Comstock, J. L. A System of Natural Philosophy: in which the Principles of Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Acoustics, Optics, Astronomy, Electricity, Magnetism, Steam Engine, and Electro-Magnatism, are Familiarly Explained; and Illustrated by more than Two Hundred Engravings. To which are added, Questions for the Examination of Pupils, designed for the use of Schools and Academies. New-York: Robinson, Pratt, & Co., 1840. Stereotyped from the Fifty-third Edition. [9528]
Full leather binding, black title label & gilt lines to spine, 7 1/2 x 4 3/4 inches, joints fine, nibble damage to the bottom edge of the top board. 1920 owner's signature in blue ink on the ffep, 340 unmarked pp., foxing throughout, a little shaken. Good. Full leather.
John Lee Comstock (1787-1858), b. East Lyme, CT; d. Hartford CT. Comstock was a surgeon and served in the 20th Infantry Regiment during the War of 1812. He became a prolific author of science books, with topics including botany, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, and physiology. His scientific experiments led to his patented discovery of waterproofing cloth by use of India rubber and turpentine. His books sold in the tens of thousands during his lifetime, were the basis of thinly-veiled copy versions by other authors.
"Among the many works on philosophy; we have certainly not met with one, uniting in a greater degree the two grand requisites of precision and simplicity, than in the work of Dr. Comstock." - George Lees.
"This manual of Natural Philosophy claims no higher merit than that of being a replication of the popular treatise of Dr. Comstock, of Hartford... enlarged, and to a certain extent remodeled... It is an elementary work requiring for its perusal no mathematical attainments, nor indeed any previous knowledge of Natural Philosophy, being at once simple, intelligible, and in most parts familiar." - Richard Dennis Hoblyn.