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  • Presentation copy
    LES ÉPILEPSIES ET LES ÉPILEPTIQUES. by [PHOTOGRAPHY.] FÉRÉ, Charles.
    [PHOTOGRAPHY.] FÉRÉ, Charles.
    LES ÉPILEPSIES ET LES ÉPILEPTIQUES. Avec 12 planches hors texte, et 67 figures dans le texte. Paris, Ancienne Librairie Germer Baillière et Cie Félix Alcan, Éditeur...

    1890. Large 8vo, pp. vii, 636; with twelve plates, of which 11 are mounted Woodbury types, and one engraved plate, together with numerous figures within the text; plate 3 without tissue guard; paper a little browned throughout due to quality, some light marginal dampstaining to preface and table of contents from p. 626, with further occasional light spotting and soiling including ink staining on p. 48; in contemporary half roan over marbled boards, spine in compartments with raised bands, slightly faded and sunned, head of spine lightly worn, with some scuffing to upper cover, extremities lightly rubbed and bumped; a presentation copy from the author and inscribed on the half-title to ‘Monsieur le Docteur Widal’. First edition, and a presentation…

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    1890. Large 8vo, pp. vii, 636; with twelve plates, of which 11 are mounted Woodbury types, and one engraved plate, together with numerous figures within the text; plate 3 without tissue guard; paper a little browned throughout due to quality, some light marginal dampstaining to preface and table of contents from p. 626, with further occasional light spotting and soiling including ink staining on p. 48; in contemporary half roan over marbled boards, spine in compartments with raised bands, slightly faded and sunned, head of spine lightly worn, with some scuffing to upper cover, extremities lightly rubbed and bumped; a presentation copy from the author and inscribed on the half-title to ‘Monsieur le Docteur Widal’. First edition, and a presentation copy, of this noted work on epilepsy, including 11 mounted Woodbury types, highlighting physical pathologies associated with epilepsy and epileptic seizures. The lithograph plate shows histological lesions of the cerebral cortex.
    ‘In 1890, for the first time, a monograph was published which addressed epilepsies in the plural... a classification appeared to be required to provide structure to the increasingly heterogeneous field. Féré distinguished primarily partial and generalised paroxysms and subdivided the latter into: 1) the complete attack; 2) the incomplete attack; 3) abnormal attacks; and 4) isolated symptoms’ (Peter Wolf, History of epilepsy: nosological concepts and classification, in Epileptic Disorders: International Epileptic Journals, Sept 2014; I6 (3): 261-9). ‘A monumental undertaking by an important member of the Charcot circle, this volume is a synopsis of all that was understood and documented on neurologic disorders up to the time of its publication in 1890. Féré cites case histories and observations from over 800 physicians and presents his own classification of hystero-epileptic disorders’ (Mark Rowley, artandmedicine.com). He goes on to suggest that the photographs may have been taken by Albert Londe (1858-1917), who had established a photographic laboratory at the Salpêtrière during Charcot’s tenure, and would no doubt have been known to Féré.
    Féré began his medical studies at Rouen and completed them in 1882 at Paris. He interned in surgery but whilst assisting Jean-Martin Charcot at the Salpêtrière, changed to neuropathology. In 1887 he was appointed chief medical officer at the Bicêtre, where he remained for the rest of his career. A specialist of ‘hystero-epilepsy’, he published extensively with studies on the anatomy of the nervous system, sexuality, hypnosis, Darwinism, and criminology.
    The work is inscribed to ‘Monsieur le Docteur Widal’ - either Henri Victor Widal (1826-1894), the military physician and member of the Academy of Medicine, or perhaps more likely to his son Georges-Ferdinand (1862-1929), the noted pathological anatomist, who published essays on the nervous system, and most notably on infectious diseases.

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  • Early ID badge employing physiognomical features
    'CHIFFONNIER' WORKER'S BRASS REGISTRATION BADGE, by [PHYSIOGNOMY.]
    [PHYSIOGNOMY.]
    'CHIFFONNIER' WORKER'S BRASS REGISTRATION BADGE, numbered 6086, for a certain ‘A. Vallet, Chiffonier’, describing his physiognomy in abbreviated code, dated

    1855. Small oval brass pendant badge, 70 x 46 x 2mm; with suspension ring in upper part, engraved on both reverse and obverse, some light surface scuffing and tarnishing, but otherwise very good. A remarkable survivor of a ragpicker’s registration badge, which through the use of an abbreviated code, provides a surprisingly complete description of recognizable features, given the small surface area for engraving.
    On the reverse is engraved the badge number, name and profession. ‘A. Vallet, Chiffonier’. The obverse reveals the date, ‘1855’ followed by what appears at first sight to be a cryptic code: ‘69 ans, 1m. 63, ch. et s. gs, fr. ht. y. rx. n. g’os, bo. g’de. m.r’d. ba. g’se, v. ov, 4 doigts à…

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    1855. Small oval brass pendant badge, 70 x 46 x 2mm; with suspension ring in upper part, engraved on both reverse and obverse, some light surface scuffing and tarnishing, but otherwise very good. A remarkable survivor of a ragpicker’s registration badge, which through the use of an abbreviated code, provides a surprisingly complete description of recognizable features, given the small surface area for engraving.
    On the reverse is engraved the badge number, name and profession. ‘A. Vallet, Chiffonier’. The obverse reveals the date, ‘1855’ followed by what appears at first sight to be a cryptic code: ‘69 ans, 1m. 63, ch. et s. gs, fr. ht. y. rx. n. g’os, bo. g’de. m.r’d. ba. g’se, v. ov, 4 doigts à chaque m’in’.
    Thanks to the work of the previous owner, our understanding is that these abbreviations in all likelihood can be read as: ‘69 ans, 1m. 63, ch. et s. gs (presumably cheveux et sourcils gris), fr. ht. y. rx. n. g’os (assumed front haut, yeux roux, nez gros), bo. g’de. m.r’d. ba. g’se. (presumed bouche grande, menton rond, barbe grise), v. ov. (visage oval), 4 doigts à chaque m’in’ (four fingers on each hand). Thus ‘A. Vallet’ was 163 centimetre tall, 69 years old, with gray hair and eyebrows, had a high forehead, reddish brown eyes, large nose, large mouth, round chin, gray beard and oval face. Most notably, he had only four fingers on each hand.
    The Musée Carnavalet, which focuses on the History of Paris, holds three further examples of identity badges belonging to ‘chiffonnier’, dated 1852, 1855 and 1864. An itinerant profession, ragpickers had collected discarded cloth, glass, metal, bone, and other materials in order to resell them to industries for recycling for centuries. From 1828 the trade was regulated, and could operate only at night, though it was considered to be an honest, if lowly occupation. ‘A royal decree required ragpickers to wear a badge issued by the Police Department and to carry a small broom with which to “sweep up the mess after they have searched through a garbage heap” and a lantern. These badges were initially distributed to former convicts and prisoners in exchange for "information"—which did nothing to improve the reputation of the profession—then to old men and cripples, and finally to anyone who requested them, even children’ (online, Musée historique environment urbain, http://www.mheu.org/en/ragpickers/ragpicker-badge.htm).
    ‘The Paris police headquarters listed 1,841 ragpickers in 1829 and 12,000 in 1872, whereas in 1884 the ragpickers’ association counted 200,000 in the Seine department alone. However, in around 1870, cloth was replaced by wood pulp in papermaking. This meant that it was no longer part of the ragpicking trade, for which it had until then been the main staple. One decade later, for hygiene reasons, the prefect of Paris Eugène Poubelle introduced a system requiring waste to be deposited on the street in closed waste containers. As the cycle of rationalization and industrialization was completed, ragpicking was pushed out of the capitalist economy and was seen as dirty and polluting... Ragpickers were no longer necessary workers for the development of the modern city. Instead, they became folkloric, farcical, or sinister figures from an outmoded world (Caroline Ibos, Masculinity of male ragpickers and devaluing of female ragpickers in Paris (1830–1880) in Travail, genre et sociétés Volume 43, Issue 1, January 2020, pp. 31-49, translated and edited by Cadenza Academic Translations).
    ‘Although ragpickers continued their work in Paris well into the twentieth century, decrees in 1870 and 1883 attempted to limit their access to the refuse on which they made their living, spelling the beginning of the end of their profession. In the mid-1880s, their shanty towns in the heart of Paris were demolished, forcing their relocation to the industrial suburbs on the perimeter of the city, primarily the thirteenth, fourteenth, eighteenth, and twentieth arrondissements... these marginalized people were a continued source of fascination for artists throughout the mid-nineteenth century. From Honoré Daumier and Charles Baudelaire in the 1840s and ’50s, to Édouard Manet and Jean-François Raffaëlli in the 1860s and ’80s, writers, caricaturists, and painters alike thematized the lives of the lowly ragpickers’ (Claire Heidenreich, Chiffonniers in the Periphery: Émile Bernard’s Ragpickers of Clichy and Nineteenth-Century Artificial Cranial Modification, https://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/autumn19/heidenreich-on-emile-bernards-ragpickers-of-clichy). The periodical L’Histoire published the following description on April 3, 1870: [Ragpickers] represent primitive mankind in the big city, blissfully ignorant of laws, happy with nonentities, imbued with their vegetative way of life, retiring from society like a troglodyte of the caves’.

