This continuously growing library collection includes rare books from the Othmer Library of Chemical History. The collection includes works donated to the library by notable collectors including Donald Othmer, the Chemists' Club, Herb Pratt, Alfred Bader, and Robert E. Schofield. Only a small portion of the library's rare books have been digitized.
Please note, this collection excludes rare books donated by Roy G. Neville, whose sizable donation can be found partially digitized here.
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28 items
La Vacca : Regioni Esterne del Corpo, Scheletro, Sistema Vasale, Muscoli, Organi Interni
- 1924
Italian-language book on the anatomy of dairy cattle. It includes a color illustration of a dairy cow that is composed of two large, double-sided flaps and a series of smaller flaps, each of which lifts to reveal the…
- Author Mico, Dott.
- Editor Capelli, L.
- Subject Cattle--Anatomy, Cattle, Dairy cattle, Lift-the-flap books, Livestock, Agricultural education
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22 items
Il Colombo : Regioni Esterne del Corpo, Scheletro, Sistema Vasale, Muscoli, Organi Interni
- 1924
Italian-language book on the anatomy of the pigeon. It includes a color illustration of a pigeon and a pigeon egg. The pigeon is composed of two large, double-sided flaps and a series of smaller flaps, each of which…
- Author Mico, Dott.
- Editor Cappelli, L.
- Subject Pigeons, Lift-the-flap books, Pigeons--Anatomy, Birds, Birds--Anatomy, Birds--Reproduction, Birds--Eggs
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82 items
Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated and Descriptive Guide to Plants Indigenous to and Naturalized in the United States, Volume II
- 1892
Second of two volumes detailing a variety of plant species and their medicinal properties. The works contain 180 chromolithographic plates, originally drawn and hand-colored by the author. The illustrations depict the…
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111 items
Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated and Descriptive Guide to Plants Indigenous to and Naturalized in the United States, Volume I
- 1892
First of two volumes detailing a variety of plant species and their medicinal properties. The works contain 180 chromolithographic plates, originally drawn and hand-colored by the author. The illustrations depict the…
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100 items
Senshokuhō : Shinhatsumei jitchi keiken
- 染色法 : 新発明実地経験
- Dyeing Method : Practical Experience of New Invention
- 1887 (明 20)
First edition work on dyeing techniques. This work contains 12 plates illustrating reproductions of dyed fabrics and color palettes. Illustrations in the text depict machinery and other dyeing apparatus.
The author,…
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621 items
Mines and Miners, or, Underground Life
- La vie souterraine, ou les mines et les mineurs.
- 1868
Henry William Bristow's English translation of Louis Simonin's La vie souterraine, ou les mines et les mineurs (1867) appeared in this lavishly produced edition the following year with 166 wood engravings, 20 colored…
- Author Simonin, Louis, 1830-1886
- Editor Bristow, Henry William, 1817-1889
- Publisher William Mackenzie (Firm)
- Subject Mineral industries, Miners, Mines and mineral resources, Petrology, Metallurgy, Ores, Minerals, Precious stones
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5 items
Italian dyer's notebook
- Autograph manuscript
- Circa 1856 – circa 1866
This warped and worn nineteenth-century Italian manuscript appears to be a working manual and color inventory of a wool dyer in mid-nineteenth-century Italy. The handwritten entries are dated between 1856 and 1866,…
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239 items
Dyer's account book, Volume 2
- After 1855-Nov-29 – before 1864-Nov-10
The first of two highly legible British dyer's account journals. The journal lists recipes and the costs for materials used in the process of dyeing many kinds of cloth, "gum china blue," "sumac," "peachwood," etc.…
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174 items
Dyer's account book, Volume 1
- After 1855-Nov-29 – before 1864-Nov-10
The first of two highly legible British dyer's account journals. The journal lists recipes and the costs for materials used in the process of dyeing many kinds of cloth, "gum china blue," "sumac," "peachwood," etc.…
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45 items
Mineralienbuch
- oder allgemeine und besondere Beschreibung der Mineralien
- 1855
- Author Schmidt, F.A., active 19th century
- Publisher Krais & Hoffmann
- Subject Mineralogy, Minerals, Precious stones
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40 items
The Art of Making Fireworks with Safety and Ease
- 1830
Pamphlet titled The Art of Making Fireworks with Safety and Ease, published in 1830 by Turner & Fisher. The pamphlet outlines methods for creating various kinds of fireworks and describes how to mix and prepare the…
- Publisher Turner & Fisher
- Subject Fireworks, Gunpowder, pyrote
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3 items
Culinary Chemistry: Exhibiting the Scientific Principles of Cookery, with Concise Instructions for Preparing Good and Wholesome Pickles, Vinegar, Conserves, Fruit Jellies, Marmalades, and Various Other Alimentary Substances Employed in Domestic Economy, with Observations on the Chemical Constitution and Nutritive Qualities of Different Kinds of Food
- 1821
Title page and facing title page of Culinary Chemistry: Exhibiting the Scientific Principles of Cookery, With Concise Intructions for Preparing Good and Wholesome Pickles, Vinegar, Conserves, Fruit Jellies, Marmalades,…
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27 items
Istituzioni di pirotecnia: per istruzione di coloro che vogliono apprendere a lavorare i Fochi d'Artifizio
- Institutions of Pyrotechnics: for the education of those wanting to learn the making of Fireworks
- 1819
- Author Calà Ossorio, Marcello
- Engraver Alfano, G. (Gaetano)
- Subject Fireworks, Calà Ossorio, Marcello, Alfano, G. (Gaetano), Fireworks industry
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Le livre de tous les ménages, ou, L'art de conserver pendant plusieurs années, toutes les substances animales et végétales
- L'art de conserver pendant plusieurs années, toutes les substances animales et végétales
- 1813
Foldout engraving from Le livre de tous les ménages, ou, L'art de conserver pendant plusieurs années, toutes les substances animales et végétales.
