an old book with a brown cover sitting on top of a white surface
Gros & Delettrez

103 - PERRAULT, Pierre.
See original version (French)

Estimate €300 - €400
Description
PERRAULT, Pierre. On the Origin of Fountains. Paris: published by Pierre Le Petit, 1674. Small 12mo, (19)-353 pp, 7 pp of tables, frontispiece. Contemporary mottled fawn sheepskin with root-cut edges, decorated ribbed spine, gilt roundel on the edges, mottled edges (binding rubbed, joints worn but interior still fresh). First edition of this seminal work on modern hydrology. Dedicated to (Christian Huygens), The author, brother of the famous storyteller and friend of the mathematician Huygens, was the first to demonstrate the reality of the water cycle. A seminal work in hydrology. Includes the allegorical frontispiece, engraved in black on copper. Perrault succeeded in scientifically proving, for the first time, that rainfall was sufficient to feed river flows, and that rain originated from the evaporation of rivers and seas As early as 1674, Pierre Perrault published *De l’origine des fontaines*, a two-part work: a critique of concepts put forward prior to the 17th century, followed by observations and experiments laying the foundations of continental hydrology (letter to Hugues de Zulichem, preface, licence)
See original version (French)
About the sale Books & Manuscripts
Auction location
Auction time 10/30/2026 at 2:00 PM
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