- 87
Science, Medicine and Health etc.
Estimate
800 - 1,200 GBP
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Description
- Collection of 17 works in three volumes:
- paper
Cornaro, Lewis. Sure and Certain Methods of attaining a Long and Healthful Life... D. Midwinter, 1737, third edition--[Cohausen, Johann Heinrich.] Hermippus Redivus: or, the Sage's Triumph over Old Age and the Grave... J. Nourse, 1748--Pringle, John. Observations on the Nature and Cure of Hospital and Jayl-fevers... For A. Millar and D. Wilson, 1750--Doddridge, P. The case of receiving the Small-Pox by Inoculation...James Buckland and James Waugh, 1750--Thomson, Thomas. The Case of...Thomas Winnington, Esq... T. Gardner, 1745 [with replies and further tracts on this case]--Watson, William. Experiments and Observations tending to illustrate the nature and properties of Electricity... For C. Davis, 1746--Jurin, James. A Letter...containing, a comparison between the mortality of the Natural Small Pox, and that given by Inoculation. For W. and J. Innys, 1723; An Account of the Success of inoculating the Small-Pox...for J. Peele, 1726; with a revised edition, 1727, and another edition, 1743; and others, including works on agriculture; 12mo and 8vo, eighteenth-century quarter calf, marbled boards (spines numbered 61, 81, 298), bindings worn, bumped and scuffed, staining to some leaves (3)
Provenance
The Forbes Baronetcy was created in 1626 for Sir William Forbes (d. circa 1650) by James VI in the Barontage of Nova Scotia. The majority of the works offered here were acquired by the sixth Baronet, also William (1739-1806), who added Pitsligo to his title in 1781. He was an eminent Scottish banker and benefactor, good friend of James Boswell and Samuel Johnson (see lots 45-46), and finally succeeded in recovering the Pitsligo estates forfeited after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. His son William, the seventh baronet, beat Sir Walter Scott to the hand of the renowned beauty Williamina Belsches Stuart (1776-1810), and it was with their marriage that the family moved to her family seat, Fettercairn House in Kincardineshire, Aberdeenshire.
One of the sixth baronet’s acquisitions for his library at Pitsligo were numerous highly important miscellanies and tract volumes, many of which were purchased as a set from Edinburgh bookseller Elphinstone Balfour in October 1786. These were subsequently supplemented by further contemporary tracts and other works from the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century. Most of these miscellanies bear a nineteenth century Forbes family bookplate.
Condition
Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing unless otherwise stated
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
The physician and natural philosopher James Jurin (1684--1750) was an ardent Newtonian whose forceful advocacy of smallpox inoculation using an innovative statistical approach brought him widespread recognition both in Britain and abroad (see Oxford DNB). The pamphlets he published from 1723 onwards included in this lot are acknowledged "as central to the establishment of smallpox inoculation in England." (op.cit.)