[Rarebooks] fa: THE SCHOOL OF WISDOM or REPOSITORY OF THE MOST VALUABLE CURIOSITIES - 1776

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, July 12. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/onqyjs8

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.

The School of Wisdom; or Repository of the most valuable Curiosities of Art & Nature… Gainsborough: Printed by John Mozley; and sold by J. F. and C. Rivington, London, 1776. FIRST EDITION. Small 8vo (18 cm) in modern half diced calf and marbled boards; xii + 324 pp. Alston III.317a; ESTC T128783.

The first edition, with an unusual provincial imprint, of this popular compendium of useful knowledge that went through at least four more editions by 1800, including editions published in London, Philadelphia and New Brunswick, NJ. As the extended subtitle indicates, the work covers a lot of ground, as befits a product of the Age of Enlightenment, with sections on: the Soul of Man; Astronomy; Gravity; meteorology; zoology; anatomy ("with the most wonderful Properties of the Eye fully described"); Drawing, Painting (with helpful tips on "the mixing and compounding of Colours"), Gilding, Etching, Engraving, &c.; Dying Linen, Leather, &c.; making Porcelain after the Chinese Manner; the whole Art of Pyrotechny or Fire-works; Oratory, Morality and Politeness; &c., &c.

Leaves toned with some browning to the edges; occasional small spots and touches of soiling; a few pages printed more faintly than the rest, occasionally affecting legibility; text block a bit bumped at the corners with some loss to the bottom corners of the first twenty leaves or so, not affecting any text; otherwise sound and firmly bound.