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    Bibliography: Similar examples located at the Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris

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  • Unusual ‘King’s Portrait’ Calendar Medal
    A CALENDAR 1833 by [POCKET PERPETUAL CALENDAR.]
    [POCKET PERPETUAL CALENDAR.]
    A CALENDAR 1833 Sunday Figures... [unsigned, with no maker of place of issue, though possibly Birmingham, by Thomas Halliday.]

    1833. Single year brass calendar medal, 39 mm in diametre, with central shield shaped calendar table of Sundays in each month, with Dominical Letter and surrounding inscriptions giving date of calendar, law terms and date and time of eclipses, with on the obverse a central portrait of George IV surrounded by concentric panels giving principle feasts days of the year and noting new and full moons; a little burnished with some small areas of staining. A nice, bright example, though unsigned, of a pocket calendar medal, of particular appeal featuring as it does the portrait of William IV. Such pocket aide-mémoires found widespread popularity during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with noted makers such as John Powell and…

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    1833. Single year brass calendar medal, 39 mm in diametre, with central shield shaped calendar table of Sundays in each month, with Dominical Letter and surrounding inscriptions giving date of calendar, law terms and date and time of eclipses, with on the obverse a central portrait of George IV surrounded by concentric panels giving principle feasts days of the year and noting new and full moons; a little burnished with some small areas of staining. A nice, bright example, though unsigned, of a pocket calendar medal, of particular appeal featuring as it does the portrait of William IV. Such pocket aide-mémoires found widespread popularity during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with noted makers such as John Powell and Peter Kempson (1755-1824), both originally button-makers from Birmingham, amongst the most prolific coin and token manufacturers. Neither ever featured a monarch’s portrait however, making the present example more unusual.
    The obverse provides the calendar table, as well as noting both sun and moon eclipses, and noting the law terms: Hillary Term Jan 11 to Jan 31; Easter Apr. 15 to May 8; Trinity May 22 to June 12; Michls Nov 2 to Nov 25.
    The obverse features a bust facing right of Willian IV ‘King of Great Brit.’ and is surounded with three concentric circles noting the main feast days of the year, and noting the New and Full moons.
    Coin auctions point to this being possibly the work of Halliday (1771-1844), and though we have not been able to compare visually, the present examples certainly bears strong similarities to examples by him held at the British Museum. ‘Medallist, token-engraver, manufacturer of buttons, studs, Halliday originally worked at Soho Mint before setting up own business, first at Islington Row and Ann Street, then at 69 Newhall Street for some 30 years until his death. He is considered to have produced some of the best commemorative medals of national and personal events, including Reform, Anti-Slavery and Public Institution medals. ‘With Thomas Halliday, the design of the calendar medal, basically unaltered since 1742, underwent a considerable change. The square calendar table on the obverse becomes shield-shaped with the law terms arranged along edge and the lunar table and the memorable dates alongside it are replaced by a circular arrangement. For the first time a portrait bust of the British monarch appears in the centre on the reverse, firstly of George IV and from 1830 of William IV’ ‘Silke Ackermann, Maths and Memory, Calendar Medals in the British Museum, Part I, The Medal, no. 45, Autumn 2004, p. 41.

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    Bibliography: Cf https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1922-0407-374

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  • CONGRÈS DE LA HOUILLE BLANCHE by [RENEWABLE ENERGY - HYDROELECTRIC POWER.]
    [RENEWABLE ENERGY - HYDROELECTRIC POWER.]
    CONGRÈS DE LA HOUILLE BLANCHE Grenoble - Annecy - Chamonix. 7 - 13 Septembre 1902. Compte Rendu des Travaux du Congrès, des visites industrielles et des excursions. Premier [-Deuxième] Volume. Syndicat des Propriétaires et Industrielles possédant ou exploitant des Forces Motrices Hydrauliques. Grenoble, Siège Socia: Place du Lycée, 2.

    1902. Two volumes, large 8vo; pp. 605, [1] blank, with one double-page table at p. 178 and one plate at p. 330, together with 89 text engravings and graphs; pp. 666, [2] blank, with folding chromolithograph map, a heliogravure portrait, and with 306 text engravings, graphs and half-tone images; volume one printed on different paper stock and slightly more browned, volume II on china coated paper, with faint dampstain affecting the upper margins of final 60 pages, but which has led to some adhering of paper, some light abrasions, and pp. 651-653 still stuck together at uppder margin, further occasional soiling to both volumes, otherwise clean and crisp; in the original green fine grained publisher’s cloth, upper covers lettered in…

