[PERRAULT, Claude (1613-1688), and Jean PICARD (1620–1682)] - photo 1
[PERRAULT, Claude (1613-1688), and Jean PICARD (1620–1682)] - photo 2
[PERRAULT, Claude (1613-1688), and Jean PICARD (1620–1682)] - photo 3

[PERRAULT, Claude (1613-1688), and Jean PICARD (1620–1682)]

Lot 105
09.07.2025 10:30UTC +01:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1450504
Lot 105 | [PERRAULT, Claude (1613-1688), and Jean PICARD (1620–1682)]
Estimate value
£ 4 000 – 6 000
[PERRAULT, Claude (1613-1688), and Jean PICARD (1620–1682)]
Memoir's for a Natural History of Animals. Containing the anatomical descriptions of several creatures dissected by the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris. Englished by Alexander Pitfeild. London: printed by Joseph Streater, to be sold by T. Basset, J. Robinson and others, 1688.
Translator’s copy of the first edition in English of an ‘important text on comparative anatomy’ (Garrison & Morton). A bibliophile copy from the libraries of Honeyman, Keynes, and Pirie. This is the translator's copy with his ownership inscription dated to the year of publication and his occasional manuscript corrections. Alexander Pitfeild, the son of Sir Charles Pitfeild of Hoxton, was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1684, proposed by his brother-in-law Richard Waller, the translator of the second part of the present work. An M.P. for Bridport from 1698 to 1708, Pitfeild also served on the council of the Royal Society and was treasurer from 1700 to 1728. Perrault was a naturalist, anatomist and architect, and an early member of the French Academy of Sciences. The second part is the first translation into English of Jean Picard’s ground-breaking work on measuring the size of the Earth; he was the first person to measure it with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Cf. Cole 676; Nissen ZBI 3125; Wing P-1582A; ESTC R2399.

2 parts in one volume, folio (297 x 200mm). Title in red and black, etched additional title, letterpress title for second part, 35 plates of which 30 depict animals. Contemporary English red morocco gilt, panelled sides with narrow roll between fillets, cornerpieces composed of a drawer-handle tool and a flower-spray, spine with repeat decoration of an oval containing a small flower-head and drawer-handle tools, gilt turn-ins, comb-marbled endpapers, gilt edges (expertly rebacked with old spine laid down, neat repairs at corners, front pastedown with section of marbled paper torn away). Provenance: Alexander Pitfeild (translator, inscription on front free endpaper 'Ex Libris Alex: Pitfeild Anno Dom. 1688.' occasional neat corrections in ink to the text of the first part) – Herbert McLean Evans (bookplate) – Robert B. Honeyman (sale Sotheby's, 10 November 1980, lot 2456 sold for £400) – Quentin Keynes (Christie's 8 April 2004, lot 597) – Robert S. Pirie (sale Sotheby’s NY, 3-4 December 2015, lot 636; bookplate).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.07.2025 – 09.07.2025
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