HAÜY abbé René-Just Traité de cristallographie.

DSB VI, 178-183; Sotheran 1. Suppl. 4767.

First edition of the last book by the founder of geometric crystallography and gemmology.

This is the final version of the theory of crystallography set out by Haüy, the origins of which date back to the 1780s with his first Extrait d’un mémoire sur la structure des cristaux de grenat and subsequently his Essai d’une théorie sur la structure des cristaux. Haüy devoted his life to this discipline and elevated it to the status of an established science.

The work is divided into four parts. The first part is synthetic, in which Haüy sets out a general overview of minerals before presenting the general principles of his theory and the forms of molecules. The second part is analytical, focusing on the rhomboid and its variations. The third part discusses the application of crystallography to the classification of mineral species. The work concludes with the fourth part, which outlines a method for representing crystals.

“This was the first great work published on crystallography, and the last published by the author. It greatly enlarges the theory first published in his Essai d’une Théorie (1784) […] Haüy was the first to observe that all crystals of the same substance possess the same cleavage, and was led by this observation to a theory of crystal structure which explained all the known facts and first raised the study of crystals to the dignity of a science” (Sotheran).

A good copy. The atlas of 84 plates, presented here in oblong format, allowing readers to view the plates unfolded.

Traces of previous repair on the lower corner of the half-title page of Volume I;  Incorrect reference to ‘Volume I’ on the second volume;  Scattered foxing; Binding rubbed, spine damaged and worn, half of the upper cover ofthe atlas sun-faded.

Provenance: François Chrétien (bookplate)