[Rarebooks] FS: 1733 Aurora Borealis w/Engraved Plates

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

“Traite Physique et Historique de l'Aurore Bore'ale”
By Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan.

Published in Paris; l'Imprimerie Royale in 1733.

The first edition of a classic and beautiful work on the Aurora 
Borealis. Mairan (1678-1771) believed the phenomena to be attributable 
to "zodiacal light" and an extension of the Sun's atmosphere into our 
own. The plates, which were engraved by Philippe Simonneau, illustrate 
declinations as well as a number of views of the lights, with views of 
the lights at Giessen on the 17th of February, 1721, and Brevillepont on 
the 26th of September, 1726, the 19th of October, 1726 and the 6th of 
September, 1731. The problem of illustrating light with the engraver's 
tool is a daunting one, but Simonneau has created a series of evocative, 
vivid impressions.

Mairan was an interesting man, a member of the Academie Royale des 
Sciences, and a fellow of the Royal Society in London, with a wide 
circle of correspondence. He wrote a popular treatise on the formation 
of ice, and became interested in ancient China and Egypt, theorizing 
that the ancient Egyptians had established a colony in China. This book, 
the first major study of the Aurora, was reissued in 1754 with two 
additional plates.

Hardcover. 8"x10", [8] 281, [i] pages, 15 engraved folding plates; bound 
in full period polished calf with gilt spine decorations, marbled 
endpapers. With a handsome engraved armorial bookplate (unidentified) 
and a small, modern label. Some separation along the front hinge, but 
the cords are tight (please see the photo). Some cover soil and 
scuffing, small hole in the blank endsheet opposite the title page (see 
below), minor internal soil, but wide-margined and quite nice.  $500 
net, special price today.

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Fine books of the 16th-20th centuries
on the decorative and fine arts & design

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