Newton, Isaac, Sir

Philosophiæ naturalis principia mathematica.  London: Joseph Streeter for the Royal Society, 1687



4to (9  3/8  x 7  3/8  in.; 236 x 188 mm).  Title-page in first state with two-line imprint partially reading "Prostat apud plures Bibliopolas," engraved folding plate of cometary orbit bound at end, numerous text diagrams, P4 a cancel with diagram on verso correctly oriented, errata leaf bound at end, leaf H2 missigned G2; title-page extended, inscribed "Duplicate" in ink in upper right margin, and with large but light ink stain (evidently immediately blotted and not diminishing legibility), A4 with similar ink stain in upper margin and restoration to upper right corner and with tear closed in lower margin, B4 detached,  marginal notations on C3 and Ii3, repairs to right margin of Lll1, scattered light foxing and staining.  Late 19th-century full brown morocco by Cranbrook, spine gilt in six compartments, gilt dentelles, edges gilt; wear to spine and extremities. 

William John Scripps (bookplate)

Babson 11; Dibner 11; Grolier/Horblit 78; PMM 161; Waller 12159; Wallis 7; Winig N-1048

4to (9 3/8 x 7 3/8 in.; 236 x 188 mm). Title-page in first state with two-line imprint partially reading "Prostat apud plures Bibliopolas," engraved folding plate of cometary orbit bound at end, numerous text diagrams, P4 a cancel with diagram on verso correctly oriented, errata leaf bound at end, leaf H2 missigned G2; title-page extended, inscribed "Duplicate" in ink in upper right margin, and with large but light ink stain (evidently immediately blotted and not diminishing legibility), A4 with similar ink stain in upper margin and restoration to upper right corner and with tear closed in lower margin, B4 detached, marginal notations on C3 and Ii3, repairs to right margin of Lll1, scattered light foxing and staining. Late 19th-century full brown morocco by Cranbrook, spine gilt in six compartments, gilt dentelles, edges gilt; wear to spine and extremities.
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First edition, first state of title.  A cornerstone treatise on dynamics and gravitation, "the most influential scientific publication of the seventeenth century" (Horblit).  The Principia explains the phenomena described by Newton's predecessors (Copernicus, Galilei, Kepler) by elucidating the mathematical laws underlying them.  At the urging of Edmond Halley, secretary to the Royal Society, Newton set about to prove that Kepler's law of planetary motion would cause a planet to orbit elliptically around the Sun.  Newton established the mathematical bases for the law of inertia and the mechanics of fluids, including the effect of bodies moving through resistant fluids.