LE PELLETIER, Jean. Dissertations on Noah's Ark, Hemine and - Lot 229

LE PELLETIER, Jean. Dissertations on Noah's Ark, Hemine and the Book of S. Benoist. Rare first edition, illustrated with two plans and a view of the boat. Rouen, Jean B. Besongne, 1700. In-12, brown basane, ribbed spine decorated with gilded caissons and fleurons with burgundy title-piece, gilded roulette on edges. Frontispiece, t., (6) ff, 614 pp, (2) ff, 2 folding plates. Fully annotated flyleaves and endpapers, some annotations in margins, foxing and slight yellowing. First edition of this surprising study of the Flood and Noah's Ark by alchemist Jean Le Pelletier (1633-1711). The scientist sets out to explain not only how all the animals were able to board the Ark, but also the materials used in its construction and the workers who worked on it, and estimates the Ark's capacity at over 120,000 cubic meters. The book is illustrated with two fold-out plates, one a captioned plan of the Ark, the other a cross-section. The frontispiece features a view of the Ark floating on the water, giving the reader a better idea of the vessel, which has only one door and no windows. A fine, uncommon copy.