First Edition Include 20 Page Article (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Macquer [Pierre-Joseph] Dictionnaire de chymie, contenant la théorie et la pratique de cette science . Seconde edition, revue & considérablement augmentée. Paris, P.Fr. Didot jeune, 1778. 4 volumes in 8vo. xxxvi + [3] + 568p; [4] + 655 + [1 blank]p; [4] + 520p; [4] + 776 + [4]p + advertisement leaf numbered 335* - 336*. 3 ornamental woodcut headpieces; Contemporary mottled calf, back-strips gilt with gilt-stamped morocco title and number labels; marbled endpapers, book blocks painted in red; light wear to corners. Pierre-Joseph Macquer (1718-84) first published his celebrated chemical encyclopaedia in 1766 in two volumes, when he was appointed inspector of dye works. The present much enlarged second edition comprising four volumes is the first to include the twenty-page article on dyeing (pp22-53) in volume iv containing also a subject index (pp335-754), an author's index (pp755-774) and [4]p errata. Macquer believed that the fastening of colour particles to textile fibres depended on the degree of affinity between dye substance and fibre; he divided dyes into three classes, those needing no preparation (substantival dyes), those such as indigo which required treatment such as fermentation before they could be used, and the majority which were based on the application of mordant (adjectival dyes). A few isolated worm holes in first quire of second volume, tailend blank title margin of volume 4 lightly iscoloured, otherwise an attractive set, in original state. Dictionary of Science Biography, viii, 619; Neville II, p113.