nollet abbe franklin benjamin (1 résultats)

Hardcover. Etat : Fine. No Jacket. Third edition of Part I, first edition of Part II & Part III of the Abbé Nollet's letters on electricity five of which are addressed to Benjamin Franklin with eight finely engraved folding plates, fully complete in 3 volumes. The first menace [to Nollet's theory] was the Philadelphia theory of the Leyden jar, which unfortunately for Nollet had been discovered just after the system of effluence and affluence Nollet, eager to retain the standard theory of electrical motions, insisted on transparency and mechanical action Nollet recognized these menaces and replied in an amusing set of Lettres sur l'electricité (1753), containing a wealth of counterexamples which drew their strength from Franklin's occasional obscurities, imprecisions, exaggerations and inappropriate appeals to traditional effluvial models [Nollet's] tireless ingenuity, expressed in seven memoirs and two more volumes of Lettres, kept the Academy bamboozled until his death in 1770" (DSB With 12 intaglio figures. At H. L. Guerin & L. F. Delatour, 1760, Paris, new edition, then, by Durand, 1767. 3 volumes in 12 format including Volume I: XII, 251 pages, 4 intaglio foldable figures; Volume II: slightly different title "Letters [.] In which the principle of simultaneous effluences & affluences against Mr. Franklin & against the new claims of his supporters", XII, 4 intaglio figures leaflets; Volume III: with a slightly different title "Letters [.] that have been discovered since 1760 with discussions on the consequences that can be drawn", by Durand, 1767, XVI, 295 pages, 4 intaglio figures leaflets. All in a superb uniform binding in tawny calfskin, nerve back with richly ornamented caissons, slices of golden dishes, red slices, beautiful ex-libris from French Nobleman Louis Antoine Paul Bourbon Busset (1753-1802), dated 1793. Very nice set in perfect condition and particularly fine & fresh. Now housed in a red custom clamshell box with leather label.