This continuously growing library collection includes rare books from the Othmer Library of Chemical History. The collection includes works donated to the library by notable collectors including Donald Othmer, the Chemists' Club, Herb Pratt, Alfred Bader, and Robert E. Schofield. Only a small portion of the library's rare books have been digitized.
Please note, this collection excludes rare books donated by Roy G. Neville, whose sizable donation can be found partially digitized here.
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9 items
Viatorium, hoc est, De montibus planetarum septem seu metallorum
- 1651
Frontispiece, title page, all plates from De montibus planetarum septem seu metallorum.
- Author Maier, Michael, 1568?-1622
- Subject Alchemy, Alchemy--Early works to 1800
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7 items
Annales de Chimie
- Recueil de mémoires concernant la chimie et les arts qui en dépendent
- 1791 – 1793
The title page of the Annales de Chime changed repeatedly in the first few years of its publication in response to rapid changes brought about by the French Revolution. Initially it published with the permission and…
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45 items
Mineralienbuch
- oder allgemeine und besondere Beschreibung der Mineralien
- 1855
- Author Schmidt, F.A., active 19th century
- Publisher Krais & Hoffmann
- Subject Mineralogy, Minerals, Precious stones
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621 items
Mines and Miners; or, Underground Life.
- La vie souterraine, ou les mines et les mineurs.
- 1868
Henry William Bristow's English translation of Louis Simonin's La vie souterraine, ou les mines et les mineurs (1867) appeared in this lavishly produced edition the following year with 166 wood engravings, 20 colored…
- Author Simonin, Louis, 1830-1886
- Editor Bristow, Henry William, 1817-1889
- Publisher William Mackenzie (Firm)
- Subject Mineral industries, Miners, Mines and mineral resources, Petrology, Metallurgy, Ores, Minerals, Precious stones
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2 items
Theatrum sympatheticum auctum
- exhibens varios authores, de pulvere sympathetico quidem
- 1662
The 16th- and 17th-centuries saw a flurry of interest in "sympathetic medicine," or curing at a distance. It originated with the so-called "weapon salve" attributed to Paracelsus, which applied to the weapon that…
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33 items
Medical and alchemical recipes : autograph manuscript
- 1550s
Dutch or Flemish apothecary's reference pocketbook with recipes, remedies, and customers' names, all written in Dutch. The majority of the recipes and remedies relate to women's illnesses and the plague. The final notes…
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32 items
Musaeum Regalis Societatis, or, A Catalogue and Description of the Natural and Artificial Rarities Belonging to the Royal Society and Preserved at Gresham Colledge
- A Catalogue and Description of the Natural and Artificial Rarities Belonging to the Royal Society and Preserved at Gresham College
- 1681
One of the earliest scientific societies, The Royal Society prided itself on following the precepts of Francis Bacon and taking an empirical approach to nature. The foundation of that approach was "matters of fact."…
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42 items
Rariora musei Besleriani quae olim Basilius et Michael Rupertus Besleri collegerunt, aeneisque tabulis ad vivum incisa evulgarunt
- 1716
A description with commentary, by Johann Heinrch Lochner (1695-1715) of the natural history museum of Nuremberg apothecaries Basilius Besler (1561-1629) and his nephew Michael Rupert Besler (1607-1661). The collection…
- Contributor Besler, Basilius, 1561-1629, Besler, Michael Rupert, 1607-1661
- Author Lochner, Johann Heinrich, 1695-1715
- Engraver Heumann, Georg Daniel, 1691-1759
- Artist Heumann, Georg Daniel, 1691-1759
- Subject Natural history, Natural history museums, Besler, Basilius, 1561-1629, Besler, Michael Rupert, 1607-1661
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Le livre de tous les ménages, ou, L'art de conserver pendant plusieurs années, toutes les substances animales et végétales
- L'art de conserver pendant plusieurs années, toutes les substances animales et végétales
- 1813
Foldout engraving from Le livre de tous les ménages, ou, L'art de conserver pendant plusieurs années, toutes les substances animales et végétales.
- Author Appert, Nicolas, 1749-1841
- Engraver Gaitte, Antoine-Joseph, 1753-
- Subject Canning and preserving, Food--Preservation
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3 items
Culinary Chemistry: Exhibiting the Scientific Principles of Cookery, with Concise Instructions for Preparing Good and Wholesome Pickles, Vinegar, Conserves, Fruit Jellies, Marmalades, and Various Other Alimentary Substances Employed in Domestic Economy, with Observations on the Chemical Constitution and Nutritive Qualities of Different Kinds of Food
- 1821
Title page and facing title page of Culinary Chemistry: Exhibiting the Scientific Principles of Cookery, With Concise Intructions for Preparing Good and Wholesome Pickles, Vinegar, Conserves, Fruit Jellies, Marmalades,…
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18 items
Oeuvres Physiologiques, Volume 2
- Traité des Sensations et des Passions en Général, et des Sens en Particulier, Ouvrage Divisé en Deux Parties.
- La Théorie de L'ouie
- 1767
The second of three volumes by Claude-Nicolas Le Cat (1700-1768), a French surgeon, lithotomist, researcher, and science communicator. Volume two was originally published as the Traité des sens in Rouen in 1740,…
- Author Le Cat, Claude-Nicolas, 1700-1768
- Publisher Chez Vallat-La-Chapelle
- Engraver Bacheley, Jacques, 1712-1781
- Subject Senses and sensation, Sense organs, Physiology, Le Cat, Claude-Nicolas, 1700-1768, Vision, Hearing, Smell, Touch, Taste
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31 items
L'art du Distillateur Liquoriste: Contenant le Bruleur d'Eaux-de-vie, le Fabriquant de Liqueurs, le Débitant ou le Cafetier-Limonnadier
- The Art of the Liqueur Distiller: Containing the Brandy Burner, the Liqueur Maker, the Bartender or the Lemonade Maker
- 1775
Part of a series published between 1761 and 1788 by the Parisian Académie des Sciences entitled Descriptions des arts et métiers, or Descriptions of the Arts and Trades. The full series comprises 113 folio volumes and…
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30 items
L'art du Distillateur d'Eaux-Fortes, &c.
