Milestones of Science Books

KLEIN, Jacob Theodor.

Historiae piscium naturalis promovendae missus primus (--quintus).

Leipzig/Gdansk: Gleiditsch/Litteris Schreiberianis, 1740.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #003648

Leipzig: Gleiditsch, Gdansk: Litteris Schreiberianis, 1740-1749. 5 parts in one volume. 4to (272 x 213 mm). Folding engraved portrait of the author bound as frontispiece, each part with separate title, engraved title-vignette, engraved headpiece and woodcut initial. 53 engraved plates (49 folding) in total, engraved text illustration, woodcut tailpiece and 3 errata leaves. Vol. I (1740): [2], 35 [1] pp., 6 engraved plates (numbered I-VI) on 5 sheets (2 folding); vol. II (1741): [6], 38, [2] pp., 4 folding engraved plates (numbered I-IV); vol. III (1742): [4], 46, [2] pp., 7 folding engraved plates (numbered I-VII, brown staining to gutter of two plates); vol. IV (1744): [6], 68 pp., 16 folding engraved plates (numbered I* and I-XV); vol. V (1749): [4], 102, [2] pp., 20 engraved folding plates (numbered I-XX), engraved text illustration and final errata leaf. 53 engraved plates in total. Contemporary polished vellum, gilt-lettered spine, dark-blue dyed edges, original endpapers (boards slightly bowed, vellum somewhat dust-soiled). Little even browning and occasional spotting of text and plates, a bit stronger to final part, one plate with split at fold. Provenance: Michael Morgenbesser (armorial bookplate to front pastedown with the motto of Leopoldina Academy "nunquam otiosus" and a monogrammed "M", further armorial bookplate to first flyleaf lettered "MONICA". A very cood, clean and wide-margined copy in untouched binding. Complete. ----

Nissen ZBI 2204; Bosgoed Bibl. Ichthy. 112. FIRST EDITION, and exceptionally rare when complete. RBM-AE records the last complete copy sold at auction in 1966 (Sothebys NY, lot no. 140). The Prussian naturalist and zoologist Klein (1685-1759) used his many travels to build up one of the most extensive private natural history collections of the 18th century. For reasons that are not clear, he sold it in 1740 to Margrave Friedrich von Brandenburg-Bayreuth, who installed the collection in Bayreuth Castle. This work is Klein's most important on ichthyology which lists a total of 61 types of fish including some new species. - Visit our website to see more images!

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