Burnet, Thomas | First edition in English of Burnet’s visionary cosmogenisis

Burnet, Thomas 

The Theory of the Earth. London: R. Norton for Walter Kettilby, 1684–1690

Two volumes, folio (296 x 188 mm). Engraved frontispieces, 2 folding global maps, engraved illustrations in text; vol. I frontispiece neatly repaired. Modern calf antique, red edges.

First edition in English of Burnet’s speculative cosmogony, first issued in Latin as Telluris Theoria Sacra in 1681. Seeking to reconcile Biblical creation with the emerging science of the seventeenth century, Burnet traces the Earth’s history from its original perfection through the Deluge to the eventual Conflagration and Restoration. A cornerstone in the development of geological and cosmological thought, and a work that captivated contemporaries including Isaac Newton.

REFERENCES

Wellcome II, p. 275; Norman 376

PROVENANCE

T. Willughby (early signature in vol. II) — Haskell F. Norman (Christie’s New York, 15 June 1998, lot 343, part)