Description
The first edition of Chemical Atlas; Or, The Chemistry of Familiar Objects by Edward L. Youmans, published in 1855, with 13 hand-colored plates.
Quarto, [2], 106pp, [2]. Publisher’s brown pebbled cloth, title stamped in gilt on front panel, illustrations stamped in blind. Previous owner’s name on the front pastedown. Marginal toning to plates, scattered foxing throughout. Toning to endpapers. This work is complete with 13 hand-colored, woodblock plates, including a double fold-out plate. Plates XII and XIII retain the original tissue cover.
From William Reece: “…a pioneering publication in the use of color to convey quantitative information.” (Reece, Color Plate Books, 82)
Edward Livingston Youmans (1821-1887) was the founder of Popular Science Magazine in 1872, and a lecturer on scientific principles. He published Chemical Atlas in 1854 as a chemistry text for students with no prior scientific training. The scarce work is a striking example of mid-nineteenth century American scientific printing and visual design, using colored diagrams and symbols to illustrate chemical elements, and appearing fourteen years before Mendeleev’s first periodic table. It was an innovative use of color to communicate scientific principles.
