[HOOKE, Robert, 1635-1703]

[Juvenile] The Wonders of the Microscope; or, an Explanation of the Wisdom of the Creator, in Objects comparatively minute. Adopted to the Understanding of Young Persons

London: Printed for Richard Phillips, Bridge-Street, 1811. Quarter-Sheep. Scarce early edition of this beautifully illustrated children's book, featuring the startlingly magnified images of a flea, louse, blue bottle, and mites in cheese. Long 12mo (174 x 100mm): xii,118,[2]pp, with engraved folding frontispiece and four further plates (three folding). Original red quarter-skiver, spine lettered longitudinally in gilt, marbled paper-covered boards. Contemporary ownership inscription on front fly leaf: "Miss Martin, Harley Place"; recent book label of Stanley Scott, Chard, Somerset, to rear paste-down. Professionally refurbished and now presenting attractively: browned in places (particularly plates) but a well-preserved, largely unsophisticated copy of a scarce item. Keynes (Hooke) 12. Paul, Children's Book Business: Lessons from the Long Eighteenth Century. Near Fine+. Item #BB2815

First issued by Benjamin Tabart in 1806; this is apparently the second edition. Four of the plates "were either copied from those in Hooke's Micrographia [1665] or were printed from the original plates after they had been clumsily worked over. . . . the text contains references to the work of Leeuwenhoek and Hooke, but there is no acknowledgment of the source of the plates" (Keynes). Recommended by the educator Eliza Fenwick in her Visits to the Juvenile Library, where it is described, on a visit to Tabart's bookshop, as "two [The Wonders of the Telescope is the second] of the most popular books in the shop." (cited in Paul, p. 91). N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $2,365.00