THE GENERAL HISTORY OF THE AIR, Designed and Begun by the Honble Robert Boyle Esq.
Pp. xii+260(last advertisement), 4 woodcut text figures; small f'cap. 4to; rebound in period style in full calf, spine decorated in gilt compartments between raised bands, with contrasting gilt lettered red & black leather titling pieces, boards decorated in blind, with a single rule outer border, decorative inner border and central darker brown panel, edges of boards a trifle rubbed; all edges sprinkled red; later endpapers; early inked signature at head of title page, another name (also early) at head of the Advertisement to the Reader, neat repairs to 4 closed marginal tears (pp. 101/2, 117/8, 121/2, 187/8), a couple of spots of foxing and occasional slight soiling; printed for Awnsham and John Churchill, London, 1692. First edition. ESTC R11260; Wing B3981. *A foundational work of pneumatics and meteorology by one of the most influential natural philosophers of the Enlightenment. Published in the year after Boyle's death, it compiles years of his pneumatic experiments, weather journals and barometric readings to understand atmospheric conditions. Publication was overseen by Boyle's friend and collaborator John Locke, whose meteorological observations (A Register kept by Mr. Locke, in Oxford, pp. 104-132) include reference to 'a strange red dim light' seen in Oxford in early September 1666 - an effect of the Great Fire of London. Some of the text at the end is partly in Latin and French. Item #183750
Price: $10,000.00