Lot 7
Newton, Sir Isaac
Genesis curvarum per umbras
The Library of James Stirling, Mathematician
Auction: 23 October 2025 from 13:00 GMT
Description
seu perspectivae universalis elementa; exemplis coni sectionum et linearum tertii ordinis illustrata. London: A. Millar, 1746. First edition, 8vo, contemporary sprinkled calf, gilt coronet devices to spine-compartments, x [2] 126 pp., 12 engraved folding plates, errata leaf, spine and extremities rubbed, a little wear to joints [Babson 209; Wallis 300]
Footnote
First edition, prepared for the press by Scottish clergyman, mathematician and author Patrick Murdoch (d.1772), whose interest in Newton probably dated back to his friendship with Colin Maclaurin, his teacher at the University of Edinburgh. Babson's ambiguous reference to the work being previously ‘issued’ in Leiden in 1740 is perhaps a reference to circulation in manuscript, no record of such an edition being traced.