.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Details
STELLER, Georg Wilhelm (1709-1746). “De Bestiis Marinis”, in Novi Commentarii Academiae Scientarium Imperialis Petropolitanae, volume II. St. Petersburg: Press of the Academy of Sciences, 1751.
The first edition, in the original wrappers, of “this important work […] on marine animals” (Lada-Mocarski). Steller was the naturalist on Vitus Bering’s second voyage. The sea cow described here and named after him was hunted to extinction within 30 years of Steller’s discovery: its only habitat was unfortunately close to the sea route charted by Bering and quickly exploited by fur traders and seal hunters. Plates XIV-XVI, the first representations of Steller's sea lions, are present and in fine condition. The text was edited by G.F. Müller after Steller's untimely death. Steller’s essay appears at pages 289-398; other contributors include Euler on Fermat’s theorem, Kratzenstein on navigation and the perpetual clock, and Lomonosov on the anemometer, among others. Lada-Mocarski 4; Wickersham 6118.
Quarto (272 x 220mm, with deckle edges). 17 (of 18) folding engraved plates, engraved title vignette (lacking plate number 3 [not related to Steller] evidently an oversight by the binder; occasional light minor spotting, occasional light browning). Uncut and unopened in the original drab paper wrappers (short tear near the spine foot, light wear); in a custom grey buckram clamshell case. Provenance: Helmut Schwarzfischer, bookseller.
The first edition, in the original wrappers, of “this important work […] on marine animals” (Lada-Mocarski). Steller was the naturalist on Vitus Bering’s second voyage. The sea cow described here and named after him was hunted to extinction within 30 years of Steller’s discovery: its only habitat was unfortunately close to the sea route charted by Bering and quickly exploited by fur traders and seal hunters. Plates XIV-XVI, the first representations of Steller's sea lions, are present and in fine condition. The text was edited by G.F. Müller after Steller's untimely death. Steller’s essay appears at pages 289-398; other contributors include Euler on Fermat’s theorem, Kratzenstein on navigation and the perpetual clock, and Lomonosov on the anemometer, among others. Lada-Mocarski 4; Wickersham 6118.
Quarto (272 x 220mm, with deckle edges). 17 (of 18) folding engraved plates, engraved title vignette (lacking plate number 3 [not related to Steller] evidently an oversight by the binder; occasional light minor spotting, occasional light browning). Uncut and unopened in the original drab paper wrappers (short tear near the spine foot, light wear); in a custom grey buckram clamshell case. Provenance: Helmut Schwarzfischer, bookseller.