Ferguson (John), 1837-1916

Two volumes (27 cm), xxi (1), 487 (1); (iv), 598, (2) pp., photogravure frontispiece portrait of James Young in each volume (tissue guardsheet present). Uniform publisher’s quarter-morocco, brown cloth. - Original edition of a work that has served as a beacon and pilot for generations of collectors. The collection was donated by James “Paraffin” Young (1811-1883) to Anderson’s College, and is now incorporated in the University of Strathclyde Library, Glasgow. The compiler of the catalogue, John Ferguson, was Regius Professor of Chemistry at Glasgow, and himself an active collector of books on alchemy and the occult sciences (Ferguson’s own gift to the University included 104 incunabula and 317 manuscripts). This catalogue was printed for private distribution in an edition of 250 copies. ¶ Fine copy, untrimmed and unopened, the bindings very slightly rubbed. Exlibris of Robert Honeyman; sold by Sotheby’s, The Honeyman collection of scientific books and manuscripts, Part VII, London, 19-20 May 1981, lot 3231.