MAXWELL, James Clerk (1831-1879)

Lot 219
12.07.2023 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Vendu
£ 10 080
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Lieu de l'événementRoyaume-Uni, London
Commissionsee on Website%
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ID 993196
Lot 219 | MAXWELL, James Clerk (1831-1879)
Valeur estimée
£ 8 000 – 12 000
MAXWELL, James Clerk (1831-1879)

A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. Oxford: the Clarendon Press, 1873.

First edition of a major scientific work, volume one being from the library of George Howard Darwin (1845-1912), with numerous annotations in Darwin's hand. George Darwin, the second son of Charles and Emma Darwin, was a celebrated scientist and Plumian professor of astronomy and experimental philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was President of the Royal Astronomical Society, winning its Gold Medal in 1892 and the prestigious Copley Medal in 1911. A mixed set, with volume one from the first issue and volume two from a later issue.



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). He demonstrated the importance of electricity to physics as a whole, advancing 'the significant hypothesis that light and electricity are the same in their ultimate nature' (Grolier/Horblit). 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 (223 x 142mm). Half-titles, 21 lithographic plates, errata slip to vol. I indicating the first issue, errata leaf and 32pp of publisher's advertisements dated June 1879 in vol. II indicating a later issue likely bound from the same sheets; 2 errata leaves loosely inserted. Original publisher's blind-stamped plum cloth, spines lettered in gilt, glazed endpapers (spines somewhat faded, spine ends and one corner of vol. I neatly restored, a few minor splits to joints). Provenance: George Howard Darwin (1845-1912; pencil inscription dated May 1873 facing title in vol. I, numerous pen and pencil annotations and markings to the margins of volume I and the loosely inserted errata leaf for volume II, and with two sheets of ms. notes tipped into the gutters of M2-3 in vol I).





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12.07.2023 – 12.07.2023
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