- 1773
Part of a series published between 1761 and 1788 by the Parisian Académie des Sciences entitled Descriptions des arts et métiers, or Descriptions of the Arts and Trades. The full series comprises 113 folio volumes and…
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588 items
Kunst Buch von allerhandt rahren undt schönen inventionen so wohl in der Feuerwerckerey Kunst als auch in der Büchsenmeisterey zusammen
- 1671
A manuscript work from Andreas Räbel, a 17th-century pyrotechnician, containing formulas and recipes for the creation of fireworks, explosives, rockets, detonators, flares, bombs, and other armament. The recipes call…
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5 items
Italian dyer's notebook
- Autograph manuscript
- Circa 1856 – circa 1866
This warped and worn nineteenth-century Italian manuscript appears to be a working manual and color inventory of a wool dyer in mid-nineteenth-century Italy. The handwritten entries are dated between 1856 and 1866,…
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22 items
Il Colombo : Regioni Esterne del Corpo, Scheletro, Sistema Vasale, Muscoli, Organi Interni
- 1924
Italian-language book on the anatomy of the pigeon. It includes a color illustration of a pigeon and a pigeon egg. The pigeon is composed of two large, double-sided flaps and a series of smaller flaps, each of which…
- Author Mico, Dott.
- Editor Cappelli, L.
- Subject Pigeons, Lift-the-flap books, Pigeons--Anatomy, Birds, Birds--Anatomy, Birds--Reproduction, Birds--Eggs
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28 items
La Vacca : Regioni Esterne del Corpo, Scheletro, Sistema Vasale, Muscoli, Organi Interni
- 1924
Italian-language book on the anatomy of dairy cattle. It includes a color illustration of a dairy cow that is composed of two large, double-sided flaps and a series of smaller flaps, each of which lifts to reveal the…
- Author Mico, Dott.
- Editor Capelli, L.
- Subject Cattle--Anatomy, Cattle, Dairy cattle, Lift-the-flap books, Livestock, Agricultural education
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6 items
Guilielmi Harvei doct. & profess. Regii Exercitatio Anatomica De Motu Cordis & Sanguinis
- Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis
- An anatomical essay on the movement of the heart and blood
- 1648
William Harvey (1578-1657) was an English physician who discovered the circulation of the blood. He correctly described the motion of the heart as a contraction that forced blood out of the left ventricle into the…
- Author Harvey, William, 1578-1657
- Publisher Ex Officinâ Arnoldi Leers
- Contributor Sylvius, Zacharias, Back, Jacobus de, approximately 1594-1658
- Subject Blood--Circulation, Blood, Oxygen in the body, Heart, Cardiovascular system, Harvey, William, 1578-1657
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82 items
Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated and Descriptive Guide to Plants Indigenous to and Naturalized in the United States, Volume II
- 1892
Second of two volumes detailing a variety of plant species and their medicinal properties. The works contain 180 chromolithographic plates, originally drawn and hand-colored by the author. The illustrations depict the…
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111 items
Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated and Descriptive Guide to Plants Indigenous to and Naturalized in the United States, Volume I
- 1892
First of two volumes detailing a variety of plant species and their medicinal properties. The works contain 180 chromolithographic plates, originally drawn and hand-colored by the author. The illustrations depict the…
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142 items
Liber de arte Distillandi de Compositis
- Book on the Art of Distilling Compounds
- 1512
Hieronymus Brunschwig (circa 1453-cira 1513) was a surgeon in the Imperial Free City of Strasbourg who published on subjects including medicine, the plague, and surgery, though his most important works were those…
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323 items
Pandora, das ist, Die edleste Gab Gottes
- Pandora, That Is, the Noblest Gift of God
- 1582
First edition. This copy lacks parts of pages 2 and 7 as well as pages 183-184 and 255-256. The missing text on pages 2 and 7 was replaced in handwritten pencil at an unknown date. The work was edited by the physician…
- Author Epimetheus, Franciscus
- Editor Reusner, Hieronymus, b. 1558
- Printer Apiarius, Samuel, -1590
- Subject Alchemy, Medicine, Reusner, Hieronymus, b. 1558, Mythology, Greek, Symbolism in art
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100 items
Senshokuhō : Shinhatsumei jitchi keiken
- 染色法 : 新発明実地経験
- Dyeing Method : Practical Experience of New Invention
- 1887 (明 20)
First edition work on dyeing techniques. This work contains 12 plates illustrating reproductions of dyed fabrics and color palettes. Illustrations in the text depict machinery and other dyeing apparatus.
The author,…
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174 items
Dyer's account book, Volume 1
- After 1855-Nov-29 – before 1864-Nov-10
The first of two highly legible British dyer's account journals. The journal lists recipes and the costs for materials used in the process of dyeing many kinds of cloth, "gum china blue," "sumac," "peachwood," etc.…
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239 items
Dyer's account book, Volume 2
- After 1855-Nov-29 – before 1864-Nov-10
The first of two highly legible British dyer's account journals. The journal lists recipes and the costs for materials used in the process of dyeing many kinds of cloth, "gum china blue," "sumac," "peachwood," etc.…
