Gregory, David | The elements of astronomy physical and geometrical, London, 1715, first edition, contemporary calf

Gregory, David

The elements of astronomy physical and geometrical (tr. T. Desaguliers)... Done into English, with additions and corrections. To which is annex'd Dr Halley's Synopsis of the astronomy of comets. London: for J. Nicholson... and sold by J. Morphew, 1715

First edition in English of Gregory’s important exposition of Newtonian astronomy, first published in Latin at Oxford in 1702 (see part lot 101).

Gregory sought to make the celestial physics of Kepler and Newton more readily intelligible, combining geometrical demonstration with physical explanation in a systematic account of the heavens. The work is divided into six books, treating the structure and motions of the world-system; the fixed stars; the primary and secondary planets; the Moon, eclipses, and tides; comets; and “comparative astronomy”—the appearance of the heavens as viewed from the Sun, a planet, a satellite, or a comet. It was among the earliest comprehensive astronomical textbooks to incorporate the theory of universal gravitation into the established body of observational astronomy.

Of particular importance is Gregory’s account of lunar motion, incorporating Newton’s lunar theory, which had first appeared in print in the Latin edition of 1702 and is here presented in English. The numerous engraved diagrams and tables were intended not merely as illustrations but as an essential part of Gregory’s geometrical exposition of planetary orbits, eclipses, parallax, and the motions of comets.

Annexed at pp. 881–905 is the second edition in English of Edmond Halley’s Synopsis of the astronomy of comets, first published separately in 1705. By comparing the recorded appearances of the comets of 1531, 1607, and 1682, Halley concluded that they were successive returns of the same body and predicted that it would appear again in 1758. Its recovery in that year provided one of the most celebrated early confirmations of Newtonian celestial mechanics and permanently associated Halley’s name with the comet. A variant exists with the imprint "for John Morphew."

2 volumes, 8vo (196 x 116 mm). 79 engraved plates; some browning. Contemporary blind-tooled calf; scuffed and worn.

REFERENCES 

ESTC N1387; Houzeau & Lancaster 9240; Wallis 88; Norman 979 

PROVENANCE

Francis Hooper (1694-1763), senior fellow of Trinity College, rector of Fakenham, Norfolk (armorial presentation bookplate giving the book to the rectors of Fakenham; signature) — Robert S. Dunham (1949 acquisition inscription; Sotheby's New York, 11 December 1993, lot 693 [part])