FOURCROY, [Antoine François].

Paris: Baudouin,… Brumaire An IX [–X, –1802].1800

6 volumes in 5 (the sixth volume, containing the index, is bound at the end of vol. 5), 4to. Early 19th century quarter calf and marbled boards. Several patches of worm damage (affecting surface of the leather only) on covers and foot of one spine, three patches of worm damage on covers of three volumes with small areas of leather missing. Apart from this surface damage, a fine copy.

FIRST EDITION, quarto issue, of Fourcroy’s magnum opus, the most complete textbook on chemistry that had yet appeared. “This great treatise contained more information than any previously published, and was not intended for beginners, but for those who wished to make a thorough study of chemistry” (Smeaton). It was planned in four parts, theory, history, practice, and the application of chemistry to the explanation of natural phenomena and to the arts, or practical science. “It is particularly interesting to note that Fourcroy regarded the history of chemistry as an integral part of the subject, without which recent developments could not be properly appreciated” (Smeaton). The work was issued simultaneously in quarto format as here, in which the index volume (Table alphabétique et analytique) was issued in 1802 as the sixth volume, and in octavo format in eleven volumes. Cole 481. Duveen p. 226. Neville I, pp. 472–473. Partington III, p. 538, III. Smeaton, Fourcroy, pp. 76–77; bibliography nos. 65 and 67. There were no other French editions.

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