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JOHANN HEINRICH MÜLLERCOLLEGIUM EXPERIMENTALENUREMBERG, 1721 • SOLE EDITIONEARLY EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS, OPTICS AND SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTATIONMAGIC LANTERN • CAMERA OBSCURA • MICROSCOPYNINE FOLDING COPPERPLATES PRESENT
MÜLLER, Johann Heinrich. Ioh. Henrici Mulleri Collegium experimentale, in quo ars experimentandi, praemissa brevi ejus delineatione, potioribus aevi recentioris inventis ac speciminibus, de aere, aqua, igne ac terrestribus explanatur ac illustratur, et ad genuinum scopum usumque accommodatur. Accessit ob cognationem appendix orationis ac dissertationis…
Nuremberg: published by Wolfgang Moritz Endter and printed by Johann Ernst Adelbulner, 1721.
Sole edition. Small quarto, approximately 8 × 6½ inches or 204 × 167 mm. [8], 302, [16] pages. Title page printed in red and black. Illustrated with nine of the fourteen required folding engraved copperplates, comprising Plates VI–XIV. Plates I–V are lacking.
An uncommon original edition of Johann Heinrich Müller’s illustrated course in experimental natural philosophy, treating optics, image projection, mechanics, pneumatics, hydrostatics, acoustics, heat, microscopy, and scientific instrumentation.
The work belongs to the development of experimental science at the University of Altdorf and reflects the influence of Müller’s teacher, Johann Christoph Sturm, an important early advocate of experimental natural philosophy in the German-speaking world.
OPTICS, PROJECTION AND PRE-CINEMA INTEREST
This copy retains nine folding copperplates, including the book’s particularly desirable illustrations relating to optics and projected images.
The surviving plates depict subjects including:
Magic-lantern and image-projection apparatus
Camera-obscura principles and experiments
Prisms and the refraction of light
Convex and concave lenses
Optical benches and focal-distance experiments
Mirrors and reflected light
Visual perception and geometrical optics
Microscopes and other optical instruments
Acoustic and mechanical experiments
Hydrostatic weighing
Thermometric and related measuring instruments
Pulleys, vessels, tubes, and laboratory apparatus
The illustrations place the book within the early history of optical projection and the technological background of pre-cinema. They also document the variety of instruments employed in the teaching of experimental physics during the early eighteenth century.
THE PLATES
A complete copy contains fourteen folding copperplates numbered I–XIV.
This copy contains:
PLATES VI–XIV PRESENTPLATES I–V LACKING
The nine surviving plates are intact and legible, with their original folds. They display an unusually broad selection of scientific instruments, optical arrangements, projection devices, mechanical systems, and experimental apparatus.
An old French pencil note on an endpaper records the deficiency:
“5 planches manquent”“Five plates missing”
No attempt has been made to replace the missing plates with reproductions or facsimiles.
JOHANN HEINRICH MÜLLER
Johann Heinrich Müller (1671–1731) was a German astronomer, mathematician, physicist, and university professor.
As a young man he worked at Georg Christoph Eimmart’s Nuremberg observatory before studying at Altdorf under Johann Christoph Sturm, one of the leading German proponents of experimental physics.
Müller subsequently became professor of physics in Nuremberg and professor of mathematics at the University of Altdorf. He also directed the Altdorf observatory and lectured on meteorology, mathematical geography, astronomy, and cartography.
His Collegium experimentale represents the experimental and instrument-based approach to natural philosophy cultivated by Sturm and his successors at Altdorf.
CONTENTS
The work explains both the methodology and practical execution of physical experiments. Its subjects encompass the properties and behavior of air, water, fire, terrestrial materials, light, heat, sound, and mechanical forces.
Particular attention is given to:
Experimental method
Air pressure and pneumatic phenomena
Hydrostatics and the behavior of water
Heat and thermometric observation
Optics and the behavior of light
Lenses, mirrors, prisms, and projected images
Microscopes and visual instruments
Sound and acoustic experiments
Mechanics, weights, and pulley systems
Mathematical and physical apparatus
The principal text is followed by an appendix containing an oration and dissertation concerning observations, experiments, instruments, and the practical uses of physics and mathematics.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Author: Johann Heinrich Müller
Title: Collegium Experimentale
Publisher: Wolfgang Moritz Endter
Printer: Johann Ernst Adelbulner
Place of publication: Nuremberg
Date: 1721
Edition: Sole edition
Format: Small quarto
Dimensions: Approximately 204 × 167 mm
Collation: [8], 302, [16] pages
Title page: Printed in red and black
Illustrations: Nine of fourteen folding engraved copperplates
Plates present: VI–XIV
Plates lacking: I–V
Binding: Contemporary full leather
Edges: Red stained
Language: Latin
Reference: VD18 1039902X
CONDITION
Incomplete and in fragile antiquarian condition. Offered as-is and priced accordingly.
Text
The text is complete as collated, including the appendix and concluding material. The leaves show general age-toning, light foxing, scattered spotting, occasional soiling, and minor marginal wear.
Several gatherings are loose, partly detached, or separating from the binding. The volume must be handled carefully.
Plates
Nine of the fourteen required folding copperplates are present: Plates VI–XIV.
Plates I–V are absent.
The surviving plates remain intact and legible, with original folds, light toning, minor creasing, and occasional small marginal or fold splits. Some plates are loose or working loose from the text block.
Binding
The contemporary full leather binding is heavily worn and unrestored.
There is extensive leather loss along the spine, particularly at the head and tail. The joints are split or seriously weakened, with portions of the underlying binding structure exposed. The boards are heavily scuffed and rubbed, with substantial edge and corner wear.
Although the boards remain associated with the volume, the binding is fragile and should not be expected to withstand ordinary use without conservation.
The book is an appropriate candidate for professional stabilization, rebinding, or a custom protective enclosure.
Please examine all photographs carefully. The images form an essential part of the description and clearly show the binding, title page, surviving plates, text, and structural condition.
An uncommon and extensively illustrated early work on experimental physics, retaining nine folding copperplates of strong interest for the history of optics, magic-lantern projection, the camera obscura, microscopy, mechanics, and scientific instrumentation.
