Astronomiae Physicae & Geometricae Elementa.
Folio (33.8 x 21.5 cm), [12], 494, [2] pp. Title page with large engraved vignette by Michael Burghers (ca. 1648-1727) illustrating the Sheldonian Theater; numerous wood-cut geometrical illustrations in text. Bound in contemporary mottled calf, spine neatly rebacked; small portion of title page reinforced on verso; loss of small portion (ca. 20 x 35mm) of lower right corner. Engraved armorial bookplate of “Mr. George Carre, Advocate” with mottos “Tout Droit” and “Fortunam sapientes ferunt” on front pastedown; upper left corner of pastedown with small library shelving label in old hand. Internally a fresh copy. First edition of the first textbook of astronomy based on Newtonian principles. “Newton thought highly of the book, and communicated, for insertion in it (p. 332), his `lunar theory,' long the guide of practical astronomers in determining the moon's motion. The discussion in the preface, in which the doctrine of gravitation was brought into credit on the score of its antiquity, likewise emanated from Newton” (DNB). Many contemporary critics of Newton – the most notable being Leibniz – found the otherwise brilliant natural philosopher’s unshakeable belief in the occult force of gravitation to be the most difficult aspect of Newtonian physics to swallow. Gregory’s textbook, however, embraces universal gravitation. While Newton was pleased with this wholehearted approbation, his correspondence shows a trademark concern with intellectual property: although drawing heavily on his own ideas, Gregory made few explicit mentions of his indebtedness to Newton, and the latter feared that a future edition stripped of the preface might be wholly attributed to Gregory (Rigaud, p 102). The present work also contains the first printing of Newton’s complete “Theory of the Moon” (Lunae Theoria Newtoniana, pp. 332-336), one of the most important demonstrations of gravitation to explain the perturbations apparent in the motion of the moon. “The ‘Theory of the Moon’ is probably the most obscure of Newton’s publications. This is rather ironic, since the text of this work appeared in print during the early eighteenth century more times than anything else which left the hand of Newton…Newton’s “rules” [were] wholly or partially used by nearly a dozen astronomers or other interested individuals in order to construct lunar tables. Thus, Newton’s essay is significant in the history of astronomy…” (Waff). David Gregory (1659–1708) was Scottish mathematician, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh and later Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, and fellow of the Royal Society. A close confidant and early proponent of Isaac Newton’s Principia, Gregory played a foundational role in propagating Newtonian mechanics. Provenance: George Carre, Lord Nisbet (ca. 1700-1766), Scottish lawyer, who in 1755 became Senator of the College of Justice, and later a Lord of Session.
* Babson 71; Houzeau & Lancaster 9240; Wallis 87; cf. Rigaud, Historical Essay on the First Publication of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia (Oxford, 1838), and Waff, “Newton and the Motion of the Moon,” Centaurus 21 (1977), pp. 64-75.
Price: $1,850.00