![LEEUWENHOEK (Anthony van, 1632-1723) Send-Brieven zoo can de... Koninklyke Societeit te Londen Delft, Adrianus Beman, 1718. [With:] Epistolae physiologicae super compluribus naturae arcanis. Delft: Adrianus Beman, 1719.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2019/CKS/2019_CKS_17700_0299_001(leeuwenhoek_send-brieven_zoo_can_de_koninklyke_societeit_te_londen_del123702).jpg?w=1)
![LEEUWENHOEK (Anthony van, 1632-1723) Send-Brieven zoo can de... Koninklyke Societeit te Londen Delft, Adrianus Beman, 1718. [With:] Epistolae physiologicae super compluribus naturae arcanis. Delft: Adrianus Beman, 1719.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2019/CKS/2019_CKS_17700_0299_000(leeuwenhoek_send-brieven_zoo_can_de_koninklyke_societeit_te_londen_del120911).jpg?w=1)
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LEEUWENHOEK (Anthony van, 1632-1723) Send-Brieven zoo can de... Koninklyke Societeit te Londen Delft, Adrianus Beman, 1718. [With:] Epistolae physiologicae super compluribus naturae arcanis. Delft: Adrianus Beman, 1719.
First edition in the original Dutch and first edition in Latin of this series of letters by the pioneer of microbiology Van Leeuwenhoek, who ‘for fifty years [...] patiently and painstakingly documented the hidden realms of nature in a way no one had done before him. […] Early in his career as a scientist, he observed what he described as animalcules or "little animals" [dierkens] in water, and from then on he described in considerable detail a spectrum of microorganisms never before detected, including bacteria, protozoa, and rotifers’ (Grolier Medicine). During his lifetime Leeuwenhoek published 165 letters describing his microscopic observations, individually or in collections, arranging them in series with Arabic or Roman numerals. These two volumes contain letters I-XLVI (the first letters were numbered 28-146, letters 1-27 were not published separately). These letters were Leeuwenhoek's main means of communication with the Royal Society and, since he wrote no monographs nor taught students, provide the original source material for the discoveries and observations of one of history's greatest microscopists. Dobell 19 and 28; Wellcome III, p. 476; see Grolier Medicine 37; see PMM 166.
2 volumes, octavo (196 x 152mm). First work with engraved title, both works with 31 plates of which 10 folding. Near-uniform contemporary Dutch stiff vellum, first work with panelled sides stamped in blind with floral corner-pieces and a central arabesque, flat spine lettered in ink (upper side lightly soiled), second work in plain vellum, titling and shelfmark labels on spine.
First edition in the original Dutch and first edition in Latin of this series of letters by the pioneer of microbiology Van Leeuwenhoek, who ‘for fifty years [...] patiently and painstakingly documented the hidden realms of nature in a way no one had done before him. […] Early in his career as a scientist, he observed what he described as animalcules or "little animals" [dierkens] in water, and from then on he described in considerable detail a spectrum of microorganisms never before detected, including bacteria, protozoa, and rotifers’ (Grolier Medicine). During his lifetime Leeuwenhoek published 165 letters describing his microscopic observations, individually or in collections, arranging them in series with Arabic or Roman numerals. These two volumes contain letters I-XLVI (the first letters were numbered 28-146, letters 1-27 were not published separately). These letters were Leeuwenhoek's main means of communication with the Royal Society and, since he wrote no monographs nor taught students, provide the original source material for the discoveries and observations of one of history's greatest microscopists. Dobell 19 and 28; Wellcome III, p. 476; see Grolier Medicine 37; see PMM 166.
2 volumes, octavo (196 x 152mm). First work with engraved title, both works with 31 plates of which 10 folding. Near-uniform contemporary Dutch stiff vellum, first work with panelled sides stamped in blind with floral corner-pieces and a central arabesque, flat spine lettered in ink (upper side lightly soiled), second work in plain vellum, titling and shelfmark labels on spine.
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