Scientific Instruments, Specimens, Books and Collectables

[Early Catalogue] – Dr Kirby’s Ready Remedies – 1872

Full title: Prices Current of Dr Kirby’s Ready Remedies being Selected Officinal Medicines prepared in the form of coated pills, pilules, granules, concentrated mixtures etc for Medical Practitioners by Messrs. Kirby & Company.

[Officinal is not a misspelling - it means a place where medicines are kept - from a Latin expression]

Brown paper cover catalogue, saddle stitched, 20 pages, Pictorial advertisement for Kirby’s Miniature Dispensary inside back cover, terms of trade to rear. Some marks and a stamp remnant [probably taxed] on cover, internally very clean.

Edmund Adolphus Kirby was a medical entrepreneur of the day. Author of “A formulation of selected remedies” and a pioneer in modern medicine preparation and dispensing.

The catalogue provides an interesting opening narrative on the methods and trends introduced by Kirby re the consistent preparation of medicines in pill and other form so that practitioners could ‘do away with” the mortar and pestle. His literally hundreds of standard formulations could be delivered swiftly by the use of the new parcel postage system.

Kirby patented a number of inventions including the adjustable medical couch and the “folding pattern portable medicine case’ suitable for “Saddle Practice”

Very scarce we cannot find a copy anywhere there should be including the Welcome Collection.

Scarce and interesting medical ephemera – early medical wholesaling

$80.00

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Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania – 1880

Printed at the “Mercury” Steam Press Office and published 1881.

Briefer than usual but full of papers presented by the most notable observers, natural scientists with an interest in the Society.

A new Helix fossil is found in the Kent Group by geologist R.M. Johnston – with engraved plate. Johnston also reports on a new fish species in the Derwent.

Notes on some Tasmanian plants by the distinguished baron F von Mueller.

Robert Etheridge jnr [now in London] reports on a Unionide found in the Launceston Tertiary Basin – with engraving.

And, reports from discoveries elsewhere – Algae from the New Hebrides and the Lichens of Queensland by expert F.M. Bailey.

Original soft wrappers, 64 pages of papers, followed by meteorological tables [in detail – a daily record presented twice monthly] and the annual reports and accounts, list of Fellows etc Very good condition.

istinguished contributors to a tight honed edition – 1880.

$60.00

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The Dental Hospital of London and the London School of Dental Surgery – Calendar 1881

Published in 1881 the Calendar for that 1881-1882 academic year being everything you need to know in setting out to become a fully qualified Dentist of the day – the process that is not the technical detail.

Blue paper wrappers with image of the Dental Hospital at the front – and a warning re new regulations at the rear. 46 pages, saddle stitched. A little chipped as can been seen but really quite special for its age and fragility.

The London Dental Hospital was founded in 1859 a Soho Square. In 1874 it moved to Leicester Square – the School had 70-80 students on its books at the time of this document so you can imagine how scarce they are.

Contents include … Officers; Demonstrations; Dresserships; Lectures; Medical Tutor’s Classes; Fees [15 Pounds as up! 2,300 todays worth – not bad]; Prizes, Rules and regulations; Harmonised Scheme of Attendance – with other Hospitals; memberships; Fellowships; Past students etc.

Really rather interesting as an early piece of “dental ephemera”.

Dentistry schooling – wellorganised in 1881 and relatively affordable compared with today

$60.00

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Artificial Teeth – adapted on an entirely new and improved system of Painless Dentistry – G.H. Jones Surgeon Dentist.

Paper covered booklet published in 1878, printed by Arless Andrews, Museum Street, London for the surgeon author. 64 pages, saddle stitched, dense type – loads of content. The rather special front cover give one lots more background.

George Horatio Jones was a prominent surgeon dentist of the period. He had superior premises at 57 Great Russell Street, opposite the British Museum. He had won prize medals [London, Paris and New York] for his artificial teeth and was awarded Her Majesty’s [Victoria] Royal Letters Patent.

Nice enough image of the premises as frontispiece. List of Jones’s numerous appointments on Title.

This is not a trade catalogue but a monograph on teeth. Contents include after introductory remarks … Dentition; Irregularity of Teeth; Decay; Tooth-ache; Extraction; Nitrous Oxide; Scurvy, abscess etc; Artificial teeth; Mode of Fixing; General Construction of Dentures; Cleft Palate …

Finishing with a narrative “Visit to the Factory” and numerous distinguished testimonials.

Illustrated with a number of unusual artificial dental arrangements.

Very good if not better condition – a bit of a miracle for its age and inherent fragility. Very scarce no other copies appear available.

Dentistry and artificial teeth in their infancy … superb reference

$120.00

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Rocks and Minerals of Australia – Oliver Chalmers

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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De Re Metallica – Georgius Agricola [the Hoover Translation]

This is the second printing of the famous Hoover translation of the equally famous 16^th Century monumental publication by Georgius Agricola on all things then known in mining, metallurgy, geology etc.

Longer title … De re Metallica translated from the first Latin edition of 1556 with biographical introduction, annotations and appendices upon the development of mining methods, metallurgical processes, geology, mineralogy & mining law from the earliest times to the 16^th century by Herbert Clark Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover.

This edition, published by Dover, New York in 1950. 638 pages after xxxi preliminaries, illustrated throughout from the images of the original wood engravings. Blue green themed dust jacket variant. Jacket near perfect. A very good to better copy.

The series of books within the book (an early style) I Arguments against the art of mining II The miner and the mining of veins III Veins and stringers and seams in rocks IV The method of delimiting veins and the functions of the mining officials V The digging of ore and the Surveyor’s art VI The miner’s tools and machines VII The assaying of ore VIII Rules for the work of roasting, crushing, and washing the ore IX Methods of smelting ores X the work of separating silver from gold, and lead from gold and silver XI Separating silver from copper XII rules for manufacturing salt, soda, alum, vitriol, sulphur, bitumen, and glass … Agricola’s works – Ancient authors on mineralogy, mining, metallurgy- Nomenclature to be adopted for weights and measures etc.

There is so much to admire about this book … the date of the foundation work, its breadth and quality, the learning from the engravings. Strangely maybe we particularly like the section on pumps in mines – essential equipment for water bound mines and the ingenuity pre powered machines is very interesting. Regarding the translation – what a job done by Hoover(s). The difficulty must have been very challenging – for example Agricola struggled to find Latin equivalents for many mining terms so had to contrive them from everyday Latin words – Hoover then had to decipher these once and only Latin words – unsurprising that his hair was depleted.

De Re Metalicca – The Foundation Work for all Mining and related – the readable version

$140.00

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[Early Catalogue] – Dr Kirby’s Ready Remedies – 1872

Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania – 1880

The Dental Hospital of London and the London School of Dental Surgery – Calendar 1881

Artificial Teeth – adapted on an entirely new and improved system of Painless Dentistry – G.H. Jones Surgeon Dentist.

Rocks and Minerals of Australia – Oliver Chalmers

De Re Metallica – Georgius Agricola [the Hoover Translation]

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