Rare Book Monthly

print Send Email to Friend Change Font Size Share Link

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>

Sign In
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

  • Heritage, May 13: Isaac Asimov. I, Robot. The dedication copy, inscribed to John W. Campbell, Jr.
    Heritage, May 13: Aldous Huxley. Brave New World. A fine copy, in a brilliant dust jacket.
    Heritage, May 13: Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author.
    Heritage, May 13: Robert A. Heinlein. Stranger in a Strange Land. A fine copy, signed by the author.
    Heritage, May 13: Jules Verne. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. Exceedingly rare true first American edition, first issue.
  • Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 16. Blaeu's world map on a polar projection in contemporary color (1695) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 55. Illuminated lunar globe produced in East Germany (1977) Est. $750 - $900
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 594. Rare and decorative De Jode map of Africa (1593) Est. $7,500 - $9,000
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 127. The first printed map to focus on New England and New France (1565) Est. $4,500 - $5,500
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 298. Rare Texas oilfield map (1920) Est. $3,000 - $3,750
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 656. Bible leaf with hand-colored image of Adoration of the Magi (1450) Est. $1,800 - $2,100
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 9. Blaeu's magnificent carte-a-figures world map (1641) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 214. Rare edition of view of the world from Silicon Valley (1984) Est. $600 - $750
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 34. Fascinating Japanese satirical map published just prior to WWII (1938) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 181. German edition of Catesby's scarce and important map of the Southeastern US (1755) Est. $3,750 - $4,500
    Old World Auctions (April 22): Lot 625. Complete set of Covarrubias's "Pageant of the Pacific" (1940-39) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
  • Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 159
    Saturday April 25
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1153 Gerhard Mercator u. Jodocus Hondius. Atlas sive cosmographicae. Amsterdam, Hondius, 1606.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1378 Martin Höhlig, Collection of 100 photographs Berlin im Licht, 1928.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 192. Fragment of a late medieval liturgical music manuscript. 14th century
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 159
    Saturday April 25
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1394 Auguste Salzmann. Jérusalem. 40 salt paper prints. Paris, Baudry, 1856.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1143 Deluxe edition of Prince Waldemar of Prussia's travelogue about Sri Lanka, India and Nepal. Berlin, 1853.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1225. Koch-Gruenberg. Indianertypen (Indiantypesin the Amazon). Berlin 1906.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 159
    Saturday April 25
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 862. Cornelis Ploos van Amstel. Viro Amplissimo Nobilissimo. Amsterdam 1765.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 549. Francisco de Goya. Los desastres de la guerra. 80 Etchings. Madrid, 1923.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1033. Rösel von Rosenhof. Natural History of Frogs. Nuremberg, 1815.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 159
    Saturday April 25
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 13 Pomponius Mela. Cosmographi. Venice, Renner 1478.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 526 William Shakespeare. Hamlet. Cranach Press, 1928.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 25: Lot 1022. Eugen Johann Christoph Esper. Butterflies Leipzig, 1829-1839.
  • Swann
    Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women
    April 23, 2026
    Swann, Apr. 23: Thomas Heywood. An Apology for Actors. London: Printed by Nicholas Okes, 1612. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Illuminated Islamic Devotional Manuscript. 19th century. Approx. 90 leaves with gilt-decorated title and 2 full page miniatures of Mecca and Medina. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Antiphonal in Latin. Manuscript on Parchment. Cologne, early 16th century. $7,000 to $9,000.
    Swann
    Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women
    April 23, 2026
    Swann, Apr. 23: Mohammed ibn Jafir Albategnius. De Scientia Stellarum Liber. Bologna: Victor Benati, 1645. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Frank Herbert. Dune. Fine First Edition. Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1965. $5,000 to $7,000.
    Swann, Apr. 23: William Shakespeare. Five Plays from the Second Folio. London: Thomas Cotes for Robert Allot, 1632. $6,000 to $8,000.
    Swann
    Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women
    April 23, 2026
    Swann, Apr. 23: John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men. New York: Covici-Friede, 1937. First edition, first issue. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities. With an A.L.S. London: Chapman and Hall, 1859. First edition, first issue. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Ursula K. LeGuin. The Left Hand of Darkness. Inscribed First Edition. New York: Walker and Company, 1969. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann
    Fine Books Featuring Focus on Women
    April 23, 2026
    Swann, Apr. 23: L. Frank Baum & Ruth Plumly Thompson. Five First Canadian editions including Ozma of Oz; The Emerald City of Oz; Glinda of Oz; [and others]. $1,000 to $1,500.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Corita Kent. Different Drummer. 1967. Color screenprint; signed "Corita" in pencil on the lower edge. $1,000 to $1,500.
    Swann, Apr. 23: Bible in English. Tyndale-Taverner Translation. The Bugge Bible. The Holye Bible. London: Imprinted by John Daye and Willyam Seres, 1549. $1,500 to $2,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections
    Open for Bidding 2-17 April
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.

Article Search

Archived Articles