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22 Diderot & d’Alembert The comprehensive Encyclopédie , published – and also large- ly written by – Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert, with its 72,000 articles and almost 3,000 copperplate illustrations, is considered the most important scientific work of the Enlighten- ment. Their lofty goal was to assemble the knowledge of their time in a single publication. Consequently, the 35 volumes re- main one of themost important sources on 18 th -century society, culture and science. Diderot / d’Alembert, Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences. 35 vols. Paris et al, 1751 ‒ 1777. Sold for CHF 40 000 Charles Darwin For the first time in decades, a first edition of Charles Darwin’s epoch-making publication ‘On the Origin of Species’ was of- fered at auction in the German-speaking world. This extremely rare copy had been in a private library in Geneva for more than a century and a half. On his extensive research trips, the British naturalist collected findings from which he extracted a modern evolutionary biology. Few works of natural science have stimu- lated such important scientific, philosophical and theological discussions in Darwin’s time, and to this day. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species. London, John Murray, 1859. First edition. Sold for CHF 98 000 Johann Friedrich Spindler This pair of chests of drawers is a fine example of the art of Johann Friedrich Spindler, a cabinetmaker based in Bayreuth, Germany, whose workshop was known for extraordinary marquetry in the naturalistic Rococo style. Together with his stepbrother Heinrich Wilhelm Spindler, Johann Friedrich was summoned to Pots- dam in 1765 by Frederick II, King of Prussia, to make furniture for the New Palace. A pair of important marquetry chests of drawers from the workshop of Johann Friedrich Spindler. Potsdam circa 1760/65. 134 × 66 × 82.5 cm. Sold for CHF 220 000 Astronomical regulator clock Ferdinand Berthoud, son of a justicier from Val-de- Travers, is considered one of the leading clockmakers in the history of the craft. His clocks, pocket wat- ches and chronometers, produced in small numbers, are among the finest of the 18 th century, and can be found today in major museum collections. In addition, Berthoud published theoretical texts, including trea- tises on maritime clocks and instruments which were financed by Louis XVI. A rare and fine Directoire astronomical skeleton clock with seconds, month, day, date and moon phase, Paris, late 18 th c. The dial signed Ferdinand Berthoud. 35 × 13 × 62 cm. Sold for CHF 43 000 Böttger stoneware Red stoneware from the early years of Meissen pr o- duction – such as this teapot from around 1710 – was only produced for a brief time, and almost exclusively for the Royal Collections. Based on Chinese red stoneware from Yixing, it was the re- sult of ceramic experiments begun in 1705 by the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger and the sci- entist Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, fund ed by Augustus the Strong of Saxony. Production of this stoneware was soon eclipsed by the scientists’ mo- mentous discovery of the secret of manufacturing pure white porcelain, which would ensure the renown of the Meissen manufactory. A Böttger stoneware covered teapot. Meissen, circa 1710. Model by Johann Jakob Irminger. H 9.5 cm. Sold for CHF 98 000