Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - January - 2009 Issue
Eighty-Three Books from The Manhattan Rare Book Company
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in original wraps.
Item 54 is Michael Faraday's Experimental Researches in Electricity, an original, unbound copy of the first edition published in 1820. It was known at the time that an electrical current could generate magnetism, but no one had figured how to reverse the process. Of course, the need for magnetism is limited, but for electricity the need is immense. Figuring out how to use magnetism to generate electricity opened the door to power generation, most electricity being generated through this method to this day. $13,500.
Item 58 reports another major scientific discovery: On the Absorption and Radiation of Heat by Gases and Vapors. This first edition explains John Tyndall's discovery that transparent gasses can absorb heat radiation just as visible solids can. The significance of this fact is being experienced more than ever today, as this is the principle behind global warming - heat radiated from earth being captured by carbon dioxide gas rather than drifting out into space. $3,800.
The Manhattan Rare Book Company may be reached at 212-326-8907 or info@manhattanrarebooks.com. Their website is www.manhattanrarebooks.com.
