Paris - Pavie, Pierre J. Duplain, 1787.
Three 8vo (195x119 mm), vol. 1: (6)-cxiv-352 pages and 6 plates / vol. 2: (4)-730-(2) pages / vol. 3: (4)-xcvi-413 pages and 3 plates. binding : Contemporary full mottled calf, spine gilt in six compartments, title and volume number in gilt on lettering-pieces, red edges. Corners and two caps chipped. Binding rubbed with very minor lacks. Very fresh copy.
references: DSB [ XII, p. 553-567 : "Among the many dedicated natural philosophers of the eighteenth century, Spallanzani stands preeminent for applying bold and imaginative experimental methods to an extraordinay range of hypotheses and phenomena. His main scientific interests were biological and he acquired a mastery of microscopy; [...] His ingenious and painstaking researches illuminated the physiology of blood circulation and of digestion in man and animals and also of reproduction and respiration in animals and plants. The relentless thoroughness of his work on the animalcules of infusions discredited the doctrine of spontaneous generation and pointed the way to preservation of foodstuffs by heat. [...] The sections on digestion and on reproduction, translated by Senebier appeared separately. These two dissertations in french, added to the Opuscules, were republished as Oeuvres de M. L'Abbé Spallanzani, 3 vols. (Pavia - Paris, 1787)." ].
provenance: Bibliothèque du château des Ormes (bookplate).
Price : 500 €