FR EN
drawing of a machine that is sitting on top of a table
Premium Jeschke Jádi Auctions Berlin

1539 - Medicine – Microscopy
See original version (German)

Estimate €600 - €800
Sale commission
Description
Medicine – Microscopy Barba, Antonio Microscopic observations on the brain and associated structures. Translated from the Italian into German and accompanied by a biography of the author by J. J. Albrecht von Schoenberg. With 1 folded copperplate (illustration of the microscope). Würzburg, C. Strecker, 1829. 4°. X, 40, (2) pp. Contemporary paperback with gold-embossed spine label. Wellcome II, 96. – Ratcliff, *The Quest for the Invisible: Microscopy in the Enlightenment*, Turnhout 2009, pp. 95ff. – Not listed in Waller. - Copy bearing the bookplate of the eminent Swedish anatomist and histologist Gustaf Retzius, who devoted much of his life to the history of neuroanatomy and neurohistology. First and very rare German translation of Barba’s famous study on the brain, including a description of Della Torre’s simple microscope, the so-called ‘little spheres’ (illustrated on the plate). The volume bears a printed dedication to Samuel Thomas von Soemmerring. In the early 1750s, Father Giovanni Maria della Torre was among those religious scholars and academics who improved upon the simple microscopes made from glass beads. His observation of red blood cells, which appeared to him as a ring divided into six sacs, sparked a Europe-wide controversy in the 1760s, in which scholars from almost every country took part. In the 1770s, new proponents of this technique emerged, including Barba, Macrì and the optician Father Mazzola, who also manufactured such glass-bead microscopes. Using these instruments, Barba, a professor of physics and chemistry at the Neapolitan Military Academy, studied cryptogams and the anatomy of the brain. Shortly afterwards, in the early 1780s, Mazzola claimed to have developed achromatic objectives even before he moved to Vienna – where he established himself as an optician and designed new, simple microscopes – (Marc Ratcliff, The Quest for the Invisible: Microscopy in the Enlightenment, 2009, pp. 95ff.). Barba’s Italian original was first published under the title *Osservazioni microscopiche sul cervello e sue parti adjacenti*, Naples, Stamperia del Corriere di Napoli, 1807; a second Italian edition followed in 1819. This German translation from 1829, prepared by J. J. Albrecht von Schoenberg, made the study accessible to a German-speaking specialist audience for the first time and was cited in contemporary physiological literature – for example, by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, who in his treatise on the structure of the ‘organ of the soul’ (1839) explicitly refers to ‘Barba, Microscopic Observations on the Brain, 1819, trans. by Schönberg, 1829’. Medicine – Microscopy. – With 1 folding engraved plate (depicting the microscope). Copy bearing the bookplate of the eminent Swedish anatomist and histologist Gustaf Retzius, who devoted much of his career to the history of neuroanatomy and neurohistology. The first and very rare German translation of Barba’s famous study on the brain, including a description of Della Torre’s simple microscope, the so-called ‘spherules’ (illustrated on the plate). The volume bears a printed dedication to Samuel Thomas von Soemmerring. In the early 1750s, Father Giovanni Maria della Torre was among the friars and scholars who improved the simple microscopes made from small glass spheres. His observation of red blood cells, which appeared to him as a ring divided into six small sacs, sparked a Europe-wide controversy in the 1760s involving scholars from almost every country. In the 1770s, new enthusiasts for this technique emerged, including Barba, Macrì, and the optician Father Mazzola, who likewise produced such spherule microscopes. Using these instruments, Barba—a professor of physics and chemistry at the Neapolitan military school—carried out observations of cryptogams as well as of the anatomy of the brain. Shortly afterwards, in the early 1780s, Mazzola claimed to have developed achromatic objectives even before his move to Vienna, where he established himself as an optician and designed new, simple microscopes (Marc Ratcliff, *The Quest for the Invisible: Microscopy in the Enlightenment*, 2009, pp. 95ff.). Barba’s Italian original first appeared under the title *Osservazioni microscopiche sul cervello e sue parti adjacenti*, Naples, Stamperia del Corriere di Napoli, 1807; a second Italian edition followed in 1819. The present German translation, prepared by J. J. Albrecht von Schoenberg in 1829, made the study accessible to a German-speaking scholarly audience for the first time and was cited in contemporary physiological literature—for instance by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, who, in his treatise on the structure of the ‘organ of the soul’ (1839), explicitly cites “Barba, Mikrosk. Beob. über d. Gehirn. 1819. trans. by Schönberg. 1829.” This lot is subject to standard tax. A 24.95% buyer’s premium is payable on the hammer price, and 7% (Books and Art) or 19% VAT (Manuscripts, Screenprints, Offset Prints, Photographs) is payable on the final invoice amount within the European Union. This lot is subject to the standard tax regime. A 24.95% buyer’s premium applies to the hammer price, and 7% (books and art) or 19% VAT (manuscripts, screen prints, offset prints and photographs) applies to the final invoice amount within the European Union.
See original version (German)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale Valuable books, prints, historical photographs
Auction location
Auction time 10/24/2026 at 10:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like