HANS CHRISTIAN OERSTED - IMPORTANT PRESENTATION COPY.

ØRSTED, H.C.

Samlede og efterladte Skrifter. 9 Bd.

Kjøbenhavn (Copenhagen), Andr. Fred. Høst, 1851(1850)-52.

Indb. i fire samt. ensartede hldrbd. m. forgyldte rygge. Bd. m. lidt rifter. På velin. - Med en halvsides dedikation til Ørsteds datter Mathilde Ørsted : "Til/ min Kjære Datter Mathilde Ørsted/ Denne Bog har Ingen læst i dens Helhed/ förend Du, min Kjære Mathilde, da Du saa troligt hjalp mig med Rettelsesarbeider, som en Bogs Trykning medförer, og med tænksomme Soörgsmaal og Bemærkninger gav mig Anledning til mangen Forbedring. Modtag derfor Bogen, der allerede Skulde tilfalde Dig som en elsket Datter, tillige som et Minde om de Underholdninger (?) imellem os, hvortil du gav Anledning. H.C. Ørsted." Mathildes navn findes i bind III,V og VI, og hun var Ø's yngste datter.

Bound in 4 cont. uniform hcalfs w. richly gilt backs. Bindings w. a few scratches. A fine copy printed on vellum-paper.
With a long (half-page) orig. handwritten dedication from Oersted for his youngest daughter, Mathilde Ørsted : "Til/ min Kjære Datter Mathilde Ørsted/ Denne Bog har Ingen læst i dens Helhed/ förend Du, min Kjære Mathilde, da Du saa troligt hjalp mig med Rettelsesarbeider, som en Bogs Trykning medförer, og med tænksomme Spörgsmaal og Bemærkninger gav mig Anledning til mangen Forbedring. Modtag derfor Bogen, der allerede Skulde tilfalde Dig som en elsket Datter, tillige som et Minde om de Underholdninger (?) imellem os, hvortil du gav Anledning. H.C. Ørsted."
With the orig. handwritten signature of Mathilde in vols. III, V and VI.

First edition of Ørsted's Collected works (in which "Aanden i Naturen" ("The Spirit in Nature") is printed for the fist time). Presented to his daughter with the warm, beautiful and personal dedication in volume 1, which translates as thus: "For/ My dear Daughter Mathilde Ørsted/ Nobody has finished reading this book/ before You, my dear Mathilde, when You so faithfully helped me with the corrections the printing of a book carries with it, the thoughtful questions and remarks gave me reason for many improvements. Therefore, accept the book which already would have befallen You as a beloved daughter, together with a reminder of the entertainings (?) between us, of which You were the cause. H.C. Ørsted."
Oersted is universally known for his discovery of the 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. 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.: 20547