2014, ISBN: 50ad44c68b1ab4382bb0da247b76acd8

Gebundene Ausgabe

London: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, 1924. First Printing. Pictorial Wrappers. Fine. First Separate Edition of Woolf's essay heralding the arrival of modernity, one … Mehr…

London: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, 1924. First Printing. Pictorial Wrappers. Fine. First Separate Edition of Woolf's essay heralding the arrival of modernity, one of only 1,000 copies. Demy 8vo (215 x 137mm): 24pp. Publisher's off-white stiff wrappers, sewn and gummed, printed in black with upper cover illustrated by Vanessa Bell. Laid in is a hand-written letter on embossed Argyll House stationary signed by hostess Sibyl Lady Colefax, Woolf's worshipful acquaintance. A Fine copy with a brilliant association. Kirkpatrick A7. Woolmer 54. "On or about December 1910," Woolf wrote in this essay, introducing Roger Fry's landmark exhibition "Manet and the Post-Impressionists" at London's Grafton Galleries, "human character changed." The exhibition ruined Fry's credibility as critic but marked a pivotal moment in the history of art. Woolf's essay was originally published, in incipient form, in the Nation and Athenaeum, in December, 1923 (her husband, Leonard Woolf, had just been appointed literary editor), rebutting Arnold Bennett's review in Cassell's Weekly the previous March of her novel Jacob's Room. The following year, Woolf presented her more fully developed ideas on cultural relativism as a paper read before the Heretics Society, at Cambridge University. T. S. Eliot, then editor of The Criterion, soon after published the talk under the title Character in Fiction. The essay finally appeared in this separate printing as No. 1 of the Hogarth Essays under its original title. Argyll House still stands at 211 King's Road, in Chelsea. It was the center of London society in the early twentieth century, when it was owned by Lady Colefax. Her parties there were renowned, and included such guests as Fred Astaire, George Gershwin, Hilair Belloc, and Winston Churchill, as well as the Woolfs. Supposedly, Ernest and Wallace Simpson were introduced to the Prince of Wales at Argyll House in 1935. The house's first owner was Mrs. Mary Villiers, followed by the fourth Duke of Argyll. Cecil Beaton wrote after a visit: "From the moment one arrived in the small panelled hall and savoured the aroma of dried rosemary burnt on a saucer, one knew one had arrived in a completely different atmosphere, refreshing as a sea change." N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.)., Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, 1924, 5, London: B. Fellowes, 1830. First edition. FIRST EDITION OF SCATHING DIATRIBE AGAINST THE ROYAL SOCIETY BY ENGLISH ORIGINATOR OF THE CONCEPT OF THE DIGITAL COMPUTER--COPY OF PROMINENT JOURNALIST OF THE PERIOD. 8 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches hardcover, 3/4 brown calf with marbled cloth boards, spine with raised bands, gilt, with red leather label gilt, marbled edges and endpapers, bookplate to front paste-down, ink signature of George Augustus Sala on paper affixed to front free endpaper, xvi,+ 228,+ (4). Cover edges worn, scattered foxing, binding tight, very good. CHARLES BABBAGE (1792-1871) was an English polymath, mathematician, philosopher, inventor and originator of the concept of a digital programmable computer. In The Exposition of 1851, or Views of the Industry, the Science and the Government of England (1851) he pointed out the shortcomings of the British educational system. His Reflections on the Decline of Science and some of its Causes (offered here) aimed to improve British science, and more particularly to oust Davies Gilbert as President of the Royal Society, which Babbage wished to reform. It was written out of pique, when Babbage hoped to become the junior secretary of the Royal Society, as Herschel was the senior, but failed because of his