272 - SCHEELE, Carl Wilhelm. A Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire.

SCHEELE, Carl Wilhelm. A Chemical Treatise on Air and Fire. Original French edition. A copy from Lavoisier’s laboratory; at the time, Lavoisier was in direct competition with Scheele over the discovery of oxygen. Paris, Rue et Hôtel Serpente, 1781. In-12, fawn marbled calfskin, smooth spine decorated with small iron tools and gilt fleurons, brown leather title label, blind-stamped fillet framing the covers, gilt fillet along the edges, guilloché cap ends, red edges. XLIV and 46–96 pp. – 121–144 pp. – 121–268 pp., one fold-out plate. Binding slightly rubbed, a few faint water stains and foxing, mainly along the margins. Section E (pp. 97–121) is missing and has been replaced by section F (pp. 121–144), which is a duplicate. French first edition of Carl Wilhelm Scheele’s major treatise (first published in 1777), in which the chemist records his experiments on gases and describes his independent discovery of oxygen, then called “fire air.” Translated from German by Baron de Dietrich. Introduction by Tobern Bergman. Exceptional provenance, from the library of Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, with his coat-of-arms ex-libris engraved by Pierre-Claude De la Gardette. Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742–1786) and Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743–1794) epitomize the rivalry that animated the scientific community in its quest to understand gases in the late 18th century. Although the Swedish scientist had independently isolated oxygen as early as 1772, the delay in publishing his work allowed Lavoisier to offer a more thorough theoretical interpretation and to give oxygen its scientific name in 1779. Despite a missing page, this is a fine copy preserved in its sturdy period binding.