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    1902. Two volumes, large 8vo; pp. 605, [1] blank, with one double-page table at p. 178 and one plate at p. 330, together with 89 text engravings and graphs; pp. 666, [2] blank, with folding chromolithograph map, a heliogravure portrait, and with 306 text engravings, graphs and half-tone images; volume one printed on different paper stock and slightly more browned, volume II on china coated paper, with faint dampstain affecting the upper margins of final 60 pages, but which has led to some adhering of paper, some light abrasions, and pp. 651-653 still stuck together at uppder margin, further occasional soiling to both volumes, otherwise clean and crisp; in the original green fine grained publisher’s cloth, upper covers lettered in silver, head and tail of spines a little bumped and rubbed with some minor cockling, with slight dink to upper margin of upper cover of vol II, covers a little soiled, corners bumped, book-blocks very slightly shaken due to the weight and size. First edition of this extremely comprehensive and detailed illustrated account of the first ‘Congrès de la Houille Blanche’ held in Grenoble in 1902, organised by the ‘Syndicat des propriétaires et industriels possédant ou exploitant des forces motrices hydrauliques’, discussing the technical, economical and legal issues surrounding the development, concessions, rights of use, and potential of ‘white coal’ - the metaphorical term coined in 1889 by the entrepreneur and paper-maker Aristide Bergès (1833-1904) to describe the pure energy resource of mountain rivers and glaciers which could be harnessed to create renewable ‘clean’ hydroelectric power.
    Though hydropower had long been used for grinding grain and flour, it was not until the late 19th century that it came to be used as an electricity source. In 1878 the world’s first hydroelectric power scheme was developed at Cragside in Northumberland by William Armstrong to power a a single arc lamp. The first Edison hydroelectric power station began operating in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1882, with an output of about 12.5 kilowatts. By 1886 there were 45 hydroelectric power stations in the US and Canada.
    In Europe, Grenoble was to become the centre of electrification from the start of electrical power generation. In 1883 Marcel Depréz succeeded in transmitting direct current over a distance of 14km to Grenoble. The driving force however, was to be Aristide Bergés, who became the voice of the developing industry, being one of the first to adopt hydropowered electrical turbines for paper manufacture, and indeed building a dam to help expand his business. An excellent communicator, he is remembered for his famous speech given at the Paris World’s Fair in 1889, who coined the term ‘white coal’ to ‘fire the imagination and report intensely that the mountains and glaciers, which provide the driving forces, are just as valuable for their region and for the state as the coal from the depths’. He strongly believed that such technical progress should also be used for social progress, and had electricity installed in the houses of Lancey, as well as founding in 1896 the Société d'éclairage électrique du Grésivaudan which supplied low-cost electricity to the valley and supplied the tram line from Grenoble to Chapareillan. It’s potential was soon recognised and seized upon by the Grenoble authorities, both municipal, industrial, and indeed academic and legal, who began working together to further development. In 1899 the Grenoble Electrotechnical Institute was created with links to the University, and that year also saw the formation of the Société générale Force et Lumière (SGFL), which became one of the leading hydroelectric power companies. The region thus saw the creation of new professions and industries through the development of public works, the construction of dams, the rise of cement factories, the manufacture of turbines and electrical equipment, improved transportation, and the development of electrochemical and electrometallurgical industries. Such a transformation was not without controversy, many decrying the loss of traditional trades such as glove-making, and the dramatic changes to the landscape which such large scale constructions resulted in. Indeed Bergès himself faced a number of civil court challenges from aggrieved farmer who had lost land and which affected his health towards the end of his life, although his legacy lives on today, with a school and road named after him in Grenoble.
    In response to these rapid developments, a union of owners and industrialists owning or exploiting hydraulic forces was formed in 1901, and under whose auspices this first Congress was organised. From the tone of the preface, it seems likely that the present publication was done in limited numbers, with copies given primarily to delegates and other interested parties. The first volume provides details of the committee, the programme and itinerary of the Congress, an account of the plenary sessions, and transcripts of the various conference papers delivered by delegates, who counted amongst their number engineers, lawyers, academics, industrialists, and government ministers. The second volume, which is printed on better quality paper to enable the extensive inclusion of half-tone images, describes in detail the various excursions to visit sites including Lancey (the site of Bergés’ paper mill); la chute et des usines de la Société hydro-électrique de Fure et Morge; des chutes et usines de la Société des Forces motrices du Haut-Grésivaudan; the chute d’Avignonet; usines électriques de Grenoble et Voiron; Chamonix; Simplon; and electric installations at Lausanne. A Lengthy section of ‘notices d’usines’ then follows describing numerous factories and industries which are associated with and benefit from hydroelectric power.
    This was the first of three such Congress to be held, with further gatherings in 1914, and most notably perhaps, in 1925. By this time the region had grown considerably, the Congress was expanded becoming an International Exhibition of Hydropower and Tourism which promoted not only the benefits of hydroelectric power, but Grenoble in general.

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  • CONSIDÉRATIONS PHILOSOPHIQUES DE LA GRADATION NATURELLE DES FORMES DE L’ÊTRE, by ROBINET, Jean Baptiste René.
    ROBINET, Jean Baptiste René.
    CONSIDÉRATIONS PHILOSOPHIQUES DE LA GRADATION NATURELLE DES FORMES DE L’ÊTRE, ou les essais de la nature qui apprend a faire l’homme. A Paris, Chez Charles Saillant.

    1768. 8vo, pp. [ii], 260, [ii] blank; with woodcut printer’s device on title-page, woodcut tail-pieces, and ten engraved plates by J.V. Schley and B. De Bakker; without half-title, seemingly never bound, and without the two errata leaves found in some copies; small tear within text of K1 but without significant loss, some occasional light foxing and spotting throughout, but otherwise clean and crisp; with later faint ownership stamp of Dr Paul Maisonneuve of Angers on front free endpaper; contemporary mottled calf, spine in compartments with raised bands, decorated in gilt with red morocco label, inner hinge cracked but holding head of spine chipped with loss exposing headband, spine and joints a little rubbed, extremities bumped, corners worn; still good. First…

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    1768. 8vo, pp. [ii], 260, [ii] blank; with woodcut printer’s device on title-page, woodcut tail-pieces, and ten engraved plates by J.V. Schley and B. De Bakker; without half-title, seemingly never bound, and without the two errata leaves found in some copies; small tear within text of K1 but without significant loss, some occasional light foxing and spotting throughout, but otherwise clean and crisp; with later faint ownership stamp of Dr Paul Maisonneuve of Angers on front free endpaper; contemporary mottled calf, spine in compartments with raised bands, decorated in gilt with red morocco label, inner hinge cracked but holding head of spine chipped with loss exposing headband, spine and joints a little rubbed, extremities bumped, corners worn; still good. First edition, Paris issue of this interesting proto-evolutionary work, a follow-up to the author's four-volume treatise, ‘De la nature’ (1761-1766), and of appeal for the ten curious engraved plates, most of which are drawn and engraved by the Dutch artist Jacobus van der Schley. The present work deals ‘with mammals and objects of natural history resembling in shape human beings. Fossils, stones, mandrakes, various sea monsters, sirens etc. are described and illustrated, also the Orang Outang and the Chimpanzee. Robinet came near a real theory of evolution’ (Dawson catalogue 91, 5764).
    ‘Robinet’s work [the present book and two other books] illustrates several important elements in the scientific thinking of the second half of the eighteenth century: the unity of nature, the chain of beings, universal dynamism and sensibility, and - at this early date - vitalism. It also illustrates the role of Leibniz in the development of Enlightenment ideas on living nature’ (DSB 11: 493b).
    ‘Another issue with cancelled half title and title page was issued in Amsterdam in the same year with the slightly different title Vue philosophique de la gradation naturelle des formes de l'etre, ou Les essais de la nature qui apprend a faire l'homme’ and two leaves of advertisements at the end. Some copies of both issues have two leaves of errata headed by an apology that the author was not able to correct the proofs’ (Gaskell, 6:72). Gaskell notes that the errata leaves are lacking in many copies of both issues.

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    Bibliography: Blake p. 384; Cole 1846 (Amsterdam issue); Wellcome IV, p. 540.

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  • THÉORIE D’ACCOMPAGNEMENT ET DE COMPOSITION, by RODOLPHE, Jean Joseph.
    RODOLPHE, Jean Joseph.
    THÉORIE D’ACCOMPAGNEMENT ET DE COMPOSITION, à l'usage des élèves de l'Ecole nationale de Musique contenant l'origine des accords, divisée en deux classes, l'harmonie naturelle et l'harmonie composée, la basse fondamentale de chaque accord et des leçons de pratique, dédiée A Monseigneur Le Baron de Breteuil... Par Rodolphe, Rensionnaire du Roi, Maître de Composition de l’Ecole Royale de Musique. Oeuvre IIme. A Paris. [new imprint laid down:] Le Dépot de la Théorie d’Accompagnement et du Solfége de Mr. Rodolphe, est chez Mr. Blondeau, Musicien de la Comédie Italienne, Rue Montmartre presque vis-à-vis l’Hotel D’urès, Maison du Chandellier proche le Boulevart. [Naderman, n.d.

    but 1785]. Folio, [iv], 111, [1]; with one large folding engraved plate; entirely engraved throughout; some impressions a little faint, others darkened; without front free endpaper or half-title; some occasional light staining and soiling, mainly marginal; in contemporary green boards, title in ms on upper cover, head and tail of spine bumped and lightly worn, joints lightly rubbed, covers somewhat soiled and darkened, extremities lightly bumped and worn; signed by the publisher Blondeau at the tail of title-page. An attractive book of composition and theory, engraved throughout. Jean Joseph Rodolphe (1730-1812) had a brilliant career as a violinist, horn player and composer during the second half of the 18th century. Rodolphe was close to the Italian composer Jommeli and befriended…

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    but 1785]. Folio, [iv], 111, [1]; with one large folding engraved plate; entirely engraved throughout; some impressions a little faint, others darkened; without front free endpaper or half-title; some occasional light staining and soiling, mainly marginal; in contemporary green boards, title in ms on upper cover, head and tail of spine bumped and lightly worn, joints lightly rubbed, covers somewhat soiled and darkened, extremities lightly bumped and worn; signed by the publisher Blondeau at the tail of title-page. An attractive book of composition and theory, engraved throughout. Jean Joseph Rodolphe (1730-1812) had a brilliant career as a violinist, horn player and composer during the second half of the 18th century. Rodolphe was close to the Italian composer Jommeli and befriended the young Mozart during the latter’s visit to Paris in 1778. From 1784 until the Revolution, Rodolphe taught composition at the École Royale de Chant et de Déclamation and was later was Professor of solfège at the Paris Conservatoire. (1798–1802). The present copy has been signed by the publisher Blondeau. A small note states that this is ‘Oeuvre II’ but the work appears complete in itself. The British Library and Berlin note this issue point
    OCLC also locate copies at Harvard, Pennyslyvania, Stanford, and the Plantijn Hogeschool, though without mention of part information.

