[Manuscript] Traité et Abrégé de la Géographie et des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles. Manuscrit XVIIème Siecle

France, 1650. Quarter Calf. Paper pastedown on boards. Very Good. Exquisite 17th Century manuscript, written in a neat and often calligraphic hand, with absolutely stunning original Folk Art mostly watercolored illustrations. N.d., other than we are confident that the manuscript is 17th century, based on the handwriting, an explicit dating, written later, on the title page, the fact that the manuscript is devoid of any reference to gravity and other discoveries made in the latter part of the 17th Century, the crudity of the maps of the New World and Australia, etc. 8vo. 20.5 by 15 cm. 121 numbered leaves -- only four leaves, or nine pages, are blank. Interspersed frequently within text are 109 drawings. These could be maps, globes, miniature scenes depicting various meteorological, and geological phenomenon -- winds, snow, hail, fire, earthquakes, meteors, etc. 65 of drawings are fully painted, three more, partially colored. Some of the vignettes are quite simple and arguably should not be part of the count -- these are entirely in the non-colored category. On the other hand, we counted as one several instances where side-by-side images were arguably more than a single drawing. The colored artwork was entirely on the first 100 leaves, after which the coloring petered out, and virtually everything was uncolored. A few of the latter drawings, though, were quite impressive even without the coloring. The charm of the illustration comes from the ancillary elements of the rendering -- the seraphs blowing in the depictions of wind, the allegorical figures that are presented here and there, the anthropomorphic features given to the sun, the vignettes of birds, fish, and other animals, the buildings, hills, ships and other things that enliven the drawings beyond the physical phenomenon they are supposed to be conveying. In this survey the world is still composed of four elements -- air, water, fire and earth. The survey, then, is a snapshot of popular scientific understanding of the world at the time, with an emphasis on those aspects of science that directly impacted the lives of ordinary people. Calf spine is heavily rubbed. Paper pastedown of cover chipped and worn. Large dampstain affecting most leaves; dampstain, though, generally light and not disconcerting, relatively-speaking. Scattered small stains on the leaves within.