VOLTAIRE - Lot 31

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Lot n° 31
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VOLTAIRE - Lot 31
VOLTAIRE Élémens de la philosophie de Neuton, Mis à la portée de tout le monde. Amsterdam: Étienne Ledet et compagnie, 1738. - In-8, frontispiece, (1 f.), 399 pp. 7 plates, 1 portrait. Marbled calf, cold fillet framing the boards, ornate ribbed spine, red edges (period binding). Bengesco, 1570. First edition of this work, which truly introduced Newton's thought to France for the first time. Voltaire composed it with the help of his mistress Émilie Du Châtelet (1706-1749), to whom the edition is dedicated: "Ce n'est ici pas une Marquise, ni une Philosophie imaginaire. The solid study you have made of several new truths & the fruit of a respectable work, are what I offer to the public for your glory..." (epistle). This edition was printed by Ledet after Voltaire had given him part of his manuscript. The last three chapters were written by an anonymous Dutch mathematician. The illustrations include a frontispiece engraved by Jacob Folkema (1692-1767) after Louis-Fabricius Dubourg (1693-1775), a title vignette engraved by Duflos after Guillaume-François-Laurent Debrie, a portrait of the author by Folkema, and vignettes and culs-de-lampe engraved by Folkema, François Morellon de La Cave (1696-1768), Bernard Picart (1673-1733) and Jacob Van der Schley (1715-1779), numerous copper-engraved geometric figures in the text and 7 plates, including a fold-out "Table des couleurs & des tons de la Musique". A rare copy with leaves B5, M3, P1, P6 and R2 hardback, a feature not mentioned by any bibliographer. (Worm damage to one of the spine ends and to the first spine box. Light staining at the top of several leaves, wormholes in the lower margin of the last leaves, without affecting the text). Provenance: Ex-libris with the initials CB.
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