“THE PLACE OF ANY STAR IN THE PRIMITIVE SPHERE”: FIRST EDITION OF ISAAC NEWTON’S CHRONOLOGY, 1728

NEWTON, Isaac. Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended. To which is Prefix’d, A Short Chronicle from the First Memory of Things in Europe, to the Conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great. London: J. Tonson, et al., 1728. Quarto, contemporary full brown calf gilt sympathetically rebacked, raised bands, original red morocco spine label.    $3200.

First edition of Newton’s posthumously published work demonstrating the value of the Ptolemaic system in his “startling revision of long accepted historical dates,” with three folding diagrams of Solomon’s Temple. An exceptional copy in contemporary calf.

Published posthumously, Newton’s Chronology expresses his long pursuit of “a new system of ancient chronology,” potentially heretical in its “startling revision of long accepted historical dates.” Here Newton attempts to calculate the dates of ancient events using astronomical considerations that demonstrate the value of the Ptolemaic system. Newton had spent years on the work when the 1725 publication of a pirated version in French, which also refuted its conclusions, motivated him to complete his text, a task occupying him until his final days. On visiting Newton two years before his death, a friend recalled his display of “a drawing of the plan for Solomon’s Temple, which became the centerpiece of the Chronology’s fifth chapter.” Shortly before Newton died in 1727 Bishop Pearce wrote that “‘I found him writing over his Chronology… He read to me two or three sheets of what he had written’” (Christianson, 564-5). “Newton told Pearce that he had spent 30 years at intervals in reading over all the authors… which could furnish him with materials for his Chronology, and that he had written that work 16 times with his own hand” (Allibone, 1420). Following Newton’s death, his colleague Henry Pemberton arranged the book’s publication. Lovely engraved headpiece and initial by Fourdrinier on Dedication page. Babson 215. Gray 309. Owner signature and address to top of title page.

Interior exceptionally clean and fine. Expected light age wear to extremities, mild rubbing to boards. A handsome copy of Newton’s final opus.