Das geheimen Raths, Ritters - von Sömmerring Briefe an den G. R. Freih. v. Moll auszugsweise besond. Abdruk aus des Lezteren Mittheilungen aus sein. Briefwechsel.

Augsburg, [von Moll], 1835. 8vo (20.6 x 12.6 cm). Contemporary marbled boards. Brown morocco label with gilt title on the spine. A very rare work collecting the letters send by the polymath Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring (1755-1830) to the Austrian naturalist Karl Maria E(h)renbert Freiherr von Moll (1760-1838), with explanatory annotations by the latter. Von Moll published this in his Mittheilungen aus seinem Briefwechsel, (see Poggendorff) published in just 50 copies, but this an even rarer offprint with new title page, which is entirely unrecorded. OCLC does not report any copy. Sömmerring - or Soemmerring - ".was a German physician, anatomist, anthropologist, paleontologist and inventor. Sömmerring discovered the macula in the retina of the human eye. His investigations on the brain and the nervous system, on the sensory organs, on the embryo and its malformations, on the structure of the lungs, etc., made him one of the most important German anatomists. . When Sömmerring was 23 years old he described the organization of the cranial nerves as part of this doctoral work: its study is still valid today. He published many writings in the fields of medicine, anatomy and neuroanatomy, anthropology, paleontology, astronomy and philosophy. Among other things he wrote about fossil crocodiles and in 1812 he described Ornithocephalus antiquus now known as Pterodactylus. He was also the first to accurately draw a representation of the female skeleton structure. In addition, Sömmerring was a very creative inventor, having designed a telescope for astronomical observations and an electrical telegraph in 1809. He worked on the refinement of wines, sunspots and many diverse other things. In 1811 he developed the first telegraphic system in Bavaria" (Wikipedia). Von Moll was ".[f]rom 1790 to 1804 . chancellor of the exchequer for Salzburg, afterwards residing in Munich and Augsburg, where he devoted his energies to natural history. In 1807 he became a member of the Academie der Wissenschaften in Munich, where up until 1827, he served as secretary in the class of mathematics and physics. During his career he amassed a library of 80,000 books, including many rare volumes on natural history. He also owned a diverse collection of zoological specimens, a significant herbarium in which Alpine flora was well represented, and an impressive mineral collection, of which, a portion was bought by the British Museum" (Wikipedia). A few pencilled marginalia, otherwise a well-preserved, clean copy. Poggendorff II, 1430.