Susanne Schulz-Falster Catalogue Fifteen

Statutes of one of the Earliest Minerological Societies
80 [ST. PETERSBURG.] Statuten der im Jahre 1817 am 7ten
Januar gestifteten und am 12ten Jun von Sr. Kaiserlichen Majestät
Alexander I. Selbstherrscher aller Reussen etc. etc. etc. allerhöchst
bestätigten Gesellschaft für die gesammte Mineralogie in St.
Petersburg, nebst einem Verzeichnisse der Stifter dieser Gesellschaft.
St. Petersburg, M. C. Iversen, 1817. £850
8vo, pp. 20, stitched as issued; very clean and crisp.
First edition of the founding statutes of one of the earliest minerological societies,
the St Petersburg Gesellschaft für die Gesammte Mineralogie, founded
in 1817. The aim of the society was to promote the study of mineralogy
and the exchange of ideas between scientists, but also to educate the general
public in the science and further mineralogical exploitation.
The statutes give the general structure, membership selection, the responsibilities
of members, be they local members, general Russian members,
or foreign members, and membership fees. Meetings were to be held
every other week, the language of debate was to be German, but by general
consent individual contributions could also be in French or Russian. In
addition to an exchange of ideas, the main aim of the Society was to form
a number of mineralogical collections, illustrating the chemistry, crystal
structure, and physical properties of minerals, their origin and geographical
distribution, and their utilisation. This was to be supplemented by the
formation of a scientific library and a collection of scientific instruments. All
active members were to be free to use these collections.
The statutes conclude with a list of the founding members. The Society
still exists today, under the title Russian Mineralogical Society.
See Schuh, Mineralogy 2974 for first Russian edition of the same year; OCLC and
KVK list just one copy in Göttingen.
Neutral Nations in Time of War
81 STALPH, Joseph Abraham. Juristische Abhandlung über
einige Rechte und Verbindlichkeiten neutraler Nazionen in Zeiten
des Krieges. Würzburg, Franz Ernst Nitribitt, 1791. £650
8vo, xiv, 82; contemporary gilt paper wrappers, a.e.g.
First and only edition of this juridical disputation on the question of rights
and obligations of neutral nations in times of war. Stalph begins with a brief
critique of earlier writers on neutrality and impartiality, such as Grotius,
Besold, Pufendorf, up to Galiani before summarising the basic principles
and consequences of neutrality in the eighteenth century. He discusses the
question whether allies can be forced out of neutrality by war-faring associates,
whether humanitarian reasons can force a sovereign to abandon
neutrality, or whether a sovereign whose close relation is participating in an
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