ID 1349674
Lot 147 | MAXWELL, James Clerk (1831-1879)
Estimate value
£ 8 000 – 12 000
A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. Oxford: the Clarendon Press, 1873
A fine copy of the first edition, first issue, in a presentation prize binding, of Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetism, advancing 'the significant hypothesis that light and electricity are the same in their ultimate nature' (Grolier/Horblit). Maxwell saw electricity not as just another branch of physics but 'as an aid to the interpretation of nature' and saw the study of electromagnetism 'as a means of promoting the progress of science' (Preface p.vii). This theory, one of the most important discoveries of nineteenth-century physics, was Maxwell's greatest achievement, and laid the groundwork for Einstein's theory of relativity. Grolier/Horblit 72; Norman 1466; PMM 355; Wheeler Gift 1872.
2 volumes, octavo (212 x 135mm). Half-titles, 21 lithographic plates, errata slip to vol. I indicating the first issue (leaf Q3 in vol. I with blank corner trimmed due to production flaw). Near-contemporary presentation prize binding of calf, covers with gilt arms of Exeter College, Oxford, within border of double gilt fillets and black dotted roll tool, spines richly gilt with red and green-blue morocco gilt lettering pieces, marbled endpapers and edges (extremities faintly rubbed with just a few minor insignificant scratches, two spine compartments of vol. I fractionally more heavily abraded); contained in a modern cloth box. Provenance: Arthur Stanley Butler (1854-1923, professor of mathematics; prize binding from Exeter College, Oxford, with ink manuscript presentation inscription in vol. I dated 1877).
| Artist: | James Clerk Maxwell (1831 - 1879) |
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| Place of origin: | Northern Europe, Europe, United Kingdom |
| Auction house category: | Medicine & science, Books and manuscripts, Printed books |
| Artist: | James Clerk Maxwell (1831 - 1879) |
|---|---|
| Place of origin: | Northern Europe, Europe, United Kingdom |
| Auction house category: | Medicine & science, Books and manuscripts, Printed books |
| Address of auction |
CHRISTIE'S 8 King Street, St. James's SW1Y 6QT London United Kingdom | |
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| Phone | +44 (0)20 7839 9060 | |
| Buyer Premium | see on Website | |
| Conditions of purchase | Conditions of purchase |








