first edition
1800 · Paris:
by FOURCROY, Antoine Francois, comte de (1755-1809).
Paris:: Baudouin, an IX-X (1800-1802)., 1800. 5 volumes + index vol. 4to. [4], cxl, 474; [iv], 576; [iv], 700; 593, [1]; [iv], 686; [iv], 170 pp. Half-titles, title vignettes, index. Original full gilt-stamped tree calf, red and green leather gilt-stamped spine labels; vol. V spine ends worn, several covers with minor surface wear, corners showing. Early bookseller's label of Potey, Libraire, Paris. Despite the wear to vol. V, this is clearly a beautiful copy with minimal wear, very clean & fresh. First edition, in the preferred taller quarto format. Fourcroy was a French chemist and a collaborator of Antoine Lavoisier. Politically active, he was appointed to the council of state by Napoleon in 1799, shortly before publishing this set. In 1802 Fourcroy became director-general of public instruction, where Fourcroy played an instrumental role in modernizing France's educational system. During this time, Fourcroy's Systeme des Connaissances Chimiques played an important role in popularizing a systematic approach to chemical research throughout France. "This great treatise contained more information than any previously published, and was not intended for beginners, but for those who wished to make a thorough study of chemistry" – William Arthur Smeaton, Fourcroy: Chemist and revolutionary: 1755- 1809. Cambridge: Heffer, (1962), pp. 76-77. REFERENCES: Cole 481; Duveen p. 226; Neville I, pp. 472-473; Partington III, p. 538.
(Inventory #: RW1434)