Description of the double horned Rhinoceros of Sumatra; An Account of the Discoveries made by Dr Galvani, in two letters from Mr Alexander Volta; An account of the Equatorial Instrument; Discovery of a Comet; Observations on Vision; Observations on the Planet Venus, Observations on a current that often prevails to the Westward of Scilly, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London for the year MDCCXCIII; volume 83, two parts in one.

BELL, William; VOLTA, Alexander; SHUCKBURGH, George; GREGORY, Edward; WOLLASTON, Francis; YOUNG, Thomas; HERSCHEL, William.

Published by London: sold by Peter Elmsly, printer to the Royal Society, 1793., London, 1793

About this Item

First edition. Volume 83: two parts in one. Quarto. Pp vi [ii] 131 (1); 26 [2], [iv] 133-232 [viii]. Twenty-two folding plates dated 1793 as numbered, plus three inserted folding tables of figures numbered 1-3 found between pages 122-123. The volume runs: title page, advertisement to the reader, contents, announcement of the Copley medal, text of Part One; separately paginated section Meteorological Journal kept at the apartments of the Royal Society, blank leaf, title page to part two, contents, text to Part Two, index. Contemporary or near contemporary stamped vellum, slightly stained but sound (see photos), contrasting title label to spine, edges speckled, armorial book plate N. Vansittart to front paste-down, book label Winnard?s bequest to flyleaf, foxed to plates and title page, unobtrusive blind stamp to first and least leaves. Contents include the first scientific description of the Rhinoceros by William Bell (pages 3-6); two letters on Galvani by Alexander Volta (In French, pages 10-44); a description of the Shuckburgh telescope (67-128); Description of a Transit Circle by Francis Wollaston; Observations on Vision by Thomas Young, and so on. An important volume in many respects: Volta?s paper is significant, for example, in the introduction of Galvani?s ideas (and where he disagreed with him) into British science, which later was to influence Mary Shelley?s depiction of Frankenstein. Young?s paper on vision is equally pioneering, as is Bell?s description of the Rhinoceros and so on. Complete and correct but please note the marks on the vellum cover, and the slight foxing. The armorial bookplate N. Vansittart (1766-1851) is of an interesting man; politician, financier, philanthropist, Lord Chancellor, and one of the founders of King?s College London, he himself was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society 1822. A nice provenance, then, to have a volume of the Philosophical Transactions that belonged to one of its Fellows.

Seller Inventory # D050401

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Description of the double horned Rhinoceros of Sumatra; An Account of the Discoveries made by Dr Galvani, in two letters from Mr Alexander Volta; An account of the Equatorial Instrument; Discovery of a Comet; Observations on Vision; Observations on the Planet Venus, Observations on a current that often prevails to the Westward of Scilly, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London for the year MDCCXCIII; volume 83, two parts in one.
• Publisher: London: sold by Peter Elmsly, printer to the Royal Society, 1793., London
• Publication Date: 1793
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Science and Technology
  • Literature
  • Eighteenth century