Pseudodoxia Epidemica: Or, Enquiries Into Very many Received Tenents, And commonly Presumed Truths. By Thomas Browne. The Second Edition, Corrected and much Enlarged by the Author. London: A. Millar, 1650, folio.
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SECOND EDITION of Thomas Browne’s famous work which sought to dispel misconceptions in science, medicine, natural history, and various other topics. This second edition is considerably rarer than the first which Keynes regards as “not at all a rare book”.
A very curious work which covers all sorts of topics, including “Naturall, Medicall, Historicall, Magicall”. It was in this work that the word ‘electricity’ was first introduced (in the 1646 first edition), pre-dating Charleton’s Ternary of Paradoxes (1650). “Though he professed his anxiety to dispel popular superstitions, Browne was himself not a little imbued with the spirit of credulity. He believed in astrology, alchemy, witchcraft, and magic, and he never abandoned the Ptolemaic system of astronomy” (DNB).
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Provenance:
1. William King (‘Willielmj King Medij Templj), his inscription to the foot of the title page dated 1651. Also an extensive contemporary calligraphic inscription and poem to the final blank plausibly in the same hand.
2. F. Ridding, his inscription to head of title page
3. Robert Bell, his inscription to ffep recto dated 1756
4. Rev. John Brocklebank, Whitbeck, his bookplate to front pastedown with inventory number 204.
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Size: 180 x 272 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[(1), A-Z4, Aa-Xx4, Yy2, (1)]
Contemporary full calf with a later tooled red morocco label laid down to the upper spine. Binding rubbed, some losses, worn to extremities, joints cracked, but with both boards attached. Shelf and edge wear. Some worming to boards. Collates as complete (this was not issued with a frontispiece). Title leaf with a paper repair (r/v) not obscuring any text. Pencil underlining through the ‘To the Reader’ section. Small ink (?) stain to p.53 affecting the surrounding 2pp. either side, some candle wax (?) stains to inner margin of Q4 verso. Several ink inscriptions to title page, endpapers, and pastedowns, one bookplate to front pastedown. Front blank working loose but remains attached. Text mildly toned throughout, a few smaller stains, but generally a nice copy.
