PRESENTATION COPY OF HIS MAIN WORK IN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY

ØRSTED, H.C - OERSTED

Aanden i Naturen. 2 bd. (The Spirit in Nature. 2 Volumes).

Kjøbenhavn (Copenhagen), Andr. Fred. Høst, 1850.

Samt. hldrbd. Rygforgyldning samt titel-og tomefelter i skind. X,190,XII,206 pp. Nogle få brunpletter.

Cont. hcalf w. gilt back and leather title- and tome-labels. Minor brownspotting. Printed on vellum-paper. X, 190, XII, 206 pp.

Originaludgaven af Ørsteds naturfilosofiske hovedværk med dedikation fra forfatteren til "Herr Etatsraad Molbech [...] venskabeligst/fra/Forfatteren."

First edition of Oersted's main work in natural philosophy. Presentation copy with the inscription "Herr Etatsraad Molbech [...] venskabeligst/fra/Forfatteren." (Mr. Councillor of State Molbech [...] Respectfully/ from/ the Author.").

Oersted is universally known for his discovery of Electro-Magnetism in 1820. Afterwards he went on to write a number of important philosophical works on natural philosophy and empiricism, of which "Aanden i Naturen" he himself considered his main work. The copy here is a presentation copy inscribed to his friend Christian Molbech, one of the leading literary critics in Denmark at the time. The work is found printed on 2 sorts of paper, common- and vellum-paper. This copy is on vellum-paper. Both H.C. Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard admit to having been influenced by the writings of Oersted. "He was an enthusiastic follower of the "Naturphilosophie" school in Germany, whose main object was the unification of physical forces, thus producing a monistic theory of the universe. It was to further this purpose that Oersted sought in actual phenomena the electro-magnetic identity of which he had already convinced himself on metaphysical grounds" (Percy H. Muir in Printing and The Mind of Man).

Order-nr.: 18041