- Author Appert, Nicolas, 1749-1841
- Engraver Gaitte, Antoine-Joseph, 1753-
- Subject Canning and preserving, Food--Preservation
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23 items
A Journal of Travels in England, Holland and Scotland, and of Two Passages Over the Atlantic, in the Years 1805 and 1806, Vol. 2
- 1812
Travel log of Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864) detailing his research in England, Holland, and Scotland. Silliman founded the American Journal of Science and discovered a way to distill petroleum. Written in first-person,…
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71 items
The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer: Being a Complete System of Occult Philosophy
- 1801
The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer, first published in 1801, is a handbook of occult or ceremonial magic written by Francis Barrett. The book covers subjects such as natural magic, alchemy, talismanic magic,…
- Printer Knight and Compton
- Author Barrett, Francis
- Subject Trithemius, Johannes, 1462-1516, Barrett, Francis, Occultism, Alchemy, Magic, Numerology, Talismans, Cabala
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7 items
Annales de Chimie
- Recueil de mémoires concernant la chimie et les arts qui en dépendent
- 1791 – 1793
The title page of the Annales de Chimie changed repeatedly in the first few years of its publication in response to rapid changes brought about by the French Revolution. Initially it published with the permission and…
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2 items
Lavoisier manuscript
- 1791-Sep-28
A document signed by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) as the Director of Government Powder Mills (1776-1794)
- Creator Of Work Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent, 1743-1794
- Subject Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent, 1743-1794
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31 items
L'art du Distillateur Liquoriste: Contenant le Bruleur d'Eaux-de-vie, le Fabriquant de Liqueurs, le Débitant ou le Cafetier-Limonnadier
- The Art of the Liqueur Distiller: Containing the Brandy Burner, the Liqueur Maker, the Bartender or the Lemonade Maker
- 1775
Part of a series published between 1761 and 1788 by the Parisian Académie des Sciences entitled Descriptions des arts et métiers, or Descriptions of the Arts and Trades. The full series comprises 113 folio volumes and…
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30 items
L'art du Distillateur d'Eaux-Fortes, &c.
- 1773
Part of a series published between 1761 and 1788 by the Parisian Académie des Sciences entitled Descriptions des arts et métiers, or Descriptions of the Arts and Trades. The full series comprises 113 folio volumes and…
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18 items
Oeuvres Physiologiques, Volume 2
- Traité des Sensations et des Passions en Général, et des Sens en Particulier, Ouvrage Divisé en Deux Parties.
- La Théorie de L'ouie
- 1767
The second of three volumes by Claude-Nicolas Le Cat (1700-1768), a French surgeon, lithotomist, researcher, and science communicator. Volume two was originally published as the Traité des sens in Rouen in 1740,…
- Author Le Cat, Claude-Nicolas, 1700-1768
- Publisher Chez Vallat-La-Chapelle
- Engraver Bacheley, Jacques, 1712-1781
- Subject Senses and sensation, Sense organs, Physiology, Le Cat, Claude-Nicolas, 1700-1768, Vision, Hearing, Smell, Touch, Taste
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22 items
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19 items
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6 items
Essai sur l'electricité des corps
- 1746
Jean-Antoine Nollet (1700-1770) was an 18th-century French experimental physicist known for discovering osmosis in 1748 and conducting foundational research on electricity. This book, published in 1746, features an…
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15 items
Essay sur les feux d'artifice pour le spectacle et pour la guerre
- Essay on fireworks for spectacle and for war
- 1745
