Scientific Instruments, Specimens, Books and Collectables

Allen & Hanburys Ltd – Abridged Catalogue of Surgical Instruments and Appliances – Aseptic Hospital Furniture and Electro-Medical Apparatus. – c1920

Possibly the most important reference of the period on the subject. Allen & Hanburys were at 48 Wigmore Street, London W1 with a factory at Bethnal Green and other facilities in Hertfordshire and Norway (Cod Liver Oil).

Abridged in their world means large octavo 739 pages. Original red cloth covered boards, titles etc blind stamped on spine, white to front. No date but references show circa 1920. Thousands of illustrations, frontispiece of the principal premises. Pasted onto inside front is a 28 page price list from April, 1925. All in very good condition.

By this time Allen & Hanburys were leading players with businesses in South Africa, China, Australia, India, South America, USA, Canada, Arabia, New Zealand, West Indies and throughout Europe.

Items covered include far too numerous to list even by category, they appear to cover every aspect. We have provided quite a few images to give some idea.

Special Medical instrument Reference from the distinguished Allen & Hanburys.

$120.00

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The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex – Charles Darwin – 1890

A very good second revised and augmented edition, published by John Murray, 50 Albermarle Street, London, 1890.

The desired original “Murray”’ green cloth binding as issued with blind stamped borders and gilt titles and banding to spine. Octavo, 693 pages with 78 illustrations. Very clean binding, tight and whilst a little age to page edges a very good copy of desirable edition.

Darwin’s classic work on comparative anatomy. By comparing the physiological and psychological aspects of man and ape, he fills in what had been merely suggested in the Origin: that man’s ancestor, if still alive today, would be classified among the primates and on a lower scale than the apes.

The last chapter is an added essay on sexual selection, the superior chances of mating that some individuals of one sex have over their rivals. The essay ends with the famous and often misquoted statement, “Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.”

It was in this book (page 2) that Darwin used the word “evolution” for the first time.

The Descent of Man Companion to The Origin of Species….

$480.00

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Antique Medical Instruments – Wilbur

Published by Schiffer, i.e. the pen people, of Atglen, USA. The 2008 edition with updates by the distinguished Keith Wilbur MD who can trace back his descendants to Rhode Island 1636.

We mention the “pen people” as the book is rather whimsically produced in an unusual cursive font with matching line drawing of instruments.

Quarto, softcover 149 pages. Seems to be a bit under-rated for a book we really rate not just for the beginner but the serious collector too. We also like that it has a very good section on the development of the microscope often omitted from this subject matter. A semi-useful price guide at least provides perspective … 18th Century medical instruments can hardly come cheap. A list of medical museums in the USA good prove a valuable starting point for a holiday focussed on such matters. Plan your next trip.

Wilbur’s Medical Instruments a great place to start … and more

$50.00

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The Hand its Mechanism and Vital Endowments as Evincing Design – Sir Charles Bell – 1833

Published by William Pickering, London in 1833. A second printing same year as the first, revised and expanded.

Octavo, 314 pages with numerous engravings throughout the text. Bound in contemporary half calf, spine gilt ruled with raised bands and separate leather title label. A very nice copy of an important fundamental work.

Constituted the fourth volume of the remarkable Bridgewater Treatises (See our other listing).

A landmark book by Scottish Surgeon Sir Charles Bell (1774-1842). He was the first Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at the London College of Surgeons and established the Medical School at the University of London where he headed up the Surgery Department.

Medical Classic by Sir Charles Bell

$180.00

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The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia – Bronislaw Malonowski

Bronislaw Malinowski’s landmark book about the sexual life of the people of the Trobriand Islands. Papua New Guinea.

A third edition published in 1932 by Routledge, London after the first of 1929. Contains the important lengthy “Special Forward” by the author who was unhappy that the book had been sensationalised regarding its sexual content, and that his objective of the “synthesis, integration of details, the correlation of aspects, the whole functional mechanism in short was missed”. Time has corrected that and he would be happy now that this important book is more fully understood and appreciated

Large, royal octavo, 505 pages after extensive forwards and preliminaries. Original salmon cloth covered binding, gilt title to spine, faded. Foxing to title and page edges otherwise clean. Complete with map, 91 illustrations from photographic and four figures

Malinowski gives a detailed description of the social organisation of sexuality (social rites, partner choice etc). Tracing the Trobriand life cycle from birth through puberty, marriage and death. At the time of publication chapters such as “Lovemaking and the Psychology of Erotic Life” which includes “The Conversations of Two Lovers” and “Erotic Approaches” were considered rather racy requiring this book to be issued with a special notice indicating to booksellers that it was a work reserved for academic and research purposes. Malinowski argues that the unusual (“co-operative” – our word) lifestyle of the Trobriand Islanders proved the Freudian Oedipus complex is not universal.

Malinowski broadened our minds in the Trobriands

$120.00

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Rocks and Minerals of Australia – Oliver Chambers

Published by Methuen in Australia a first edition 1976. Very good condition. 246 pages with lots of images, diagrams and maps. And with the striking Crocoite on the front board – see our examples on this website.

Or favourite “Observer Book” part of an Australian contribution to the series. A serious miniature work on the subject and the source of much of Voyager’s knowledge.

The detailed maps at the end and connectivity to the narrative open up the enormous subject to the newcomer

An expert in a day!

$30.00

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Allen & Hanburys Ltd – Abridged Catalogue of Surgical Instruments and Appliances – Aseptic Hospital Furniture and Electro-Medical Apparatus. – c1920

The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex – Charles Darwin – 1890

Antique Medical Instruments – Wilbur

The Hand its Mechanism and Vital Endowments as Evincing Design – Sir Charles Bell – 1833

The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia – Bronislaw Malonowski

Rocks and Minerals of Australia – Oliver Chambers

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