From Nigel Phillips ABA ILAB, Chilbolton, United Kingdom
AbeBooks Seller Since July 23, 2004
Seller Rating
About this Item
4to, pp. (xii), 215, 2 folding engraved plates. Modern half calf antique, fine copy. Inscribed at the top of the title ?Hasely Court?, the home of James Muirhead and his wife Katherine, who was the daughter of James Watt Jr.?s business partner Matthew Robinson Boulton of Tew Park in Oxfordshire, and granddaughter of the great Matthew Boulton of Soho. FIRST COMPLETE EDITION. One of the first, if not the first, American books based on Newton?s works. It was the most ambitious scientific work attempted in the American colonies to date, and Colden?s major scientific effort. Conscious that Newton had admitted his inability to understand the cause of gravity, Colden furnishes his own explanation based on Newton?s theories. ?Colden never realised that his work was in direct conflict with the laws of motion of the Principia, which he did not fully comprehend. He therefore resented being called an opponent of Newton and sought to apply his method to explanations of heat, fermentation, putrefaction, colors, and fertilization? (DSB). The first edition, consisting of the first two chapters only, was published in New York in 1745, and is a very great rarity ? Babson recounts how Thomas Jefferson sought a copy with great difficulty, and perhaps in vain, as early as 1786. The London edition of 1746 was unauthorised and had the same content. In this, the third and last edition, the first two chapters are revised and the following chapters and the plates are published for the first time. Colden was born in Scotland but became a prominent American physician, historian and colonial official. Not in Babson, Gray or Wallis (Babson 47 has the London edition of 1746). Seller Inventory # 2436
Bibliographic Details
Title: The Principles of Action in Matter, the ...
Publisher: London: Printed for R. Dodsley in Pall-Mall. 1751.
Publication Date: 1751
Store Description
All items are offered subject to prior sale. Payment may be made by cheque or credit
card (Visa or Mastercard). Prices are net and subject to change. Postage and insurance
charges will be added to all invoices. Goods shall remain the property of the seller until
the purchase price has been discharged in full. Any book is returnable for any reason
with prior notification.
Member of the ABA and ILAB. Deal direct! Buy and sell with confidence.
Nigel@NigelPhillips.com
Orders usually ship within 2 business days. Shipping is by air and charged at cost.
Payment Methods
accepted by seller
