Details
[LIEBIG, Justus von (1803-1873)]. J. P. HOFMANN. Acht Tafeln zur Beschreibung des chemischen Laboratoriums zu Giessen [wrapper title]. Heidelberg: C. J. Winter; London: Taylor and Walton, 1842.
Atlas volume only, 2o (440 x 293 mm). 8 lithographed plates, of which one tinted chalk lithograph by I. M. Bayrer (dated 1841), and 7 double-page pen-and-ink lithographs, including an interior view of the laboratory with students at work, by Trautschold und v. Ritgen. Original boards, original paper title label on upper cover (rebacked in modern cloth, some staining and soiling).
FIRST EDITION, VERY RARE. Among Liebig's most important achievements was his construction of a fully equipped instructional laboratory at the University of Giessen, the first of its kind. "Liebig's first laboratory consisted of one unventilated room, containing a large coal oven in the center and benches around the walls. Liebig had to buy most of the supplies and pay his assistant from his own modest salary. Nevertheless this laboratory saw the beginning of a whole new mode of training scientists. It was the first institution deliberately designed to enable a number of students to progress systematically from elementary operations to independent research under the guidance of an established scientist" (DSB). The laboratory, which underwent improvements in 1839, attracted all the most serious students of chemistry throughout Europe, and most of the great chemists of the second half of the 19th century received their training there. Liebig later had a larger laboratory built in Munich. This rare suite of plates consists of an exterior and interior view of the Giessen laboratory and 6 plates showing a plan and elevation and details of apparatus. It was issued with an accompanying octavo text volume with descriptive text by Liebig, not present in the Norman copy. It is "of the greatest rarity... The work was printed in a very small edition only, and most copies were given away by Liebig, when he answered questions about the installation of his famous laboratory... Only very few perfect copies are known; especially the interior view, with portraits of his students, is missing from most copies" (Duveen). Liebig's laboratory in Giessen is still preserved as a museum. Duveen, p. 360; Norman 1350A.
Atlas volume only, 2o (440 x 293 mm). 8 lithographed plates, of which one tinted chalk lithograph by I. M. Bayrer (dated 1841), and 7 double-page pen-and-ink lithographs, including an interior view of the laboratory with students at work, by Trautschold und v. Ritgen. Original boards, original paper title label on upper cover (rebacked in modern cloth, some staining and soiling).
FIRST EDITION, VERY RARE. Among Liebig's most important achievements was his construction of a fully equipped instructional laboratory at the University of Giessen, the first of its kind. "Liebig's first laboratory consisted of one unventilated room, containing a large coal oven in the center and benches around the walls. Liebig had to buy most of the supplies and pay his assistant from his own modest salary. Nevertheless this laboratory saw the beginning of a whole new mode of training scientists. It was the first institution deliberately designed to enable a number of students to progress systematically from elementary operations to independent research under the guidance of an established scientist" (DSB). The laboratory, which underwent improvements in 1839, attracted all the most serious students of chemistry throughout Europe, and most of the great chemists of the second half of the 19th century received their training there. Liebig later had a larger laboratory built in Munich. This rare suite of plates consists of an exterior and interior view of the Giessen laboratory and 6 plates showing a plan and elevation and details of apparatus. It was issued with an accompanying octavo text volume with descriptive text by Liebig, not present in the Norman copy. It is "of the greatest rarity... The work was printed in a very small edition only, and most copies were given away by Liebig, when he answered questions about the installation of his famous laboratory... Only very few perfect copies are known; especially the interior view, with portraits of his students, is missing from most copies" (Duveen). Liebig's laboratory in Giessen is still preserved as a museum. Duveen, p. 360; Norman 1350A.