ASTRONOMY. GEODESY. HISTORY OF SCIENCE. LE MONNIER (Pierre C - Lot 114

ASTRONOMY. GEODESY. HISTORY OF SCIENCE. LE MONNIER (Pierre Charles). Loix du Magnétisme, comparées aux observations & aux expériences, dans les différentes parties du globe terrestre... A Paris, de l'Imprimerie Royale, 1776. In-8, XXXI-168-XXIII pp. 2 folding maps, marbled fawn calf, 5-ribbed spine, red title page, richly ornamented caissons, triple gilt filleting on covers, gilt roulette on hunting, gilt edges. First edition. Pierre-Charles Lemonnier (1715-1799), confidant and continuator of Halley and Bradley, seems to have been Louis XV's favored astronomer, as he was granted an observatory. Complete with 2 copper-engraved maps by Guillaume de la Haye. One for magnetic declinations. And the beautiful map centered on the Atlantic Ocean with the lines of magnetic variations showing the coasts of North America, Africa and Europe in the mid-18th century, a map that indicates the various inclinations of the magnetized needle. Pleasant copy, almost as issued. Very slight rubbing to binding, foxing on a few pages of text.