London, The Royal Society, 1666. 4to (21.5 x 16.8 cm). The complete issue, consisting of pp. 231-254 plus one foldout plate. Spine with marbled paper cover.

Very rare, since the earliest issues of the Transactions were privately financed by the Society's secretary, Henry Oldenburg, and thus printed only in a small number. Starts with a paper by Robert Boyle on his "new kind of Baroscope" (p. 231-239). This is a very early account of the instrument now known as the barometer. Robert Boyle is often mentioned as the first person to predict weather by using the barometer. This is followed by a series of important early astronomical articles by the British polymath Robert Hooke (1635-1703). Hooke is best known for his research in microscopy and mechanics, but his range was very wide, and he could be listed under a number of other sciences as well. He made many important astronomical observations and was the first to infer the rotation of Jupiter. Pages 239-247 contain the articles about his astronomical observations on the planets Saturn and Jupiter (including the discovery of the famous Great Red Spot, a super anticyclone that is still active today), and on the day length of the planet Mars (correctly determined and communicated by Giovani Domenico Cassini, as 24 hours and 40 minutes) Cassini also discovered four of Saturn's moons, and the major gap in Saturn's ring. A spacecraft has been named after him. This is followed by Hooke's discovery of the alleged shadow of Saturn's ring. The foldout illustration relates to these articles, and contains the very first images of the surface of Mars, and Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Also included is a review of Thomas Hobbes' De principiis et ratiocinatione geometrarum, noting that "It seems, that this Author is angry with all Geometricians, but himself". A very good copy, with a wide outer margin. Author's names "Hook" and "Cassini" added in an old had to the titles of their papers. Faintly dampstained, mostly marginal, throughout, but not very distracting. The folding plate with a very short tear at the lower end of a fold, otherwise nice and clean. Houzeau & Lancaster, p. 1328; 1419 (Hooke); 1329 (Cassini); 1386 (Boyle, Hooke, and Cassini); Keynes, 27 (p. 56; Hooke); PMM, 148.