Abbé Noël-Antoine Pluche (1688–1761). - Le Spectacle de la Nature, ou Entretiens sur les particularités de l’Histoire naturelle, qui ont - 1735

Important six-volume in-12 set from the 18th century of the famous work by Abbé Noël-Antoine Pluche. 180 folding plates and engraved pages.

The work covers a very wide field: animals, plants, minerals, physical geography, atmospheric phenomena, the sea, the land, agriculture, techniques, trades, and various aspects of daily life. Pluche does not limit himself to a scholarly description of nature: he also seeks to show the relationships between natural phenomena, human activities, and the order of the world. The whole thus constitutes a remarkable testimony on the state of scientific knowledge and on the way in which such knowledge was communicated to the public in the Enlightenment era.
The value of this series also lies in its rich iconographic program. The volumes are adorned with frontispieces and numerous copper-engraved plates, depicting animals, plants, landscapes, natural phenomena, instruments, human activities, and various scientific observations. Some plates are folding and allow presenting scenes or complex subjects with increased detail.

Le Spectacle de la Nature.

Published from 1732, this work enjoyed great success and many European editions. It presents the natural knowledge of its time in the form of dialogues and conversations intended notably for education and the formation of the mind.

The state of the bindings is reasonable: leather wear, scuffing, bumped corners, spines very damaged or missing, small losses of leather and cracked hinges on several volumes. A few ribbons or fragments of bookmarks are still present.