Susanne Schulz-Falster Catalogue Ten

First edition, uncommon, of the German philosophical grammar by
Johann Werner Meiner, written in opposition to the more rationalist grammars,
such as the Port Royal. In his philosophy of language he stressed the
communicative rather than the logical and cognitive side of grammar, and
saw the study of language and grammar as a study of human development
itself. Adelung reviewed the work positively.
Meiner (1723–1789) was headmaster of the grammar school at
Langensalza.
Rare, NUC, RLIN and OCLC list just one copy, at the University of Pennsylvania.
A Lot of Hot Air
207 MEISSNER, Paul Traugott. Die Heitzung mit erwärmter Luft
als das wohlfeilste, bequemste und zugleich die Feuersgefahr am
meisten entfernende Mittel zur Erwärmung größerer Räume, als:
der öVentlichen Gebäude, der Herrschaftswohnungen, Fabriken
&c ... Mit sechs Kupfertafeln, Wien, Carl Gerold, 1821. £300
Tall 8vo, pp. 41, 6 engraved plates bound at the end; paper somewhat
spotted and browned; uncut in the original printed wrappers; private
library stamp to title; a very wide-margined copy.
First edition of this early and important contribution to the technology of
central heating. Meissner (1778–1864), Professor of Technology and
Chemistry at the Technical Institute in Vienna, here presents valuable improvements
to the design of air ducts for central heating. Thanks to his contributions,
air-based systems were regarded as the most eVective central
heating system. Meissner gives models for the distribution of air ducts and
the design of the central heating systems for a variety of buildings, such as
private apartments, public buildings and factories, and illustrates them on
the folding plates.
Darmstädter p. 343; Engelmann p. 243; Humpert 4219; PoggendorV II, c. 106.
Gullible Scholars
208 [MENCKEN, Johann Burkhard.] De la Charlatanerie des
Savans ... avec des Remarques critiques de diVerens Auteurs.
Traduit en Français. La Haye, Jean van Duren, 1721. £500
Small 8vo, engraved frontispiece, pp. [xl], 242, [38] index; title printed
in red and black, Wnely engraved title vignette; contemporary
manuscript note to front free endpaper and title page; contemporary
full sheep, spine gilt in compartments, head of spine chipped, some
surface wear to boards, corners bumped; a clean and fresh copy from
the Donaueschingen library, with small stamp to verso of title and the
characteristic shelf labels to spine.
First edition in French of this outspoken exposé of the ‘charlatanry of the
learned’, which was Wrst published in Latin in 1715 and translated by David
susanne schulz-falster rare books catalogue ten
Durand, with additional remarks by contemporary critics. Menken pillories
the propensity of scholars to be fooled and tracks down quacks of all sorts.
He gives a comic review of the foibles of scholars, their vanity, and their
gullibility when confronted with fakes or frauds, their loud-mouthed advertising
methods, their money-grabbing publishing deals, etc. His claims are
supported by detailed bibliographical references, and an extensive index.
The Wnely engraved frontispiece shows the world as a stage, under the heading
‘Mundus vult decipi’ (the world wants to be deceived).
Interestingly, an extensive twenty-eight page sale catalogue of books
available at van Duren’s is included, listing amongst the newly published
books not only Menken’s treatise, but also Law’s Considerations sur le Commerce,
Swift’s Conte du Tonneau, and Locke’s Du Gouvernement Civil.
See Faber du Faur 1738 for German translation.
Menger’s Masterpiece
209 MENGER, Carl. Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre...
Erster, allgemeiner Theil. (All published). Wien, Wilhelm
Braumüller, 1871. £3500
8vo, pp. xii, 285, [1] errata; light spotting and discolouration to title,
number removed from foot of spine; contemporary half cloth over
marbled boards, gilt lettering to spine; a good copy, with lower
wrapper bound in.
Rare Wrst edition of Menger’s masterpiece, a work which ‘sets forth the
views of one of the pioneers of the use of psychological concepts to explain
the nature and determination of value’ (Batson). ‘The results of Menger’s
studies appeared in his Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre, the work on
which his fame mainly rests... In somewhat copious but always clear language,
it provided a more thorough account of the relations between utility,
value, and price than is found in any of the works by Jevons and Walras,
who at about the same time laid the foundation of the ‘marginal revolution’
in economics’ (Friedrich von Hayek in IESS).
Einaudi 3831; Menger, col. 86; Batson p. 52 (second edition) IESS, vol 10, p.
124–126; Menger c. 86.
210 MENURET de CHAMBAUD, Jean-Jacques. Essai sur la Ville
d’Hambourg considérée dans ses Rapports avec la Santé ou Lettre
sur l’Histoire medico-topographique de cette ville. Hambourg,
Pierre Chateauneuf, 1797. £450
8vo, pp. 119, [1]; bound after two issues of the Annales de Statistique;
contemporary calf-backed sprinkled boards, spine decorated and
lettered in gilt, some surface scratches to boards; a good copy.
First edition, uncommon, of this interesting study of the eVects of climate,
water, topography and air on the health of the inhabitants of Hamburg.