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    Bibliography: harvard, Penn (Chez le méme), stanford, BL (oeuvre II), Berlin (has this oeuvre 2), one Dutch location. Plantijn Hogeschool says Naderman, Stanford says Lobry.

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  • LE COMPAS DE PROPORTION by ROSSI, Gaetan de Catanzaro.
    ROSSI, Gaetan de Catanzaro.
    LE COMPAS DE PROPORTION ou les arpenteurs appelés a l’ordre. Essai critico-mathématique... ouvrage adressé aux mathématiciens du jour, et dédié aux amis de la vérité. A Genève, Chez Luc Sestié, Imprimeur. An XI.

    1803. 8vo, pp. [viii], xxxii, 156, [2], with one folding engraved plate signed by C.G. Geissler and dated 1803, with woodcut illustration of Pythagoras' theorem on title-page; copy no. 399 signed by the author on authentication leaf; some occasional light foxing and soiling, but otherwise clean and crisp; in contemporary half green roan over paper boards, spine attractively lettered and tooled in gilt, head and tail of spine a little bumped, some light scuffing to upper joint, covers lightly soiled, extremities a little bumped and rubbed; the Erwin Tomash copy with his book-plate on front paste-down; a good copy. First edition of this rare contribution to the geometrical problem of ‘squaring the circle’, by the Italian Gaetan Rossi de Catanzaro…

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    1803. 8vo, pp. [viii], xxxii, 156, [2], with one folding engraved plate signed by C.G. Geissler and dated 1803, with woodcut illustration of Pythagoras' theorem on title-page; copy no. 399 signed by the author on authentication leaf; some occasional light foxing and soiling, but otherwise clean and crisp; in contemporary half green roan over paper boards, spine attractively lettered and tooled in gilt, head and tail of spine a little bumped, some light scuffing to upper joint, covers lightly soiled, extremities a little bumped and rubbed; the Erwin Tomash copy with his book-plate on front paste-down; a good copy. First edition of this rare contribution to the geometrical problem of ‘squaring the circle’, by the Italian Gaetan Rossi de Catanzaro (1767-1826). Describing himself as a ‘man of letters and law’ (p. iv) and resident of Geneva, as becomes apparent from his florid and rather pompous introduction, Rossi was clearly an enthusiastic amateur mathematician, who like many before him, believed that through ‘assiduous and methodical work’ (ibid) that he had found a solution to the problem of the quadrature of the circle, and believes that in publishing his essay and demonstrating his solution and invention, that he will convince fellow mathematicians to correct their false theories. It is a discovery of the greatest importance not only for science and literature, but for humanity in general. The proportional compass referred to in the title is discussed in theoretical terms and is not illustrated. The final fifty pages contain an alphabetical listing of the mathematical terms used in the work.
    This was not his only published contribution to the subject, his preface revealing that he had previously published a circular announcing his solution, and which it appears he distributed to a number of European Societies. Indeed the Royal Green Observatory appears to hold a copy of this ‘Equisse’ in a volume of pamphlets submitted to the Board of Longitude and which is dated May 20th 1803: ‘Esquisse sur la quadrature du crecle, addressée a tous les savans ge2ométres, et à toutes les sociétés, politiques, commerçantes, et littéraires, qui existent sur la surface de la terre’ (in RGO 14/54 Papers of the Board of Longitude). OCLC also locates a tract of 1804, penned in Italian but with a London imprint: Soluzione esatta e regolare del difficilissimo problema della quadrature del circolo’, which appeared in a second edition, a seeming testment to his self-confidence in his theory.
    Provenance : Erwin Tomash (1921-2022), an American engineer recognised for his early pioneering work with computer equipment peripherals.

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    Bibliography: OCLC locates copies at the New York Public Library, Michigan, Oklahoma, and the BnF.

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  • ‘One of the cleverest and oddest women in Europe’
    NATURA RERUM. LA CONSTITUTION DU MONDE by ROYER, Clémence.
    ROYER, Clémence.
    NATURA RERUM. LA CONSTITUTION DU MONDE Dynamique des atomes nouveaux principes de philosophie naturelle. Paris, Librairie C. Reinwald. Schleicher Frères, éditeurs...

    1900. 8vo, pp. [vi] including front blank, xxii, 799, [1] contents; with four lithograph plates (comprising chromolithograph frontispiece, one further chromolithograph, a folding plate and a large folding graph), and with numerous text illustrations and diagrams; lightly browned throughout due to paper quality, otherwise clean and crisp, with a few occasional nicks to fore-edge; in contemporary maroon morocco backed marbled boards, with the original printed wrappers bound in, upper wrapper with neat verso repair at tail, spine in compartments with raised bands ruled and lettered in gilt, retaining original green silk marker, head and tail of spine, and spine bands rubbed and worn, with further light scuffing to boards and extremities, corners a little bumped; with the ownership signature of…

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    1900. 8vo, pp. [vi] including front blank, xxii, 799, [1] contents; with four lithograph plates (comprising chromolithograph frontispiece, one further chromolithograph, a folding plate and a large folding graph), and with numerous text illustrations and diagrams; lightly browned throughout due to paper quality, otherwise clean and crisp, with a few occasional nicks to fore-edge; in contemporary maroon morocco backed marbled boards, with the original printed wrappers bound in, upper wrapper with neat verso repair at tail, spine in compartments with raised bands ruled and lettered in gilt, retaining original green silk marker, head and tail of spine, and spine bands rubbed and worn, with further light scuffing to boards and extremities, corners a little bumped; with the ownership signature of Paul Duhem on half-title and title-page; a good copy. First edition of this attractively illustrated work by the philosopher, physicist, anthropologist, archaeologist and politician Clemence Augustine Royer (1830-1902).
    Largely self-educated, Royer moved to Lausanne in 1857 (having previously taught as a governess in Wales for a brief period). Once in Lausanne she began her career of writing and public speaking, and began an educational course for women in logic. ‘Women speakers were fashionable then, and she continued in 1859-1860 with a course in natural philosophy. Because formal advanced education was not yet open to women even in Switzerland, a pioneer in this area of social progress, she had little competition and could attract considerable audiences. Her lecture program expanded, both in Lausanne and in other Swiss cities; later she went to Italy... her wide reading enabled her to cover many subjects; She liked to combine fields, drawing no separation between science and philosophy’ (Creese, II, p. 85). Royer is best remembered for her dissemination of Darwin in France, notably through her translation (the first) of the Origin of Species in 1862, though Darwin objected to some of her notes, and is known to have described her as ‘one of the cleverest and oddest women in Europe’ (Freeman). Publication of the work eventually led to her controversial election as a member of the Société d’Anthropologie de Paris in 1870, Royer becoming an active member of the society until her death in 1902.
    In addition to her scientific interests, through her long-term relationship with the political activist Pascal Duprat (with whom she had a son out of wedlock) Royer had considerable visibility in Paris social and political circles and from 1870 when Duprat served in the National Assembly her writings focused on political problems, notably the condition of women, and she later became a major figure in the feminist movement.
    Though elegantly produced and substantial in content, including two striking chromolithograph plates notably that depicting ‘Les Couleurs Spectrales et leur cheminement dans l’éther’, of the present work Creese notes that it ‘suffered sadly from her lack of scientific training’.

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    Bibliography: OCLC: 7012678 locate copies at Stanford, UCLA, Harvard, Cornell, the Library of Congress, Cleveland, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Leeds.

