07-20-201807-21-2018
Skinner Auctions
Skinner AuctionsBoston MA
3117BBoston
July 20, 2018 12:00 PMCalender
20

Boyle, Robert (1627-1691) The Aerial Noctiluca: or Some New Phoenomena, and a Process of Factitious Shelf-Shining Substance.

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Auction: Books & Manuscripts - 3117BLocation: BostonDate / Time: July 20, 2018 12:00PM

Description:

Boyle, Robert (1627-1691) The Aerial Noctiluca: or Some New Phoenomena, and a Process of Factitious Shelf-Shining Substance. London: Printed by Tho. Snowden, and are to be sold by Nath. Ranew, bookseller in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1680. First edition in English, octavo, bound in modern half leather with marbled paper boards, 6 1/2 x 4 in.

"Perhaps the most interesting example of [Boyle's] mixture of interrogation and experimentation concerns noctiluca, the phosphorescent substances brought to [his] attention by J.D. Krafft, [...] and which Boyle wrote up in his The Aerial Noctiluca. This was a typical virtuoso display which capitalised on its strangeness and wonder, while Krafft and the other originators of the substance were careful to protect their rights by keeping the method of preparing it a secret. Boyle however, tried his usual methods." (Quoted from Michael Hunter's Boyle Studies.)

[pi]2, *2, B-H8, (with errata preceding title and final blank, H8, present).
http://estc.bl.uk/R22714
Estimate $4,000-6,000


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Keywords

Michael Hunter, London