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GILBERT, WILLIAM. Tractatus sive physiologia nova de magnete, magneticisque corporibus et magno magnete tellure sex libris comprehensus. 12 engraved plates; woodcut text illustrations. [18] (of [20]), 232 [i. e., 233], [34] pages, including engraved title; lacks half-title. 4to, 228x178 mm, modern calf; contents browned with intermittent dampstaining in blank margins, small wormhole through blank upper outer corner of opening leaves, plate facing page 193 cropped in blank outer margin. Later signature of S. Horsley on title and scattered marginalia in same hand. Sedini [i. e., Szczecin, Poland]: Georg Götzke for Johann Hallervord, 1628
Second edition and first printed on the Continent, far less frequently seen than the 1600 London first edition; issue with Götzke/Hallervord imprint. "The first comprehensive treatment of magnetism which, among other things, introduced the idea of the earth as a giant magnet. It also included a chapter on amber and other 'electrics' and their power of attraction which Gilbert was at pains to distinguish from magnetic attraction. The work was significant for its experimental methodology as well as for its content"--Gascoigne 576 (original edition). Shaaber G312 (this edition).