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  • Including Blackwell, Manzolini, Cortese and Nightingale
    LE DONNE MEDICHE by SCALZI, Francesco.
    SCALZI, Francesco.
    LE DONNE MEDICHE Roma, Tipografia Romana, Piazza S. Silvestro 75,

    1877. 8vo, pp. 31, [1]; paper lightly browned throughout due to paper quality, small vertical tear at head of first couple of leaves without loss, with some further minor edgewear, and some light creasing in places; stitched as issued in the original printed wrappers, small tear at upper margin of upper cover, with some staining affecting the lower margin, further light soiling, and extremities very lightly nicked and worn. Uncommon first edition of this short historical treatise highlighting the life and work of some famous women, both ancient and modern, in the fields of medicine and science. Franceso Scalzi (1821-1889), described as ‘Ispettore Medico nel mosocomio di santo spirito in Roma’, dedicates his work to Contessa Elena Borghese, and presents…

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    1877. 8vo, pp. 31, [1]; paper lightly browned throughout due to paper quality, small vertical tear at head of first couple of leaves without loss, with some further minor edgewear, and some light creasing in places; stitched as issued in the original printed wrappers, small tear at upper margin of upper cover, with some staining affecting the lower margin, further light soiling, and extremities very lightly nicked and worn. Uncommon first edition of this short historical treatise highlighting the life and work of some famous women, both ancient and modern, in the fields of medicine and science. Franceso Scalzi (1821-1889), described as ‘Ispettore Medico nel mosocomio di santo spirito in Roma’, dedicates his work to Contessa Elena Borghese, and presents a brief A-Z, beginning with Abella of Salerno, concluding with Vittorio, and including the Scottish herbalist Elizabeth Blackwell, the French midwife Louise Bourgeois, the sixteenth-century alchemist Isabella Cortese and ‘Miss Nightingale’. The most detailed biography is given over to Anna Manzolini, who held the Chair of Anatomy at the University of Bologna in the eighteenth century.
    The brief entry for ‘Nightingale (miss)’ reads: ‘She dedicated her whole life and her vast wealth to the benefit of the poor. She distinguished herself as a nurse during the Crimean war. She later founded the Barak Hospital [sic] in London, a vast institution capable of accommodating over three thousand patients’ (online translation).

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    Bibliography: OCLC locates copies at Chicago, Minnesota and the Wellcome.

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  • Teaching mariners a new communications system - seemingly inspired by Marryat
    LANGUE TÉLÉGRAPHIQUE UNIVERSELLE by [SIGNALLING.] LUSCOMBE, E[dmund.] and M[atthew.]
    [SIGNALLING.] LUSCOMBE, E[dmund.] and M[atthew.]
    LANGUE TÉLÉGRAPHIQUE UNIVERSELLE Ou Code de signaux adopté par les marines marchandes de France de d’Angleterre, et transmis par order des deux gouvernemens aux officiers des deux Marines Royales, pour servir a leurs communications avec les navires marchands. Rédigé par E. et M. Luscombe, agents de Lloyd’s. Pour les forts de la Seine et dépendances, au Havre. Havre, de l’Imprimerie de Slas. Faure, Chevalier de l’Ordre Royal de la Légion d’Honneur, Imprimeur du Roi. [n.d. but

    1832. 8vo, pp. [221], [3] blank; with three hand-coloured engraved plates, one folding; plates a little browned due to paper quality; some occasional light foxing and soiling, but otherwise text clean and bright; in contemporary green morocco backed ribbed boards, spine ruled and lettered in gilt, very small worm-hole affecting upper lower joint, some minor surface wear, corners slightly nicked and worn; with contemporary book-seller label on front paste-down; a presentation copy from the author’s signed on verso of front fly-leaf ‘To A. Ergerot Esqr. with the respectful acknowledgements of the undersigned’; a good copy. Uncommon and attractive first edition of this little-known work in the history of semaphore telegraphy and communications, describing in detail a signalling system recently adopted…

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    1832. 8vo, pp. [221], [3] blank; with three hand-coloured engraved plates, one folding; plates a little browned due to paper quality; some occasional light foxing and soiling, but otherwise text clean and bright; in contemporary green morocco backed ribbed boards, spine ruled and lettered in gilt, very small worm-hole affecting upper lower joint, some minor surface wear, corners slightly nicked and worn; with contemporary book-seller label on front paste-down; a presentation copy from the author’s signed on verso of front fly-leaf ‘To A. Ergerot Esqr. with the respectful acknowledgements of the undersigned’; a good copy. Uncommon and attractive first edition of this little-known work in the history of semaphore telegraphy and communications, describing in detail a signalling system recently adopted by both the English and French merchant navies. The authors of the work, two Englishmen, Edmund and Matthew Luscombe, worked for Lloyd’s of London and were based in Le Havre. Whilst making no claims to having had invented the system, the two men nevertheless seem to have been instrumental in its promotion and adoption. A numerical based system, different flags and pennants were numbered 1-10, and could thus be combined using the flaghoist system to communicate between ships. Important instructions, phrases and commands were assigned a number, thus leading to a system, independent of language, and which could be understood by all. Already adopted by the English fleet it had, on the orders of the Marquis de Clermont-Tonnerre, the French Minister for the Navy, similarly been taken up by French vessels. As the Luscombes’ note, it was their hope that it could eventually be applied to all the navies of the world, both merchant and military, though ultimately a universal system would not be implemented until 1855, when the first International Code was drafted by a Committee set up by the British Board of Trade. Containing 70,000 signals using eighteen flags, the code was published in 1857 and was adopted by most seafaring nations
    The present work is accompanied by three hand-coloured engraved plates (one folding), illustrating the flags and pennants to be used. It is then divided into six parts beginning with a list of the names of the ships in both the English and French Navies. This is followed in section two by an extensive list of English, French and other merchant vessels, with the third list referring to notable ports, capes, headlands, and rock formations, etc. The fourth section brings together an extensive selection of common phrases and questions used between merchant vessels, which is followed in section five by a vocabulary of marine terms. The work concludes with a further extensive vocabulary of words useful in general maritime correspondence. Each have a number assigned to them, to enable the raising of the correct flags.
    The use of flags for signalling was by no means new. In 1738, a numerical flag code using ten coloured flags was proposed by Bertrand-François Mahé de la Bourdonnais (1699-1753), who proposed hoisting flags in groups of three, making a thousand possible messages that could be transmitted by reference to a code book. Though not instantly taken up as an idea, it was to inspire the noted French engineer Claude Chappe (1763-1805) and his brother Ignace (1760-1829), who developed the world’s first land-based optical semaphore telegraph network during the 1790s, carrying messages across 19th century France faster than ever before, and which used a numerical code book with many thousands of messages.
    In England, Captain Sir Home Popham was one of the first to produce a numerical flag code in his 1803 work ‘Telegraphic Signals of Marine Vocabulary’. It was his code which was famously used for the “England expects that every man will do his duty” signal at Trafalgar by Nelson. The first general system for signalling for merchant vessels rather than military, was that of Captain Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) in his 1817 A Code of Signals for the Merchant Service. Whilst making no apparent reference to him in the present work, it seems almost certain that the Luscombe’s have drawn heavily from his innovations, although the order of their six numbered lists varies slightly. It is interesting to note, that in the revised edition of 1840, Marryat is indeed referred to in the introductory paragraph.
    Louis-Marie Bajot, at the time head of the law office in the French maritime ministry, provides a fascinating and complementary review of the work in the Annales maritimes et colonisation, (pp. 501-503 T. II, 1822). As he notes, one of the many benefits of peace has been to establish a happy and free exchange of discoveries and ideas working towards the common good. ‘It was in the order of things that from the moment friendly relations were established between France and England, these two peoples would help each other in everything in the maritime arts. But either because the French generally travel less or because we pay less attention in France to what exists abroad, it is certain that the English have drawn from us more often than we have from them. So, not to stray from our subject, we saw very shortly after the establishment of M Chappe's telegraph the English appropriate this admirable machine which they regard as the last term of telegraphic simplicity. The English are therefore giving us today with regard to the means of corresponding by sea the example that they followed by adopting our means of corresponding by land. In this mutual exchange, we repeat, of useful practices, national pride cannot be hurt, is it not better, as an ancient said, to imitate what others have imagined good than to be jealous of it? The universal telegraphic language therefore deserves all the attention of navigators it also deserved to be adopted by the two governments of France and England and transmitted by their order to the officers of the two royal navies’ (p. 501, online translation). ‘A French captain can make himself heard not only by the ships and stations of his nation but also by foreigners equipped with this system or an English system because each word, each sentence and finally the entire code is expressed in both languages by the same figures represented then by the same signs. The system applying to communications with land as well as those which take place between ships at sea has fulfilled all the conditions of the problem and leaves nothing to be desired. France, by adopting it, contributes to its propagation’ (ibid). A brevet for the system is noted by Christian in ‘Description des machines et procédés spécifiés dans les brevets d’invention, de perfectionnement et d’importation’ (p. 294, T. XII, 1826).
    Provenance: the copy has been inscribed by the two authors to Alphonse Bergerot (1782-1833), a Le Havre councillor and leading merchant of the town. We have located a previous copy sold at auction, in a presentation bound for the Marquis de Clermont-Tonnerre, the French Minister for the Navy. The auction makes a note that the work was ‘non mise dans le commerce’, though we have been unable to verify this.

