Centuries-old science book sells for £24k
A RARE copy of a centuries-old book regarded as the most important work in science has sold at auction for £24,000.
A first edition of Sir Isaac Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy in English changed hands at Hansons Library Auction on Tuesday – smashing its estimate.
The 291-year-old book, which comes in two volumes and was published in 1729, had a guide of £8,000-£10,000. It was bought by a private international bidder by phone.
Jim Spencer, books expert at Hansons, said: “It’s an astonishing amount but this is an incredibly scarce book, perhaps only a few hundred were printed.
“The first edition of Newton’s Principia was published in 1687 in Latin and a copy sold in recent years for millions of dollars. This is the first edition in English, translated by Andrew Motte, and is such an important thing.
“This one arrived in the post during lockdown, marked for my attention, from a client in the Channel Islands. I couldn’t believe it.
“I was thrilled to hold something of such significance – what an honour to catalogue this. It was a good example and I deserved to smash the estimate.
The seller, who did not wish to be named, said: “This has been in my family’s possession for at least 60 years having been procured by my grandfather during the 1950s and was left to me on his death in 1980.
“I was 14 when he died. He was an amazing man, self-made and educated, rising from m extreme poverty. This may be apocryphal, but he shot t himself in the foot and dug out the bullet to get out of the Somme battle.”
Sir Isaac (1642-1726) was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, a theologian, and a author, described as a natural philosopher. He is widely recognised as one of th the most influential scientis tists of all time. His Philosoph ophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathe Mathematica (Mathematical Principle Principles of Natural Philosophy), laid the foundations of classical mechanics.