Abbé Nollet - L'Art des Expériences, 56 planches - 1770

The Art of Experiments, or Advice to Those Interested in Physics on the Selection, Construction, and Use of Instruments; on the Preparation and Use of Substances Used in Experiments - First edition, with the fictitious designation “second edition” on the title page of Volume I. - Paris, at P.E.G. Durand, nephew, 1770 - XXIV pp., 509 pp., (2) leaves, 552 pp., (1) leaf, 524 pp., (7) leaves - contemporary full marbled calf - 12mo - 10.5 x 16.5 cm.

Condition: 2 headcaps missing, 2 joints cracked, but hinges sound, a few bumped corners, spine with raised bands, decorated with gilt floral tools and title and volume labels (gilt dulled on Volumes I and II), some foxing, red edges. Complete in 3 volumes. Apart from the defects noted, a copy in good condition of this first edition of the rarest work by Abbé Nollet.

Work illustrated with 56 folding plates.

Contents: Abbé Nollet’s final work, it is a continuation of the Lessons in Experimental Physics, in which he describes all the instruments. The book comprises 3 parts: the first covers working with wood, metals, and glass, as well as specialized instruments. The second deals with the substances required by the physicist and their preparation, particularly varnishes and colors. The final part presents a series of experiments and advice concerning them, along with instructions for building the machines needed to carry them out... Even more than the Lessons in Physics, The Art of Experiments furthered the noble popularization of the physical sciences with greater effectiveness. Works of this kind reflect the eighteenth-century public’s appetite for science and the shift from a Christian civilization to a scientistic, rational one: the Enlightenment.