The first French treatise on microscopy

• Two volumes in one volume in-4, full marbled calf, spine ribbed, decorated boxes, XX- 38 pp., 14 f. of pl. del. ; [2]- 124 pp., 15 f. of pl. del. ; VI-78 pp. ; 27 pp. , 24 f. of pl. del. Tiny wear. Very fresh copy.

Second posthumous and expanded edition (the first in 1718) of the first French treatise on microscopy and protozoa discovered in the previous century by the Dutch merchant and scholar Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. The first part takes up Joblot's observations: “Description of a kind of Fly which is usually seen on the surface of Wine and on that of Vinegar”, “Salts in general”, “New discoveries of Animals found in an infusion tinder", "Of the Fish which I named Aries, seen in stagnant water", etc. The second deals with the construction of the microscope: “Description and use of a new universal microscope, with two, three and four glasses”, “How much the lenses magnify”, “Description and use of a very small mounted microscope of a single lens", etc. Illustrated with 53 folding plates with text embellished with 4 identical historiated banners depicting the author observing under a microscope. Joblot (1645-1723) was professor of geometry at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and the inventor of numerous microscopes.