HUYGENS, Christiaan (1629-1695).  - photo 1
HUYGENS, Christiaan (1629-1695).  - photo 2
HUYGENS, Christiaan (1629-1695).  - photo 3

HUYGENS, Christiaan (1629-1695). 

Sold
£ 40 320
Auction dateClassic
13.07.2022 10:30UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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ID 794484
Lot 165 | HUYGENS, Christiaan (1629-1695). 
HUYGENS, Christiaan (1629-1695). 

Horologium oscillatorium sive de motu pendulorum ad horologia aptato demonstrationes geometricae. Paris: F. Muguet, 1673.

A fine large copy of the first edition of Huygen's most important work, ‘second in scientific importance perhaps only to the Principia’ (C. Singer, A Short History of Science, 1941, p. 258). The treatise, containing the first mathematical analysis of the motion of the pendulum, and a general treatise on the dynamics of bodies in motion, ‘was the most original work of this kind since Galileo's Discorsi’ (PMM). Huygens constructed the first pendulum clock in 1657, an idea already put forth by Galileo, who had noted the isochronism of the pendulum (its property of swinging in a constant time, regardless of the width of the swing). The idea was a brilliant solution to the problems of keeping time aboard ship, since a reliable time-keeping device was essential for determining longitude, a problem of acute importance in 17th-century Holland, and Huygens' invention, described in the Horologium, was hugely successful – by 1658 pendulums were even applied to the tower clocks of Scheveningen and Utrecht. His study of centrifugal force was ‘used by Newton in his determination of universal gravitation’ (Norman). Dibner, Heralds 145; Grolier/Horblit 53; Norman 1137; PMM 154.



Folio (312 x 204mm). Woodcut arms of Louis XIV on title, full-page woodcut of the pendulum on A2v, approximately 100 woodcut diagrams in text (some leaves lightly browned, heavier on H1). Contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt in compartments, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt (skilful restoration to extremities); preserved in a morocco-backed cloth box. Provenance: ‘Bibliotheca Cl. Th. Dupuy Parisini oratoris regii’ (likely Claude-Thomas Dupuy, intendant of New France, who built a large private library in Quebec, 1678-1738; red ink stamp on title and p.5) – Bibliotheca Mechanica (book label).





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13.07.2022 – 13.07.2022
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