De l'araneologie ou sur la découverte du rapport constant entre l'apparition ou la disparition, le travail ou le repos le plus ou le moins d'étendue des toiles et des fils d'attaches des araignées, des différentes espèces et les variations atmosphériques du beau temps à la pluie, du sec à l'humide, mais principalement du chaud au froid et de la gelée à glace au véritable dégel.

Paris, J. J. Fuchs, 1797; Paris, La Tour de Babel, 1844. Two papers in one. 8vo. (20.6 x 12.0 cm). Half-title and title page, 3, 164 pp.; half-title, title, [iii], 156 pp. Mid-19th century gilt-bordered half calf over marbled boards. Spine with four raised, stipple gilted bands, compartments with gilt borders and title. Marbled endpapers, marbled edges. = A fine copy of this so-called "nouvelle édition" (a much expanded version of the 1795 first edition) published under the title "De l'Araneologie" and generaly considered the true first edition of this peculiar work of Denis-Bernard Quatremere-Disjonval (1754-1830), a notorious French chemist. He was banished from Paris by Napoleon; he was a member of the French Academy of Science, but was expelled after going bankrupt; he went to Holland, but was imprisoned at Utrecht for his bizarre ideas. In this period he learned to predict the weather by studying spiders and their webs and predicted cold weather within 12 days when Utrecht was besieged by the French in the winter of 1795. The prediction was smuggled from the prison to the French general, who then decided to wait until the waters froze and when they did, marched on the ice with his troops and captured the city. He then released the "araneologist" and soon captured all of Holland. Added in the rear, and taking up about half the volume a work by the medical doctor, poet, archeologist, numismatist, etc., etc., Claude-Charles Pierquin de Gembloux (1798-1863): "Idiomologie des animaux ou recherches historiques, anatomiques, physiologiques, philologiques et glossologiques sur la language des bêtes". In this work Gembloux developed a theory that before the Deluge human beings and animals spoke the same language. After the biblical Flood animals kept their way of expression while mankind expanded his. Pencil annotations (about Quatremere) on front free endpaper verso and first blank. Last leaf of Quatremere's work a bit creased and soiled, otherwise very good, clean. The fine binding is probably done shortly after publication of de Gembloux' work. Bonnet, p. 532; Cat. BM(NH) p. 1627 (for the German edition). Neither in Hagen, nor in Horn-Schenkling.