Search Results: Titles starting with T from Edmund Brumfitt Rare Books Ltd

8vo, pp. xl, 305, [1] errata], [3] contents, [1] imprimatur; engraved headpieces throughout, and the vast majority of pages illustrated with engraved diagrams; some foxing throughout, only heavy in one or two places; ownership signature of Wm. Wilson, dated 1913, on front free endpaper; in contemporary calf, spine gilt in compartments with raised bands, gilt morocco lettering-piece; very light wear but an attractive copy.
First edition of the best-known work of the French mathematician and physicist Alexis Claude Clairaut (1713-1765), in which he demonstrates that the shape of the Earth was that of an oblate spheroid, flattened at the poles and wider at the equator, being held in hydrostatic equilibrium.
The observational underpinnings to Clairaut's conclusions came from an expedition he had taken in 1736 to Lapland, under the auspices of the Académie des sciences, in the company of Maupertuis, Celsius, and others, with the aim of measuring the length of one degree of latitude; Clairaut's role in the… Read More

12mo, pp. [x], 90, 43, [1] blank; with four folding leaves of plates at end; woodcut headpiece and initial on p. [iii]; small tear to bottom corner of F1 with loss of a couple of letters, and small marginal dampstain to least few leaves, not affecting text, but otherwise clean and fresh throughout; in contemporary calf, spine with raised bands and gilt morocco lettering-piece; some wear and bumping, with suggestions of very old repairs, but still a good copy.
First edition, rare, of what may be the first treatise dedicated to the history and practice of road-building, also the first work by the Languedoc engineer Henri Gautier (or Gaulthier, 1660-1737).
Gautier notes in his preface that the architectural treatises he knows tend to deal only in general principles rather than particularities, and that he is unaware of any writer who has covered road-building. The present work is an attempt to rectify this. Over the course of eleven chapters, he examines the principles, techniques, and usage of Roman… Read More

4to, pp. xvi, [iv], 197, [2] approbation, [1] blank; with five engraved plates; woodcut title vignette and head- and tailpieces; occasional very light foxing, but largely clean and fresh thoughout; uncut in contemporary pink boards, title in ink at head of spine; binding partly detached from bookblock, joints worn, and a few ink and other marks on covers, but still an attractive copy.
First edition, uncommon outside France, of this guide to the keeping of English sheep, with particular focus on the land management that enables their grazing.
Encouraged by the late civil engineer and administrator Daniel-Charles Trudaine, Mante's first aim is to advise on the raising of English sheep in the face of a degree of French prejudice against them, but he wants to emphasise that it is through proper land management and the creation of 'terres labourées, prairies artificielles' that this is best to be accomplished. The creation of these is 'a true conquest, an acquisition, an appropriation that enriches one… Read More

8vo, pp. [x], [i] errata, [i] blank, iii-clxxix, [i] blank, [iv] repeated pages, 78; some gatherings uniformly browned due to paper quality, but otherwise, aside from very occasional light spotting, clean and fresh throughout; in contemporary red boards, spine ruled and lettered in gilt; very slight wear, but an attractive copy with the book-label of the château de Barante on front paste-down.
A lovely copy of this comprehensive survey of the theory and practice of the treatment of cholera, by the Italian physician and patriot Michele Buniva (1761-1834), with a supplement in French containing observations on the 1818 epidemic in Bengal by the French naval surgeon J.J. Deville.
The boy of Buniva's study is divided into three parts: the first discusses the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cholera, examining its relationship with other diseases such as yellow fever, the relationship with humidity, and the notion that it cholera is sui generis, unlike any other kind of contagion. Buniva examines… Read More

4to, pp. 20; woodcut armorial device on title-page, and headpiece; wormhole to foot of title, a couple of marginal nicks, and some browning throughout, but otherwise clean; in contemporary patterned wrappers, slightly chipped at head of spine, but an attractive copy.
Very rare account of the gathering of the Collegio Ducale in Correggio in Emilia, held over three days in September 1787, to celebrate the achievements of students with demonstrations from the students of their proficiency in discussing various matters; these range from the nature of chronology, and the ways in which days, weeks, months, and years have historically been understood, to questions of heraldry, the history of the Old Testament, and Roman history. These are interspersed with numerous performances, both of extemporised verse votes of thanks, and of music by the students, ranging from solo keyboard recitals to pieces of chamber music (including one uncommonly scored for two keyboards, four violins, and a flute, which doubtless… Read More