antagonism to Humphry Davy. Michael Faraday had a reply written, by Gerrit Moll, as On the Alleged Decline of Science in England (1831). On the front of the Royal Society Babbage had no impact, with the bland election of the Duke of Sussex to succeed Gilbert the same year. As a broad manifesto, on the other hand, his Decline led promptly to the formation in 1831 of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on Some of Its Causes is one of seven early 19th century science books described in James Secord's Visions of Science: Books and Readers at the Dawn of the Victorian Age" (2014). These seven books, "fire the imagination of a generation that believed science was on the verge of transforming the human condition. ... The Decline of Science portrayed English science as moribund and corrupt, and looked to the Continent, especially to France, for models of scientific reform. Appearing in May 1830, the book sold badlyit went through only one edition, probably of less than 750 copiesbut it stirred up a storm of discussion, debate, and distress. Much of the argument in Decline revolves around the issue of how research should be communicated in print, and how its results should be made available to various audiences. Independently wealthy and educated at Cambridge, Babbage had a wide acquaintance with metropolitan literary and political circles, which he used, through his famous evening parties in his house at Dorset Street, to raise the position of science in national life. Like a true accountant, the narrator of Decline directed his fire at those who worked for pay, whether for the state, for a public company, or for a learned society. The book named names, and claimed not to hide criticisms of individuals under general condemnation. Young men were currently discouraged from cultivating science after leaving university because scienceunlike medicine, the clergy, law, and the militarywas not 'a distinct profession', with status and pay. The taxonomy of fraud in Decline provided a tool whereby science could assume its rightful status as a completely open enterprise, comprehensible not just to adepts and experts, but to 'ordinary understandings' more likely to be fooled or misled. The most significant long-term effect of Decline was to open a general discussion of the political economy of intellectual life, the suppression of ignorance and fraud, and the promotion of the use of knowledge for human needs, would best be served by secularnot religious education; for among the unenlightened, even true religion was tinged by 'superstition' and developed irrational habits of thought." PROVENANCE: GEORGE AUGUSTUS HENRY SALA (1828 - 1895), was an English journalist. He had become in 1857 a contributor to the Daily Telegraph, and it was in this capacity that he did his most characteristic work, whether as a foreign correspondent in all parts of the world, or as a writer of "leaders" or special articles. His literary style, highly colored, bombastic, egotistic, and full of turgid periphrases, gradually became associated by the public with their conception of the Daily Telegraph; and though the butt of the more scholarly literary world, his articles were invariably full of interesting matter and helped to make the reputation of the paper. He collected a large library and had an elaborate system of keeping common-place books, so that he could be turned on to write upon any conceivable subject with the certainty that he would bring into his article enough show or reality of special information to make it excellent reading for a not very critical public. In 1892, when his popular reputation was at its height, he started a weekly paper called Sala's Journal, but it was a disastrous failure; and in 1895 he had to sell his library of 13,000 volumes (one of which is offered here). His name goes down to posterity as perhaps the most popular and most voluble of the newspaper men of the period., B. Fellowes, 1830, 0<