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    Bibliography: Polak, Bibliographie maritime française, 6177; BnF, Yale, Princeton, Duke, Peabody, Newfoundland, San Francisco Maritime, the National Library of Spain, and the National Maritime Museum in London.

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  • ‘Transports of Delight’ - design your own milk cart and other horse-drawn vehicles
    W. P. LOVE COACH BUILDER by [TRADE CATALOGUE.]
    [TRADE CATALOGUE.]
    W. P. LOVE COACH BUILDER Commercial Road, Paddock Wood [Kent], [J & C Cooper, copyright]. n.p. but possibly Tunbridge Wells, and n.d. but ca. late 19th century.

    1880s?. Oblong small 8vo, ff. 40 leaves of chromolithograph plates; some very light marginal browning and foxing; in contemporary navy and light blue cloth backed boards, upper cover lettered in gilt, spine lightly sunned, covers a little stained and soiled. A scarce and beautifully illustrated late Victorian trade catalogue, issued by the Kent based coach building company W. P. Love, with forty chromolithograph illustrations of horse-drawn coaches and carts, and showing a variety of commercial, utility and multi-passenger vehicles, some of which include oil-lamps. A wonderful catalogue, the images ‘transport’ us back to a bygone era of horse-drawn travel - the ultimate green form of transportation.
    Despite living only 15 miles from Paddock Wood, we have sadly been unable to…

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    1880s?. Oblong small 8vo, ff. 40 leaves of chromolithograph plates; some very light marginal browning and foxing; in contemporary navy and light blue cloth backed boards, upper cover lettered in gilt, spine lightly sunned, covers a little stained and soiled. A scarce and beautifully illustrated late Victorian trade catalogue, issued by the Kent based coach building company W. P. Love, with forty chromolithograph illustrations of horse-drawn coaches and carts, and showing a variety of commercial, utility and multi-passenger vehicles, some of which include oil-lamps. A wonderful catalogue, the images ‘transport’ us back to a bygone era of horse-drawn travel - the ultimate green form of transportation.
    Despite living only 15 miles from Paddock Wood, we have sadly been unable to find out any further information about W. P. Love, though believe that they remained in operation on Commercial Road until the late 20th century.

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    Bibliography: Not located on OCLC.

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  • An early student of one of the first Veterinary schools in France
    BOUND 19TH MANUSCRIPT COURSE ‘ZOOLOGIE’ by [VETERINARY SCIENCE - ZOOLOGY.] BORROS, [Jean.]
    [VETERINARY SCIENCE - ZOOLOGY.] BORROS, [Jean.]
    BOUND 19TH MANUSCRIPT COURSE ‘ZOOLOGIE’ taken at the l’École Royale Véterinaire’ of Toulouse, signed by Jean Borros ‘eleve veterinaire’ and completed and dated 16 October,

    1831. 8vo; pp. [iv], 15, [1] blank, 15-473, 475 488, [9]; penned in a single hand throughout; dampstain affecting fore-edge from pp. 9-160 though never touching text, some occasional light foxed and soiling, a few corners a little creased, otherwise generally clean and bright; contemporary sheep-backed marbled boards, spine tooled and lettered in gilt, head of spine worn exposing headband, with loss at both upper joints, with further cracking and loss at tail of upper joint, covers scuffed and faded, extremities rubbed and somewhat worn. An extensive and neatly transcribed early 19th century manuscript course on zoology, the work of Jean Borros, whom we believe was a student at the recently opened Toulouse Veterinary School, thus providing an insight into…

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    1831. 8vo; pp. [iv], 15, [1] blank, 15-473, 475 488, [9]; penned in a single hand throughout; dampstain affecting fore-edge from pp. 9-160 though never touching text, some occasional light foxed and soiling, a few corners a little creased, otherwise generally clean and bright; contemporary sheep-backed marbled boards, spine tooled and lettered in gilt, head of spine worn exposing headband, with loss at both upper joints, with further cracking and loss at tail of upper joint, covers scuffed and faded, extremities rubbed and somewhat worn. An extensive and neatly transcribed early 19th century manuscript course on zoology, the work of Jean Borros, whom we believe was a student at the recently opened Toulouse Veterinary School, thus providing an insight into part of the required curriculum in the early days of the establishment. Densely penned in a tight, neat hand, Borros has signed his name on the first leaf, below which is inscribed ‘eleve veterinaire’, and the manuscript is dated October 16th 1831 at its conclusion on p. 438. Purely zoological, the manuscript opens with a general introduction, before a section ‘Division du regne animal’ (pp. 42-143). The remaining portion of the manuscript comprises a ‘Tableau méthodique des mammifiéres’, subdivided into 8 orders (two-legged, four-legged, carnivores, rodents, toothless, pachyderms, ruminans and cetaceans) each order then further divided into subclasses and genre. Both domestic and exotic animals are covered, with details about characteristics and habitats described, with mammals such as kangaroos (p. 218) and buffalo and bison (p. 370-371), pangolins (260) and elephants (263) included.
    France was at the forefront of establishing veterinary medicine as a profession and Toulouse was the third dedicated veterinary school to open in France in 1825, following those of Lyon (1762) and Alfort near Paris in 1766, both founded by Claude Bourgelat (1712-1779). Up until 1761, veterinary ‘art’ was practised mostly by farriers and farmers, who were either self-taught or had moved through unregulated apprenticeships. Increasing livestock plagues at the beginning of the 18th century, however, were becoming so devastating that leading figures such as Pope Clement XI, commissioned reports into ways to address the situation. France was not immune to similar outbreaks and King Louis XV and his government was equally keen to bring an end to such epidemics, as well as seeking wider agricultural reforms. Bourgelat, Director of the Lyon Academy of Horsemanship, in his 1750 work Élémens d'hippiatrique ou nouveaux principes sur la connoissance et sur la médecine des chevaux, had already argued for the need of a veterinary school, and this hope became reality in 1762, having been giving a small grant by King Louis XV to established the Lyon school. The more rigourous, standardised scientific training, soon bore fruit, and within a short time diseases such as rinderpest were stayed. As a result Louis XV officially gave Lyon the title of Royal Veterinary School in 1764, with the Alfort school opening in the following year. These schools were the first real attempts to standardise veterinary practices and science, and Bourgelat is considered to be the father of modern veterinary science.
    Jean Borros is found in the Recueil de Médicine Vétérinaire pratique Journal in a list of veterinary graduates in 1834 (p. 440), and went on to practice in the Dordogne. This suggests that it was a four year course, and that this general introduction to zoology may well have been part of the first year curriculum.

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  • PHOTOGRAPH OF EDITH CAVELL, by [W.W.I.] CAVELL, Edith.
    [W.W.I.] CAVELL, Edith.
    PHOTOGRAPH OF EDITH CAVELL, England’s Martyr-Nurse. On Satin. Sold for the Benefit of the “’Daily Mirror’ Nurse Cavell Memorial Fund”... [n.p. but London, and n.d. but ca.

