LUISÇIUS, Abraham van Stipriaan.

Large 4to, 2 leaves, 45 pages, 1 leaf, and 2 folding engraved plates. Contemporary Dutch quarter calf, speckled sides, vellum tips, blue morocco label on spine, uncut and largely unopened. Cancelled stamp of the Dutch Royal Library at foot of title. A fine copy.

FIRST EDITION. A description of an early bathometer or device for sounding the depth of the sea, invented by Luisçius, which operated without a lead-line, and which was possibly the first such instrument. A similar device, but one which required a lead-line, had been developed in England by Edward Massey three years previously, and was eventually installed in every ship of the Royal Navy. The first part of the text is concerned with underwater topography, especially submarine mountains, and animal life. The last leaf is a list of prices. A French edition was published in the same year by the same publisher.