First edition of an influential work on geometrical crystallography by the French mineralogist Jean-Baptiste Louis Romé de l'Isle (1736-1790), one of the founders of modern crystallography. "In 1772 he published his first important technical work, a one volume essay on crystallography in which he identified 110 crystal forms. This was a major expansion upon the work of Linnaeus ... The Essai made Romé de l'Isle a prominent name among Parisian scientists of his day" (Wilson). Romé is best known for his "law of constancy of interfacial angles", now the first law of crystal habit. The preliminaries contain an annotated bibliography by the author of the principal works on crystals. The plates depict numerous crystal forms as well as some geometric figures.
Occasionally some very faint foxing or a small spot. Binding only slightly rubbed along the extremities. Overall in very good condition. Hoover 2681; Ward & Carozzi 1906; Wilson, The history of mineral collecting, p. 52.