BOYLE, Robert (1627-1691). Experiments, Notes, &c. about the Mechanical Origine or Production of divers particular Qualities. London: E. Flesher, for R. Davis, 1676 [all but penultimate sub-title dated 1675].

Details
BOYLE, Robert (1627-1691). Experiments, Notes, &c. about the Mechanical Origine or Production of divers particular Qualities. London: E. Flesher, for R. Davis, 1676 [all but penultimate sub-title dated 1675].

11 parts in one volume, 8o (175 x 102 mm). Without the inserted leaf * containing "Directions for the Book-binder" on recto and errata on verso. (Some occasional minor marginal soiling.) Contemporary English sheep (rebacked in calf, corners repaired). Provenance: early signature on title deleted; Will Stanley (early signature on title-page).

FIRST EDITION, second state title-page dated 1676 (and presumably a cancel). The most important tracts in this collection of pamphlets are those relating to electricity and magnetism, in which Boyle refutes the Aristotelian explanations of these phenomena. The final tract, entitled Experiments and Notes about the Mechanical Origine or Production of Electricity (sub-title dated 1676), is the first work on electricity in the English language. The tracts on taste and smell are the first monographs devoted to these senses. Fulton Boyle 124; NLM/Krivatsy 1704; Wing B-3977; Norman 303.