Recreative Science: A Record and Remembrancer of Intellectual Observation, Two Volumes in One

Lowe, E. J.; Hibberd, Shirley; Friswell, J. Hain;

Published by Groombridge and Sons, London, 1861

About this Item

Leather_bound. Identify night-flying moths, conduct 'science on the sea-shore' scouring for flints and sponges, play with gyroscopes and kaleidoscopic color-tops, collect and preserve your own fungi, chart the stars, and face your fears with a microscopic study of the common house-spider, all through this fantastically illustrated and handsomely bound 730-page tome, containing two of the three volumes of Recreative Science (1860-1862) issued before its reinvention as The Intellectual Observer (1862-68). Science for "amusement as well as instruction," for repose, refreshment, and recreation, of course, was the working hypothesis of the short-lived Victorian periodical Recreative Science, which offered readers personal research and popular science demonstrations they could try in their own backyard, spanning astronomy, natural history, microscopic study, botany, photography, taxidermy, ancient Roman numismatics, biographies of scientists like biogeographical pioneer Alexander von Humboldt, and more. Regular features included "Wayside Weeds and Their Teachings," meteorological and astronomical observations by Edward Joseph Lowe at his private observatory in Nottingham, and "Mr. Noteworthy's Corner" introducing and reviewing new scientific assertions, like Darwin and Tegetmeier's evolutionary study of bee's hexagonal-shaped cells. As beautifully stated in the first pages of Recreative Science in 1860, "Nature must supply the warp and woof from which the imagination is to weave the web of enchantment; if it be pleasant to gather the material, how much more so to behold the first thread, then the indication of the pattern, and at last the completed picture." 8 1/2" X 7". 367pp; 364pp; bound as one volume. Halfbound in red calfskin, with spine lettered in gilt over a black leather label and decorated in gilt and in blind within five banded compartments, and marbled paper over boards, matching marbled edges. Moderate edgewear to binding, with chipping to marbled paper at edges, rubbing to exterior hinges, scuffing to boards, and gentle bumping to corners. Binding is firm, sound, and square. Occasional scattered foxing to pages throughout, heaviest at preliminaries. Illustrated thoroughly in figures and decorative headpieces throughout.

Seller Inventory # 17312

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Recreative Science: A Record and Remembrancer of Intellectual Observation, Two Volumes in One
• Publisher: Groombridge and Sons, London
• Publication Date: 1861
• Binding: Leather_bound
• Condition: Very good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Illustrated Books
  • Medicine & Technology
  • Science & Nature
  • Decorative Bindings