Lettres qui decouvrent l'illusion des philosophes sur la baguette, et qui detruisent leurs systemes.

Paris, Jean Boudot, 1696. 12mo (13.0 x 7.0 cm). Title page in black and red. xxvi, 255 pp.; text engraving, two engraved plates. Period-style full mottled calf. Spine with four raised, gilt-stippled bands; compartments with gilt vignettes and corner pieces; red morocco label with gilt title. Marbled endpapers. Edges speckled red. = A rare work on dowsing rods, or "baguettes" (i.e., the same word used for the popular, archetypal French bread), written by the French Roman catholic priest Pierre Le Brun (or Lebrun) (1661-1729). Le Brun was an early sceptic, denouncing dowsing, or divining, in this work. Although not stated, this is a second (title) edition (first: 1693). The elegant binding shows skilled craftmanship. On the front pastedown a trimmed mineralogical bookplate of the French mineralogist and professor at the École des Mines, Claude Jean Guy Guillemin (1923-1994), who was a co-founder of the International Mineralogical Association. Internally a very good, clean copy. Rare in any state. Neither in Thorndyke, nor in Brunet.