Arcana Naturae Microscopiorum

Full title

Arcana naturae, ope & beneficio exquisitissimorum microscopiorum, detecta, variisque experimentis demonstrata, una cum discursu & ulteriori dilucidatione : epistolis suis ad celeberrimum, quod serenissimi Magnae Britanniae Regis auspicio Londini floret, philosophorum collegium datis, comprehensa / Antoni à Leeuwenhoek ...

Secrets of Nature, by means of clever microscopes, detected and demonstrated by various experiments, discursively and with further clarification: his letters to the most solemn, the auspices of the King of Great Britain, London flowers fill the most illustrious of the philosophers of the college bestowed upon us, and made / Antoni à Leeuwenhoek ...

Dobell numbered the two editions of this title 25a (1696) and #25b (1708), in error.

The same letters were published in: 

Opera Omnia Seu Arcana Naturae ope Exactissimorum Microscopiorum Detecta, experimentis variis comprobata

The Complete Works or The mysteries of nature detected by means of a very precise microscopes

Dobell #: 29: Letters 43, 42, 38 and Letters 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 46, 47, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, in that order

Of these three volumes (see the table below), only the 1722 Opera Omnia is in Dobell, his #29. The other two, he apparently never saw because he confused the first words of the title with the 1695 volume #25 Arcana Naturae Detecta and assigned them #25a and #25b. They are, in fact, retitled versions of #22 and #23. The short title here, Arcana naturae microscopiorum, is meant to clearly distinguish these volumes from Dobell #25.

The STCN (Short Title Catalog Netherlands) lists a third edition dated 1698:

Edition: 3rd edition
Imprint: Lugduni Batavorum, apud C. Boutestein, 1808 [= 1698]
Note: With the engraved title-page of the Dutch edition Ontdekte onsigtbaarheden, 1696
Also issued in: A. van Leeuwenhoek, Letters, Latin, volume 2, 1722

This entry seems to be in error. The third edition was issued in 1708, so it should read "apud C. Boutestein, 1808 [= 1708]". These were the earliest letters, so if they are in volume 2 of Dobell #28 Opera Omnia, the STCN must be referring to a set that had the late letters from 1712-1717, also published as the fourth (or fifth, in some bundles) and final volume of Opera Omnia.

Similarities

Dobell #22, 23, 29 and these two volumes from 1696 and 1708 all contain the same letters.

The 1696 Editio Altera uses typesetting B - 64 pages, including the same running heads on recto and verso and the same mispaginations as the 1687 editions under the earlier title. However, the 1708 Editio tertia uses typesetting C - 64 pages. The 1922 Opera Omnia Editio Novissima uses typesetting D - 64 pages.

In all of the editions, these letters have the same figures, ?? in total.

With the sole exception of Letter 43 beginning the volume, all of these letters are preceded by summaries. The summaries were not collected at the beginning as in later volumes. Nor is there a topic index at the end of the volume.

Differences

Each has a different version of the de Hooghe Artemis frontis, as discussed on Frontispieces on the right sidebar menu. The table below displays other differences.

1696	1708	1722
Arcana Naturae Ope & beneficio exquisitissimorum Microscopiorum Detecta Edition altera.	Arcana Naturae Ope & beneficio exquisitissimorum Microscopiorum Detecta Edition tertia.	Opera Omnia, seu Arcana Naturae Ope & beneficio exquisitissimorum Microscopiorum Detecta Edition novissima.
Letters 43, 42, 38 + 28-31, 34-36, 46, 47, 44, 45, 48-52 + 53-60 (Continuatio)	Letters 43, 42, 38 + 28-31, 34-36, 46, 47, 44, 45, 48-52	Letters 43, 42, 38 + 28-31, 34-36, 46, 47, 44, 45, 48-52 + 53-60 (Continuatio) (some bundles without)
Pagination: x (frontis, title, lectori, index) + 1-28 (multiple mispaginations 1-7) + 29-48 + 49-64 (mispaginated after p. 56) + 1-258 (should be 260; mispaginated after p. 232) + 1-124	Pagination: vi (frontis, title, lectori, index) + 1-28 + 29-48 + 49-64 + 1-258 (pp 155-158 copied by Hess in ink on blank pages)	Pagination: xv (frontis, title, portrait, panegyric, index) + 1-28 + 29-48 + 49-64 + 1-260 + 1-124 (some without) + xxiv (index triplex)
Artemis frontis, Investigatio Arcanorum, 1696	Artemis frontis, Ondekte Onsigtbaarheeden, 1696	Artemis frontis, Investigatio Arcanorum Verkolje/de Blois portrait
2-page Lectori Typographus, 6-page index (summaries)	1-page Lectori Typographus, 3-page index (summaries)	6-page panegyric, 2-page Lectori Typographus, 3-page index (summaries)
p. 1-28 r: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck.    Leeuwenhoek. pp. 7, 9, 13, 21 v: Anatomia & Contemplatio p. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 r: Antonii de Leeuwenhoek. v: Anatomia & Contemplatio p. 4, 7-57 r: Antonii de Leeuwenhoek. v: Anatomia & Contemplationes p. 58-98 r: Propagationes Arborum. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoek p. 99-118 r: Experimenta. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoek p. 119-148 r: Observationes de Figuris Salis. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoek p. 149-184 r: Anatomia & Contemplationes v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoek p. 185-258 r: Antonii de Leeuwenhoek. v: Anatomia & Contemplationes	p. 1-64; 1-14 r: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck.    Leeuwenhoek. p. 13, 35, 49; p. 13 v: Anatomia & Contemplatio p. 15-57 r: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck. v: Anatomia & Contemplationes p. 58-98 r: Propagationes Arborum. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck p. 99-118 r: Experimenta. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck p. 119-148 r: Observationes de Figuris Salis. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck p. 149-184 r: Anatomia & Contemplationes. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck p. 185-258 r: Antonii de Leeuwenhoek v: Anatomia & Contemplationes.	p. 1-64 r: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck.    Leeuwenhoek. pp. 7, 9, 13, 21 v: Anatomia & Contemplatio p. 1-57 r: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck. v: Anatomia & Contemplationes p. 58-98 r: Propagationes Arborum. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck p. 99-118 r: Experimenta. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck p. 119-148 r: Observationes de Figuris Salis. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck p. 149-258 r: Anatomia & Contemplationes. v: Antonii de Leeuwenhoeck
Letter 43: all figures in text except Figs 1, 3, 5, and 6 on separate sheets Letter 42: Figures 1 and 2 on one separate sheet (first figures, numbered, in text) Letter 38: all in text; no plates	Same as typesetting B in #22 and #23 in 1687 and in the 1696 Editio altera.	Same as typesetting B in #22 and #23 in 1687, in the 1708 Editio altera, and in the 1708 Edition tertia.