    1915-1919.]. Small photograph on satin, 140 x 85mm, retaining the original printed brown envelope, photograph a little browned with faint dampstain (more visible on verso), with some light fraying to edges; envelope a little creased with a few small marginal nicks and tears, but otherwise good. A scarce memorial item commemorating the death of the British nurse Edith Cavell (1865-1915).
    The daughter of a rector, Cavell was born in the village of Swardeston, Norfolk, and worked as a governess in Belgium, before training to be a nurse in London. She worked in hospitals in Shoreditch, Kings Cross and Manchester and then accepted a position in Brussels as Matron in Belgium's first training hospital and school for nurses. There was…

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    1915-1919.]. Small photograph on satin, 140 x 85mm, retaining the original printed brown envelope, photograph a little browned with faint dampstain (more visible on verso), with some light fraying to edges; envelope a little creased with a few small marginal nicks and tears, but otherwise good. A scarce memorial item commemorating the death of the British nurse Edith Cavell (1865-1915).
    The daughter of a rector, Cavell was born in the village of Swardeston, Norfolk, and worked as a governess in Belgium, before training to be a nurse in London. She worked in hospitals in Shoreditch, Kings Cross and Manchester and then accepted a position in Brussels as Matron in Belgium's first training hospital and school for nurses. There was no established nursing profession in Belgium at the time of Edith's appointment, and her pioneering work led her to be considered the founder of modern nursing education in that country. She was in Norfolk visiting her mother when the First World War broke out in 1914. On hearing of the threat to Belgium, she felt compelled to return. Working in German-occupied Belgium, she helped hundreds of British, French and Belgian soldiers escape the Germans before her arrest and trial. She was infamously executed by firing squad on the grounds of treason by the German authorities in October 1915, on the charge of harbouring Allied soldiers in Belgium. Her death aroused world-wide condemnation, and in the months and years following her death, countless newspaper articles, pamphlets, images, and books publicised her story, and she became an iconic propaganda figure in Britain, due partly to her sex, her nursing profession, and her apparently heroic approach to death.
    In 1919 her remains were transferred back to Britain and she was honoured with a national service at Westminster Abbey, before her remains were carried in state back to her home county of Norfolk, where she was interred at Norwich Cathedral.
    This photographic portrait of Cavell printed on Satin, was sold by the Daily Mirror in aid of the Edith Cavell Memorial Fund, which aimed to establish a home for nurses in London. A reproduction of the famous photograph taken in Brussels before the start of the war, the image shows her sitting in a garden together with two dogs, with her signature below and the quote '"I have seen death so often that it is not strange or painful to me. I am glad to die for my country." Brussels, October 12th, 1915'. It was one of the last photographs to be taken of Edith Cavell. Whilst in Belgium she had adopted a stray called Jack, who was rescued after her execution and adopted by the Countess de Croy. The photograph is housed within the original orange printed envelope, which gives further detail of the proposed Fund, and lists a number of distinguished people who have already contributed to the Fund. The Memorial Fund was begun, in collaboration with the Daily Telegraph, shortly after her death. The Edith Cavell Home for Nurses, attached to the London Hospital, was opened on April 11th 1919. The Cavell Trust remains to this day, offering benevolent support to UK nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants, both working and retired.

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  • EIGHT MONTHS WITH THE WOMEN'S ROYAL AIR FORCE by [W.W.I.] GEORGE, Getrude A.
    [W.W.I.] GEORGE, Getrude A.
    EIGHT MONTHS WITH THE WOMEN'S ROYAL AIR FORCE With a Foreword by Air Marshall Sir H. M. Tranchard, K.C.B., D.S.O. Heath Cranton Limited, 6, Fleet Lane, London, E.C. 4. [Reproduced and Printed by the Premier Engraving Co., 35 & 36, Hosier Lane, E.C.1, for Messrs. Heath Cranton, Ltd.]

    1920. 4to, pp. [64] including frontispiece; printed on china coated paper; title-page and 28 full-page photographic reproductions of chalk sketches on brown paper done by the author; some occasional light soiling, but otherwise clean and bright; in the original blue cloth backed pictorial boards, upper cover embossed and lettered in blue, with small mounted colour vignette of a saluting member of the WRAF, spine lettered in blue, head and tail slightly bumped and worn, covers slightly scuffed, extremities a little bumped and rubbed; a very good copy. First edition of this early and attractively produced account of life in the recently formed Women’s Royal Air Force, by Getrude A. George (1886-1971). Previously an art teacher before the war, what makes…

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    1920. 4to, pp. [64] including frontispiece; printed on china coated paper; title-page and 28 full-page photographic reproductions of chalk sketches on brown paper done by the author; some occasional light soiling, but otherwise clean and bright; in the original blue cloth backed pictorial boards, upper cover embossed and lettered in blue, with small mounted colour vignette of a saluting member of the WRAF, spine lettered in blue, head and tail slightly bumped and worn, covers slightly scuffed, extremities a little bumped and rubbed; a very good copy. First edition of this early and attractively produced account of life in the recently formed Women’s Royal Air Force, by Getrude A. George (1886-1971). Previously an art teacher before the war, what makes the work of particular appeal are the 28 delightful full-page illustrations by the author, reproductions of her original chalk sketches drawn on brown paper, and which evocatively capture day to day life. WRAF records show that she joined up on 29 October 1918 and that she was employed at the London Colney RAF airfield.
    George dedicates the book to ‘the girls with whom I lived in happy comradeship during my period of service, and to one WRAF officer, whose steady work and high ideals helped to form a worthy tradition in the new Force’. Certainly what comes through in the accompanying text is the great feeling of pride, adventure and esprit de corps of these women, serving alongside men for the first time. Though predominantly performing auxiliary tasks, such as cleaning, repairing aircraft, and sign-writing, George was clearly very proud of her connection with the Force.
    ‘During the First World War, members of the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) and the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) worked on air stations belonging to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). When the decision was taken to merge the RFC and RNAS to form the Royal Air Force (RAF), concerns were raised about the loss of their specialised female workforce. This need for a separate women’s air service led to the formation of the WRAF on 1 April 1918. Personnel of the WAAC and WRNS were given the choice of transferring to the new service and over 9,000 decided to join. Civilian enrolment swelled WRAF numbers. They were dispatched to RAF bases, initially in Britain and then later in 1919 to France and Germany. In April 1920 the WRAF, a wartime force, was disbanded. In only two years, 32,000 WRAFs had proved a major asset to the RAF and paved the way for all future air service women’. (RAF Museum online).

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    Bibliography: OCLC locates copies at UCSB, the NYPL, the Hoover Institute, Southern Illinois, Cambridge, the National Library of Wales, the NLS, Oxford, and the BL.

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  • ‘THE SUFFRAGETTES’ RUSE & HOW BOBBY PEELER FOILED THEM’ by [WOMEN’S RIGHTS - OR LACK OF THEM.] [YORK & SON.]
    [WOMEN’S RIGHTS - OR LACK OF THEM.] [YORK & SON.]
    ‘THE SUFFRAGETTES’ RUSE & HOW BOBBY PEELER FOILED THEM’ complete set of ten magic lantern slides, drawn and hand-painted on glass to form a storyboard, images credited on final slide to ‘The Graphic’. [n.p. but London, and ascribed in Lucerna to York & Son, before 1907.]

