Descrizione

Large 8vo. (4), 314 pp. With figural woodcut vignette on title-page, 1 printed and 6 engraved folding plates of tables. Contemporary marbled calf with giltstamped title to gilt spine. Leading edges gilt. Edges in red. First edition of one of the most important works in the history of modern chemistry. "To persuade a new generation of chemists to join their ranks and to complete what Lavoisier had envisaged since 1773 - a revolution in chemistry - these men brought out a collaborative work, the 'Méthode [.]'. Originally suggested by Guyton de Morveau to eliminate the confused synonymy of chemistry, and prefaced by a memoir of Lavoisier, it emerged as a complete break with the past" (DSB VIII, 80). The result of this collaboration by de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, de Fourcroy, Laplace, and Monge is the system presented within the present work, which was to form the basis for the nomenclature still used today, the language of modern chemistry. "The work lists 55 known elements in a series of tables, introducing many new terms which have remained in standard use" (Norman Cat., 604). - Spine-ends damaged; lower corner of front cover bumped. Slight worming to front hinge (small defect at top end). Some browning and finger-smudging inside. First engraved plate water-stained. Front pastedown with contemp. French bookseller's label of the Viennese bookseller Jean-Baptiste Mangot (cf. Öhlberger, p. 203 and 290). - Duveen 340. Duveen/Klickstein 126. Honeyman 1936. Norman 1291. DSB VIII, 87.