Laplace, Pierre Simon | Traité de Mécanique Céleste, Paris, 1798–1827, first edition

Laplace, Pierre Simon

Traité de Mécanique Céleste. [Vols. I-III:] Paris: Crapelet, An VII [1798]–1802; [Vol. IV:] Paris: Courcier, 1805; [Vol. V] Paris: Bachelier-Courcier, 1825–1827

First edition of Laplace's fundamental work on celestial mechanics, codifying and developing the theories of Newton, Euler, and others in the areas of mechanics, gravitation, and the motions of celestial bodies.

Whereas Newton suggested the need for an external power or deity in the universe to correct irregularities in planetary movements, Laplace expounded that the "eccentricities and the inclinations" of planetary orbits would always remain small and that these movements were self-correcting (Printing and the Mind of Man). In other words, the "apparent changes in the motion of planets and their satellites are changes of long periods, and … the solar system is in all probability very stable" (Dibner).

With the first state of the title-page in volume 1 ("An VII") and the second state in vol. 2 (dated "1799" with the addition of "Et a Berlin, Chez F. T. de la Garde Libraire").

A fine, bright copy of a work considered to be the sequel to Newton's Principia.

5 vols., 4to (263 x 203 mm). Half-titles, 4 total supplements, engraved folding diagram in vol. iv; vol. v lacks blank after p. 244, some corner loss and short edges from paper defects, occasional light staining and spotting in vols. iii and iv. Nineteenth-century polished half-calf and marbled paper-covered baords; a trifle worn, upper joints of vols. ii and iv just starting, some loss to spine of vol. iv.

REFERENCES

Buffalo/Sparrow 125; Dibner, Heralds 14; Grolier/Horblit 63; Honeyman sale 5:1920–1921; Norman 1277; Printing and the Mind of Man 252

PROVENANCE

Thomas Courtenay Theydon Warner (armorial bookplate) — Robert S. Dunham (acquired from Heller in 1959; Sotheby's, 11 December 1993, lot 718)