Essai sur l'histoire naturelle du polype, insecte. Trans. P. Demours.

Paris, Chez Durand, 1744.. First Edition in French. 8°, contemporary French mottled calf (head of spine slightly defective, wear to corners, other minor binding wear), spine richly gilt with raised bands in six compartments, crimson leather lettering pieces in second compartment with short titles lettered gilt, labeled "tom // V" in third compartment, marbled endleaves, text-block edges rouged. Small typographical vignette on title page. Typographical headpieces. Crisp and clean internally. Overall in very good condition. Signature of José Pereira Caldas on half title. viii, 359 pp., 22 folding engraved plates. *** First French edition, translated by Pierre Demours (1702-1795), of a work first printed in the Philosophical Transactions, then separately in London, 1743, as An Attempt Towards a Natural History of the Polype. It includes observations of the habits of freshwater polyps and various experiments performed on them. Baker (1698-1774) was one of several fellows of the Royal Society who became interested in polyps after Trembley's experiments were published. He is best known for his popular The Microscope Made Easy, 1742.Despite the numbering on the spine, this work is complete in a single volume. It must have been shelved originally with other works by the same publisher in the same format in similar bindings.*** Dictionary of Scientific Biography I, 410-12. See Garrison-Morton 306. Nissen ZBI 200. Wellcome II, p.8. National Library of Medicine, Eighteenth-Century STC p. 28. Not located in NUC.