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Articles - September - 2019 Issue

Mulvihill Collection acquires celebrated Scots astronomer, Mary Somerville

- by Maureen E. Mulvihill, Guest Writer

While the Mulvihill Collection focuses mostly on pre-1700 women writers (English, Irish, Dutch), it has recently acquired a special newcomer: Mary Somerville, her 1834 classic, On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences (London, 1834; 5 plates; 10th ed., 1877). The Mulvihill copy is a deluxe, rebound second edition (1835), with Somerville's additional notes and new preface. A self-trained polymath, "Mrs Somerville" was a respected astronomer and science writer whose talents extended to painting, music, and educating the great J.M.W. Turner on Newtonian color theory. We include her self-portrait here, and we invite you to look up (and look up!) with Mary Somerville. <Click here for article>

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Posted On: 2019-09-04 19:13
User Name: chavvy@aol.com

This is as witty as it is informative and illuminating--a delightful account of the process of collecting, as well as an elegant tribute to Somerville. Especially welcome was the final image of the banknote, which brought the past into the present in an unexpected way. Would that all scholarly writing displayed such a welcome lightness of touch....
Margaret D. Stetz
Mae & Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and Professor of Humanities
University of Delaware

Posted On: 2019-09-05 03:11
User Name: mairin

Posting for collector, E.M. Katz:
Thank you for alerting me to this new essay, Maureen, and
I especially appreciated your good taste in selecting Dr Rosalind
Franklin, as dedicatee (and maybe the guiding Muse on your shoulder, too).
Let me know if your Somerville copy includes any ownership signatures, any
inscriptions, bookplates. And thanks, also, to Rare Book Hub, for hosting
this work. I am not a subscriber, but should be.
Keep in touch. Much admired the essay. E.M. Katz, Berlin / NYC.
___

Posted On: 2019-09-05 03:15
User Name: mairin

Posting for a collector friend in Rhode Island:
Maureen, Your passionate yet informative piece is nothing short of magical.
You have managed to shed some much needed light on the often overlooked, and sometimes forgotten, scientific contributions of such wonderful women as Mrs. Somerville.
These magnificent contributions to your collection will no doubt keep this flame burning for many years to come. Many thanks for sharing this wonderful story. Masterful.
- DJC, Collector, Rhode Island.
___

Posted On: 2019-09-05 20:11
User Name: mairin

Posting for my favorite polymath, Daniel R. Harris, Brooklyn, NY / Sarasota, FL.
__
If this subject receives further attention, best tell readers about Somerville's publisher (her only publisher): the Murray family publishers of London, originally from Scotland. (Yes, the big Murray Archive is listed in the article's Apparatus, glad to see that, an essential resource.)
Murray and the family business took good, faithful care of Somerville's writings over 4
decades -- remarkable, no? And, then, this matter: When it is mentioned, in one of the caption notes, that the telescope "gave the world to the 17th century", I'd replace "the world" with "the universe", or even "the world and the sky". (Maybe.) Otherwise, a strong delivery of useful information & images. (Incidentally, Somerville's self-portrait, on the article's Display Page, shows Turner's influence, I'd say; he was one of her circle. How could she, herself a painter, not be influenced by such an extraordinary talent?) A serious, elaborate file here, constructed over several operating systems & servers -- no simple task! Rare Book Hub served it up nicely, heroically.
- DR Harris / Words Art Music @ http://blog.danielharrismusic.com/
___

Posted On: 2019-09-11 17:17
User Name: ruricius

What a lovely erudite discussion.... but I'd have expected no less! And made all the more special after having seen and admired the liber ipse!
Ralph Mathisen
Professor of History, Classics, and Medieval Studies
University of Illinois

Posted On: 2019-09-22 19:08
User Name: alice185

A delightful essay and a fine tribute to Mary Somerville, a graceful appreciation of the well deserved serendipity of acquiring the book. It’s also a valuable reminder of current work restoring women to their place in the history of science. Very well done. Alice Browne.

Posted On: 2019-09-24 20:55
User Name: laipar2@aol.com

Much appreciated. Women collectors collecting books by women scientists!
I have recently acquired Louise Bourgeois Boursier, mid-wife to Marie de Medici, the collected works, 1626 to 1645, comprising a rare first edition of her book of secrets, all bound in contemporary vellum.
I am a scholar and a collector and find the book as object and its printing paratexts an essential aid in my research of early modern women writers.

Posted On: 2019-10-29 16:33
User Name: mairin

Posting for Bookseller, Mark Stirling, Nevada
___

As someone interested in "systems theory", I was drawn at once to
Dr Mulvihill's "Somerville" essay, announced on Exlibris-L, especially
Somerville's argument for a "connexion" among the sciences. This integrative
approach has captivated me for the last several years. The essay's images and
detailed caption notes are a portal to a more comprehensive appreciation of
many interesting subjects. And I like how Mulvihill contextualized her material,
by linking Somerville to earlier figures (Vermeer, Newton, Pepys) and also to Somerville's
contemporaries (JMW Turner, Humboldt, Darwin). The essay demonstrates new
approaches to thinking about many complex subjects. And, of course, beautifully designed,
with close attention to the physical properties and reception of this successful
early-19th-century science book.

Mark Stirling in Nevada
Up-Country Letters / www.upcole.com
____

Rare Book Monthly

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    SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    The Odfjell Collection
    Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
    Ending December 4th
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ROALD AMUNDSEN: «Sydpolen» [ The South Pole] 1912. First edition in jackets and publisher's slip case.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: AMUNDSEN & NANSEN: «Fram over Polhavet» [Farthest North] 1897. AMUNDSEN's COPY!
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON [ed.]: «Aurora Australis» 1908. First edition. The NORWAY COPY.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ERNEST SHACKLETON: «The heart of the Antarctic» + SUPPLEMENT «The Antarctic Book», 1909.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: SHACKLETON, BERNACCHI, CHERRY-GARRARD [ed.]: «The South Polar Times» I-III, 1902-1911.
    SD Scandinavian Art & Rare Book Auctions
    The Odfjell Collection
    Polar – History – Ornithology – Colour Plate Books
    Ending December 4th
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: [WILLEM BARENTSZ & HENRY HUDSON] - SAEGHMAN: «Verhael van de vier eerste schip-vaerden […]», 1663.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: TERRA NOVA EXPEDITION | LIEUTENANT HENRY ROBERTSON BOWERS: «At the South Pole.», Gelatin Silver Print. [10¾ x 15in. (27.2 x 38.1cm.) ].
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: ELEAZAR ALBIN: «A natural History of Birds.» + «A Supplement», 1738-40. Wonderful coloured plates.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: PAUL GAIMARD: «Voyage de la Commision scientific du Nord, en Scandinavie, […]», c. 1842-46. ONLY HAND COLOURED COPY KNOWN WITH TWO ORIGINAL PAINTINGS BY BIARD.
    Scandinavian Art & Rare Books Auctions, Dec. 4: JAMES JOYCE: «Ulysses», 1922. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS.
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    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
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    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
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    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
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    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.

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