NOLLET (Abbé Jean Antoine). - Lot 107

NOLLET (Abbé Jean Antoine). Oratio... cum primum Physicae experimentalis cursum Professor à Rege institutus auspicaretur [...]. Paris, Thiboust, 1753. In-4, paperback, sewn with three green silk ribbons, gilt and embossed paper cover decorated with plant motifs (Period binding). First edition. Speech delivered by Abbé Nollet (1700-1770) on the occasion of the inauguration of France's first chair of experimental physics, created at the Collège de Navarre on May 15, 1753, and of which he was the first incumbent. Since experimental physics is a science born of the work of modern physicists, it would have been extremely difficult to treat it properly in Latin: one would have had to create several new words, and run the risk of not always being heard. This is a consideration on the part of the University, which thought it better for M. l'Abbé Nollet to explain himself in French; & he did so in the body of his speech, which is strictly speaking a first lesson (Journal des sçavans, September 1753, p. 614). Charming Augsburg gilt paper cover with floral foliage motifs.