Pike's Illustrated Catalogue of Scientific and Medical Instruments
Dracut, Massachusetts / San Francisco, California: The Antiquarian Scientist / Jeremy Norman & Co. Inc. 1856 (but 1984). Later printing. [4], viii-xv; [1-blank], ix, [2], 12-389; [1], 287, [1]; 78 pages. 7 1/2 x 5 inches. Publisher's blue cloth with silver spine titling. Top edges soiled, some foxing to the endpapers. Otherwise clean internally. A facsimile of the original two volume 1856 catalogue and pricelist bound in one volume plus a new introduction. Near Fine. Cloth. [28779]
A quality facsimile of perhaps the best scientific instrument catalogue published in 19th century America. Well illustrated, providing an excellent reference for this maker and the items sold in New York in the middle of the 19th century. This volume reprints the second (and best) edition of Pike's original catalog from 1856 (the first edition was 1848). It adds a scholarly introduction by historian Deborah Jean Warner of the Smithsonian Institution which provides some insights into the Pike firm, the differences between the 1848 and 1856 catalogues, and other useful information. Over 750 woodcuts illustrate the text, and the reprinted pricelist provides insight into the costs faced by scientists who wanted to build out a laboratory in the time period.
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