|
Click
on any image below to see larger version.
Introduction
by Ron S. Brashear, Head of Special Collections
|
| The
National Museum of American History, Behring Center on the National
Mall in Washington, DC. The Dibner Library of the History of Science
and Technology is located on the first floor, west wing. |
 |
| Visionary
collector Dr. Bern Dibner |
 |
| The
Reading room of the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology.
A window at the rear of the space provides a glimpse of the library's
vast rare book and manuscript holdings. |
 |
| 2001
Resident Scholar Dr. Alberto Martinez working in the Dibner Library
reading room. |
 |
From
Collector to Reader: Bern Dibner and History of Science Collections
by Roger Gaskell |
Figure
1
A volume from the library of John Tyndall (1820–1893) containing
five tracts on matter and motion. Tyndall himself probably determined
the contents of the volume, which serves as an important demonstration
of the way he chose to organise his collection. |
 |
Figure
2
Julius Robert von Mayer (1814–1878) Bemerkungen Über das
mechanische Aequivalent der Wärme (Heilbronn, 1851), Dibner ‘Herald’
no. 157. This is one of the pamphlets in the volume owned by John
Tyndall that is illustrated in figure 1; before Tyndall, it was owned
by Heinrich Debus (1824–1916). Mayer did important work in thermodynamics,
which Tyndall drew attention to when he translated several of Mayer’s
papers. |
 |
Figure
3
Pencil notes by John Tyndall in the volume illustrated in figure 1. |
 |
Figure
4
A book from the library of Jacques Auguste de Thou (1553-1617), French
historian, statesman, Royal librarian and bibliophile, whose father
was a friend of Jean Grolier. The work is Archimedes Opera (Basle,
1544), the first printing of Archimedes’ works in the original
Greek. A typical ‘fine book’ of the period, the most up-to-date
scholarly text of an important work, elegantly laid out and carefully
printed. De Thou’s books remained together until 1789, when they
were dispersed in a series of sales. Dibner ‘Herald’ no.
137. |
 |
Figure
5
The German edition of Vitruvius, 1575, from the library of Robert
Hooke (1635–1703). This classic treatise on Roman architecture
was first printed in 1521. As a practising architect, Hooke would
have been familiar with the text of Vitruvius; as a collector, he
was interested in the history of the book and owned several other
editions. |
 |
Figure
6
The endpaper of Robert Hooke’s copy of Vitruvius illustrated
in figure 5. Hooke’s annotation reads ‘paid 2 shillings
Millington’s auction 1689 R Hooke’. |
 |
Figure
7
The endpapers of a book presented to Robert Hooke by Henry Oldenburg
on behalf of the author, Robert Boyle (1627–1691). It is Boyle’s
Experiments, notes, &c. About the Mechanical Origine or Production
of Divers Particular Qualities: Among which is Inserted a Discourse
of the Imperfection of the Chymist’s Doctrine of Qualities; Together
with Some Reflections upon the Hypothesis of Alcali and Acidum (London,
1675), a typical Boyle production made up of several separate tracts.
After Hooke’s death, it passed through a number of other hands,
and the bookplates and inscriptions provide an unusually complete
record of ownership, from the author giving his book to a respected
colleague to the copy’s present home. Dibner ‘Herald’
no. 56. |
 |
Figure
8
Hooke’s notes on various passages in Boyle’s work illustrated
in figure 7 |
 |
Figure
9
This image depicts an imaginary visit by Louis XVI to the Paris Académie
Royale des Sciences and was intended to advertise Louis’ patronage.
Engraved by Sébastien le Clerc (1637–1714) and Jean Goyton
(d. 1714), it serves as the frontispiece to Denis Dodart (164–1707)
Histoire naturelle des plantes (Paris, 1676). Dibner ‘Herald’
no. 84. |
 |
Figure
10
Royal presentation binding on Veterum mathematicarum (Paris, 1693),
a collection of ancient Greek and Latin texts edited by members of
the Académie Royale des Sciences from manuscripts in the Royal
Library. Like the Dodart in figure 9, this book was published for
presentation purposes. Dibner ‘Herald’ no. 84. |
 |
Figure
11
The signature of the astronomer and pioneer historian of science Stephen
Peter Rigaud (1774–1839) on the endpaper of Jakob Bernoulli (1654–1705)
Ars conjectandi (Basle, 1713), a major contribution to probability
theory. Dibner ‘Herald’ no. 110. |
 |
Figure
12
Titlepage of the book owned by Rigaud illustrated in figure 11 with
the stamp of the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford. After his death, Rigaud’s
books were purchased by the Observatory as an important collection
in the history of science and as the working library of an important
scientist. The books were dispersed at auction in 1935. |
 |
Figure
13
A book from the library of the great French historian of science,
Pierre Duhem (1861–1916), Joannes de Sacro Bosco (fl. 1230) Sphaera
Mundi (Venice, 1499). |
 |
Figure
14
Colophon of the book illustrated in figure 13 |
 |
Figure
15
The bookplate of J.L.E. Dreyer (1852–1926) in a copy of Kaspar
Peucer (1525–1602) Hypotheses astronomicae (Wittemberg, 1571).
Born in Copenhagen, Dreyer wrote the standard biography of Tycho Brahe
and spent his working life as an astronomer in Ireland. |
 |
Figure
16
The title page of Dreyer’s copy of Peucer illustrated in figure
15 showing earlier marks of ownership |
 |
Figure
17
The endpapers of a volume of early astronomical treatises by Sacrobosco,
Regiomontanus, and Peurbach from the collection of the English historian
of science, Charles Joseph Singer (1876–1960). The volume is
an example of the practice of binding several small, separately published,
works together in one volume, both for economy and convenience. This
volume was probably assembled in the late fifteenth century: a nineteenth-century
example is illustrated in figure 1. |
 |
Figure
18
The first page of Joannes de Sacro Bosco (fl. 1230) Sphaera mundi
(Venice, 1488) in the volume illustrated in figure 17. The arms of
an unidentified contemporary owner, perhaps the first owner, are painted
at the foot of the page. |
 |
Icons
of Understanding: Celebrating Bern Dibner's Heralds of Science
by Own Gingerich |
Figure
1
From Roberto Valturio, De re militari, Verona, 1472. |
 |
Figure
2
Fuch’s herbal features illustrations of botanicals from the New
World. Pictured here is ‘Cucumer marinus,’ commonly known
as a pumpkin. From Leonhart Fuchs, De historia stirpium, Basil, 1542. |
 |
Figure
3
Title page of Johannes Kepler, Astronomia nova, [Prague], 1609. |
 |
Figure
4
From Carlo Fontana, Templum Vaticanum, Rome, 1694. |
 |
Figure
5
Manuscript of Joannes Regiomontanus, c. 1475. |
 |
Figure
6
From Sacrobosco (Joannes de Sacro Bosco), Sphaera mundi. Leipzig,
[1489]. |
 |
