1. Johann Philipp Breyn, Dissertatio physica de polythalamiis… . Huic adiicitur commentatiuncula de belemnitis Prussicis, tandemque schediasma de echinis…, Gdańsk: Cornelius a Beughem, 1732.
Johann Phillipp Breyn (1680-1764) was from Gdańsk and worked there as a physician. However, he gave up this occupation to devote himself entirely to botanical and zoological studies. He collected natural specimens, especially fossils, minerals and shells. He wrote the present book, a description of fossils from the Polish territories. The engraving on the illustrated plate shows a cross-section of a shell of the chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius). A copy of the book was donated to the library of the Elbląg Gymnasium on 17 September 1736 by the author himself.

2. Vitaliano Donati, Auszug seiner Natur-Geschichte des Adriatischen Meers den Boden des Meers zu untersuchen…, Halle: Christoph Peter Franckten, 1753.
Vitaliano Donati (1717–1762) was an Italian naturalist. He was a professor of botany and natural history at the University of Turin. He also studied mineralogy and geology. He made many research trips, including one to the Indian Ocean, where he died. He was interested in the ecology of the seas and one of his earliest works was a description of the plants and animals of the Adriatic Sea, which he published in Italian in 1745. The book was translated into many European languages, including German. Copper engravings show the marine plants and animals described in the work.

3 – 4. Mineralogische Belustigungen, zum Behuf der Chymie und Naturgeschichte des Mineralreichs, vol. 3–4, Leipzig: Johann Friedrich Heineck, 1769.
The Mineralogische Belustigungen (“Mineralogical amusments”) was a scientific journal published in Leipzig between 1768–1771 (six volumes appeared in all). It printed German translations of articles by famous scientists. Each volume was supplemented by illustrated plates, usually showing interesting minerals and fossils. Here, for example, we see a fossilized pine cone and a starfish.