Leiden: Cornelius Boutestein, (1687). Two parts in one volume. Second issue in Latin (with "Inanimatarum" and "beneficio" corrected on title-page). 4to. (viii), 3-78, 258 (but 259, erratic pagination at rear). Illustrated with an additional engraved allegorical title-page (dated 1685), six engraved plates (five folding), and 87 in-text engravings. Modern quarter vellum over marbled paper-covered boards; brown speckled edges; title-page trimmed along bottom edge, excising date; small library ink stamp at bottom of title-page verso; first two folding plates mounted on new stubs; small hole at center of first folding plate; scattered contemporary marginalia to text and plates. Dobell 23

Considered the father of microbiology, Von Leeuwenhoek is best known for his improvements to the microscope, and was the first to observe and describe single cell organisms. His production of powerful lenses, whose method of creation he kept a close secret, attracted the attention of the period's leading scientists, including members of the Royal Society in London, with whom he frequently corresponded, and where he was elected a Fellow in 1680.