and the prodigious numbers of tiny animals it contains; and the disputes and havoc that this wicked little book has begun to create among husbands and wives’ (Gaskell Catalogue 29, item 51).

1762.]. 4to, pp. [viii] title-page without imprint as issued, with dedication signed and dated, 186, [4] index, with large folding engraved hand-coloured map printed on thicker paper engraved, and woodcut tail-pieces; gutter cracked exposing cords at p. 1 and first gathering a little loose, title-page somewhat soiled at lower corner, occasional light foxing and soiling and sporadic very faint marginal dampstaining; some neat ink underlining and marginal markings throughout; stitched as issued in contemporary carta rustica, with remains of green paper label on spine, head and tail of spine lightly worn, with minor splitting to joints but holding firm, covers a little scuffed and soiled, light rubbed and wear to extremities; a good copy. Rare first edition of this work on hydraulic and river engineering, by the noted Italian Jesuit mathematician, physicist and engineer Antonio Giovanni Lecchi (1702-1776), one of his lesser known works. Dedicated to the Duke of Modena, the study looks in detail at plans to separate and channel three streams and rivers in Lombardy near Tradate (north of Milan), the Tradate, Gardaluso and Bozzente. Of particular note is the large folding, hand-coloured engraved ‘Carta Topografica del corso antico, e moderno de trè torrenti fontanile di Tradate, Gradeluso [sic] e Bozzente’.
From 1738 to 1773 Lecchi taught mathematics and hydraulics at the Jesuit College of Brera in Milan, during which time he also worked as a technical consultant for the Senate of Milan on hydraulic matters. From 1757 he worked mainly as a hydraulic engineer, and was commissioned by both the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa and Pope Clement XIII. The author of numerous works, he is probably best remembered for his Trattato de’ canale navigabili of 1776, a detailed history of inland navigation in Italy and in particular Milan.