Title-Pages

The University of Sydney library’s rare books department is running an on-line exhibition entitled Origins of Modernity which displays example pages, with commentary, from ‘over 140 original volumes of the most important works in the emergence of modern thought and culture.’ In many cases, it is the books’ title-pages that are on show, many of them very fine examples of the splendidly verbose typographical façades one associates with 17th and 18th Century publications. I’ve snipped some details, below, from a few of these pages: click on the images to see them in full, in situ, on the relevant exhibition page.

Hales, Stephen (1677-1761); Vegetable staticks, or, An account of some statical experiments on the sap in vegetables : being an essay towards a natural history of vegetation. Also a specimen of an attempt to analyse the air, by a great variety of chymio-statical experiments; which were read at several meetings before the Royal Society… London: Printed for W. and J. Innys; and T. Woodward, 1727.

Power, Henry (1623-1668); Experimental philosophy, in three books: containing new experiments microscopical, mercurial, magnetical: with some deductions, and probable hypotheses, raised from them, in avouchment and illustration of the now famous atomical hypothesis. London: Printed by T. Roycroft, for John Martin and James Allestry…, 1664.

’s Gravesande, Willem Jacob (1688-1742); Mathematical elements of natural philosophy, confirm’d by experiments, or, An introduction to Sir Isaac Newton’s philosophy written in Latin by William-James s’Gravesande…; translated into English by J.T. Desaguliers; London: Printed for J. Senex…, W. Innys and R. Maney…, and T. Longman, 1737; Fifth edition.

Aubrey, John (1626-1697); Miscellanies upon the following subjects : I. Day-fatality; II. Local-fatality; III. Ostenta; IV. Omens; V. Dreams… XXI. Second-sighted persons; XXII. The discovery of two murders by an apparition; Collected by John Aubrey. The second edition, with large additions. To which is prefixed some account of his life; London: Printed for A. Bettesworth etc., 1721.

Helmont, Jean Baptiste van (1577-1644); A ternary of paradoxes: the magnetick cure of wounds, nativity of tartar in wine, image of God in man; London : Printed by James Flesher for William Lee, 1650.

Cudworth, Ralph (1617-1688); The true intellectual system of the universe: the first part, wherein all the reason and philosophy of atheism is confuted and its impossibility demonstrated; London: Printed for R. Royston, 1678.

Pomet, Pierre (1658-1699) & Lémery, Nicolas (1645-1715); A compleat history of drugs written in French by Monsieur Pomet… to which is added what is observable on the same subject, from Messrs. Lemery, and Tournefort, divided into three classes, vegetable, animal and mineral. London: Printed for R. Bonwicke, William Freeman… and Ralph Smith, 1712.

Posted by misteraitch at November 12, 2003 12:06 AM | TrackBack