2009, ISBN: 50ad44c68b1ab4382bb0da247b76acd8

London: B. Fellowes, & J. Booth, 1830. First edition. PRESENTATION COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. Very Good. FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS, of Babbage's scathing and sen… Mehr…

London: B. Fellowes, & J. Booth, 1830. First edition. PRESENTATION COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. Very Good. FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS, of Babbage's scathing and sensational critique of the English scientific establishment. An important association copy, inscribed by Babbage to Joseph Nicolas Nicollet: "To M. Nicollet / from the Author". Science was not an established field in the early 1800s and Charles Babbage (1791-1871), like many of his contemporaries, was considered a 'gentleman scientist' - independently wealthy and thus able to support his personal interests. After graduating from Cambridge and settling in London, Babbage became a pre-eminent mathematician, inventor, mechanical engineer, and conceived of the first digital programmable computer. Babbage published nearly ninety papers and six full-length works between 1813 and 1868. A leader among his peers, he was elected as a fellow to the Royal Society of London in 1816 and helped establish the Royal Astronomical (1820) and Statistical (1834) societies. His revolutionary 1830 work, Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on some of its Causes, highlighted the neglect of science by the British government and the Royal Society. The publication of this text directly contributed to the founding of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) in 1831, an organization which sought to transform science from a self-funded venture of the wealthy to a government-funded profession and hoped to be a catalyst for social and economic development. In Decline Babbage portrayed English science as moribund, English scientists as amateur and corrupt, and English scientific culture and reform as lamentably inferior to those of other countries, especially France. "To the observer with [the] advantage of hindsight, the charge that science was in decline seems ridiculous: Lyell's Principles of Geology had begun to appear, Darwin was setting off on the Beagle, and Faraday was beginning his revolutionary research into electricity and magnetism. But Decline, with its attacks on the Royal Society and the English universities, and its demand for more honors and sinecures for scientists, caused a sensation." (Knight, p. 144) Though many found the vehemence of Babbage's views objectionable, his sentiments were widely shared, and this "broadside of outrage and insult... gave a decisive boost to the movement to reform organized science" (Swade, "Babbage, Charles"). In addition to the founding of the BAAS, a number of reforms within the Royal Society followed, and university curricula including both theoretical and applied science was established. Even though many agreed with Babbage in private, his public attacks on the scientific establishment proved that diplomacy was not his forte. Babbage offended many whose support he needed yet he carried on his work and remained a proud and principled scientific figure. He continued to be a force on the London social scene and his exclusive Saturday soirees were a hub of social and intellectual activity. Always captivating and provocative, he was a much sought-after dinner guest. This copy of Decline was presented to Joseph Nicolas Nicollet (1786-1843), a respected French geographer, astronomer, mathematician, and professor. Nicollet was a fitting recipient, as a member of the Bureau des longitudes, the English equivalent of which is much maligned by Babbage in Decline. Babbage first met Nicollet during his European tour of 1824 and they showed considerable interest in each others' work. The Sotheby's sale catalog of Babbage's library reveals that Babbage owned several of Nicollet's works, including a copy of the Lettre sur les assurances qui ont pour base les probabilités de la durée de la vie humaine, seconde édition (Sotheby's 1872, catalog no. 586) and a few other papers. Nicollet moved to the U.S. in 1832 and the men would never meet again. An accomplished scientist in his own right, Nicollet admired Babbage from afar for the rest of his career. Babbage, who expressed decidedly pro-French views, aspired to model British scientific reforms after his neighbors across the Channel. While Babbage is best known for being the 'father' of the computer, he was a true polymath. He contributed to the development of the modern postal system in England, established the first reliable actuarial tables, created a type of speedometer, and invented the locomotive cowcatcher -- a device mounted at the front of a train car to deflect obstacles on the track that might otherwise lead to damage or derailment. The importance of Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on some of its Causes cannot be understated. The reforms that followed the publication of this volume demonstrate the significant impact Babbage had on the scientific community in Britain. This copy, in particular, shows the value he placed on building relationships with continental colleagues. Note:: Decline was published simultaneously in an octavo edition of 228 pages (as here) and a quarto edition of 120 pages. According to a note tipped into the Honeyman copy of the quarto edition, only "a few copies were printed in quarto, for the use of those gentlemen who may wish to bind up the work with the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1830", a nicely satirical touch in a work that was primarily a diatribe against the Royal Society. London: printed for B. Fellowes, & J. Booth, 1830. Octavo, original boards sympathetically rebacked with paper and paper spine label; edges untrimmed. Housed in custom box. With four pages of publisher's ads at rear. With neat ownership signature of I.H. Alexander on title. Boards a little soiled and worn at extremities, inner hinges discreetly strengthened with Japanese tissue, tiny perforation underneath inscription, top right corners of leaves P5-6 torn (not affecting text). Text in general remarkably crisp and clean. AN IMPORTANT TEXT, SCARCE INSCRIBED AND IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. References: Charles Babbage. Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on some of its Causes. London: B. Fellowes, & J. Booth, 1830. Diana H. Hook and Jeremy M. Norman. Origins of Cyberspace: A Library on the History of Computing, Networking and Telecommunications. Novato: Norman Publications, 2002. David M. Knight. Natural Science Books in English 1600-1900. London: David & Charles, 1972. Nathan Reingold. The British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 4, No. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968. Doron Swade. "Babbage, Charles," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. www.oxforddnb.com, 2009. Alfred W. Van Sinderen. "The Printed Papers of Charles Babbage," The Annals of the History of Computing, Volume 2, Number 2, April/June, 1980., B. Fellowes, & J. Booth, 1830, 3<