    1907. Boxed set, complete; comprising 10 glass passepartout slides 81 x 81 x 3mm, images drawn and delicately hand-painted, with thin black paper edging, each with thin printed title label along upper margin, with small round numbering label in upper right corner (lacking 6 due to previous break in glass and subsequent repair), with further printed numbering label adhered along lower right edge, indicating place in larger company series; small break in upper corner of verso of slide 1, slide 6 with small fracture across top right corner repaired with edging paper, slide 8 with superficial crack (though no break in glass), two edges of slide 4 lacking the paper edging, with further edgewear in places; housed within small later…

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    1907. Boxed set, complete; comprising 10 glass passepartout slides 81 x 81 x 3mm, images drawn and delicately hand-painted, with thin black paper edging, each with thin printed title label along upper margin, with small round numbering label in upper right corner (lacking 6 due to previous break in glass and subsequent repair), with further printed numbering label adhered along lower right edge, indicating place in larger company series; small break in upper corner of verso of slide 1, slide 6 with small fracture across top right corner repaired with edging paper, slide 8 with superficial crack (though no break in glass), two edges of slide 4 lacking the paper edging, with further edgewear in places; housed within small later ‘makeshift’ card box, edges of base with prominent archival tape repairs, lid missing left edge, and with archival tape label on upper surface, lettered in manuscript, edges of lid quite worn. An extremely scarce set of magic lantern slides highlighting the women’s rights movement and votes for women, albeit from the anti-suffrage perspective, and satirising the struggle. The slides tell the story of an attempt by suffragettes to infiltrate Parliament from the Thames. Hiding in oil barrels, they plan to be unloaded onto the Terrace, but two burly policemen, upon hearing some ‘rustling’ coming from the barrels, suspect a suffragette plot and attempt to lure them out. Claiming that women are unable to resist the joys of a ‘fashion paper’, they read aloud ‘of the latest styles’ to ‘snare the birds’ and entice the stowaways out. Covering the barrels with a net, the women are captured as they emerge to storm parliament, and hauled off to Cannon [sic] Row police station. ‘Those who won’t walk must be rolled’.
    The illustrations are neatly drawn and vibrantly hand-coloured. Both the first and final slide suggest credit for the images belongs to the periodical ‘The Graphic’. Richard Crangle on the Lucerna Magic Lantern Web Resource (University of Exeter) attributes the set to one of the leading magic lantern manufacturing firms of York & Sons, based in Bayswater London, and dates it no later than 1907. One of the partners, William York, was a ‘photographic artist’, and may possibly have been responsible for the topical set.
    Magic lantern shows began towards the end of the 17th century but only became more popular towards the end of the 19th century with improvements in lamp sources. The shows could be educational - astronomy was a popular subject, through to didactic presentations (a favourite topic was the demon drink) to sophisticated shows using double or triple lanterns to produce moving and dissolving images. Current affairs and political matters provided a wealth of material, and Lucerna lists of number of sets relating to political cartoons, though this appears to be one of only a very few relating to the Women’s Rights movement and the Suffragettes in particular. Crangle notes further that the set was listed in the stock of Riley Brothers, and also Ivens & Co. It was common practice for sets to be sold, or sometimes hired out, to other stockists and suppliers, and were sometimes made to order for specific retailers.

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  • With two 18th century female owners
    THE YOUNG CLERKS ASSISTANT; by [WRITING MANUAL.] [BICKHAM, George.]
    [WRITING MANUAL.] [BICKHAM, George.]
    THE YOUNG CLERKS ASSISTANT; Or Penmanship made easy, instructive and entertaining: being a complete pocket copy-book, curiously engraved for the practice of youth in the Art of Writing. London: Printed for Richard Ware, at the Bible and Sun, Ludgate Hill. [n.d. but ca. 1733?]. [bound with:] PICART, Bernard. A NEW DRAWING BOOK OF MODES. By Mons. B. Picart. Printed for Richard Ware at the Bible & Sun in Amen-Corner, Warwick Lane, London. [n.d. but ca. 1733?]. [bound with:] LEEKEY, William. A DISCOURSE ON THE USE OF THE PEN. Containing observations on writing in general. The proper posture in sitting to write: rules for choosing quills, and making of pens for different hands, (proving that the common methods of sitting to write, and nibbing the pen, obstruct the freedom of writing:) With whatever else may tend to perfection in that art. Necessary not only for teachers of writing, but for all persons concerned in business. To which are added, two alphabetical sets of copies suited to a quarto writing book, on the rule of life, and moral definitions. London: Printed for R. Ware, at the Bible and Sun, on Ludgate-Hill. [n.d. but ca.

    1764-1774?]. Three works in one volume, 8vo; I. ff. [i] engraved frontispiece signed ‘G. Bickham sculp’, [i] engraved title-page, 3 - 61 engraved and letterpress plates of different styles of handwriting, printed on recto only, 57-59 mainly letterpress with engraved numbering, leaf 9 an additional title-page ‘A specimen of the various characters now principally us’d in printing & writing curiously engrav’d by the best hands, MDCCXXXIII’; II. ff. [i] engraved title page bound horizontally, 2 - 13 leaves of engraved plates, plate 2 signed ‘G. Bickham junr sculp’, plates 5 ‘G. Bickham junr sculp 1732’, plate 6 slightly obscured by possibly ‘Wickham junr sculp’ though could also be G Bickham, plates 9 ‘G. Bickham junr sculp 1733’, and plates 8,…

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    1764-1774?]. Three works in one volume, 8vo; I. ff. [i] engraved frontispiece signed ‘G. Bickham sculp’, [i] engraved title-page, 3 - 61 engraved and letterpress plates of different styles of handwriting, printed on recto only, 57-59 mainly letterpress with engraved numbering, leaf 9 an additional title-page ‘A specimen of the various characters now principally us’d in printing & writing curiously engrav’d by the best hands, MDCCXXXIII’; II. ff. [i] engraved title page bound horizontally, 2 - 13 leaves of engraved plates, plate 2 signed ‘G. Bickham junr sculp’, plates 5 ‘G. Bickham junr sculp 1732’, plate 6 slightly obscured by possibly ‘Wickham junr sculp’ though could also be G Bickham, plates 9 ‘G. Bickham junr sculp 1733’, and plates 8, 10, 11 signed ‘B Cole sculp’; III. pp. 32; all three works lightly browned, with some dust-soiling and spotting, some occasional ink splattering and staining, with more prominent ink stain affecting the fore-edge, and which is more prominent in the final work but not intrusive; in early 20th century green publisher’s cloth, spine ruled and lettered in gilt, extremities lightly rubbed and bumped; with contemporary signature of ‘Mary Stone, February 15 1771’ on front free endpaper, and of ‘Elizabeth Webster, 1758’ on verso of final free endpaper. Bound together three popular 18th century writing manuals and copybooks, of particular appeal bearing as it does the signatures of two contemporary female readers, Mary Stone and Elizabeth Webster.
    The engraver George Bickham is associated with a number of writing manuals, with perhaps his most influential being the ‘Universal Penman’ (1733-1741), a noted collection of writing samples from the most prominent masters of the time. Whilst the Young Clerks Assistant is anonymous, he was responsible for the frontispiece engraving, and a number of the plates in the Picart are signed by either G. Bickham and G. Bickham Junr, with two being dated 1732 and 1733. An additional engraved title-page within the Young Clerks Assistant, ‘A specimen of the various characters now principally us’d in printing & writing curiously engrav’d by the best hands’ is dated 1733. The present copy bears a similarity to ESTC T155495 and which they date to ca. 1764, apparently based on the imprint of the Leekey (printed for C. and R. Ware, 1764). Maxted, however, suggests that Richard Ware only came to be listed individually in directories from 1774-1777 (London Book trades 1775-1800, p. 239). Whilst it is possible that the first two works are here in first editions, it seems more likely that they could all be later issues.
    On the front free endpaper is the inscription ‘Pater Honerandum Mary Stone February 15, 1771’; whilst the final verso bears the signature ‘Elizabeth Webster, 1758, Pater Honorandum 1758’, together with further practice attempts. Of interest honerandum has been spelt with an ‘a’ on the front free endpaper, and with an ‘o’ by Elizabeth.
    All editions appear scarce, and the evidence of female ownership makes the present copy of especial appeal.

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    Bibliography: ESTC T155495 bearing the closest similarity though with a different imprint for the Leekey, and locating copies at Virginia, UCLA, Yale, the British Library, NLW, Oxford and Leeds; Pennsylvania State University hold a copy of this imprint of the Leekey; Maxted, London Book Trades, 1775-1800, p. 239; Heal, English Writing Masters, p. 184 (a variant issue).

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