FRANKLIN (Benjamin). OEUVRES. Translated from English by M. - Lot 61

FRANKLIN (Benjamin). OEUVRES. Translated from English by M. Barbeu Dubourg. Avec des additions nouvelles et des figures en taille douce. Paris, Quilleau, Esprit et chez l'auteur, 1773. 2 volumes in-4° of [6]-21-[2]-338 and [4]-13-[3]-318-[2] pages, marbled calf, gilt fillets, ornate ribbed spine, red edges (period binding). "Franklin was the first American scientist to achieve an international reputation, with his work on electricity" (Printing of mind of man, 199). This edition offers for the first time the unpublished documents supplied by Franklin to his friend Barbeu Dubourg. The first part contains his famous letters on electricity, illustrated with 5 engraved plates, and the second, with 7 plates, his observations on a wide variety of subjects (the cold produced by the evaporation of liquors, the speed of sound, the art of swimming, the saltiness of the sea, magic squares...). Third French edition, the first in 1752, it opens with a portrait of the author engraved and drawn by Martinet. Some spotting. A very good copy. Armorial bookplate Du-Metz (de Rosnay, Château d'Eve).