L'Araignee Epeire Diademe et la Confection de sa Toile
Bourges: Typographie-Lithographie Dusser et Larcheveque, 1924. 1st Edition. Soft cover. 8vo. Very Good. Item #017701
Original paper printed wrappers, lettered in black, 32pp, text in French, [1] folding lithographed plate with 20 figures, ex-library stamp on title-page along owner's name, INSCRIBED by author on front free end-paper, "a la Bibliotheque du Cercle Militaire. Don de l'auteur.", foxing on text-block, staining and splitting to rear gutter, with spine strip covered with older archival tape repair, a partially covered library label affixed to upper front cover, with shelf number written in ink, small chips at the edges, wrappers somewhat soiled and stained. Very Good. SCARCE. First and only edition of this uncommon, natural history pamphlet on the European Garden Spider, also known as the Cross Spider, and the making of its orb web written and decorated by retired artillery colonel and amateur naturalist, De Mecquenem. De Mecquenem opens with a discourse on natural theology, then gives an observational, detailed account of the spiders at work. It includes two technical appendices, the first derives from logarithmic-spiral geometry of the finished web sequence of polar equations. The second describes a microscopy method for lifting sections of spider silk onto prepared glass slides -- a work the author records having been carried out at the bacteriological library of the Service de Sante of the 8th Corps d'Armee, with acknowledgements to the medical officers at Bourges.
Price (CAD): $375.00