Pierre-Simon Laplace - Exposition du Système du Monde - 1836

Edition 1836

This 1836 edition is significantly rarer than the base 1835 version (about 30–45% fewer copies in circulation). It is a posthumous reprint supervised directly by the Royal Academy of Sciences and the publisher Bachelier, distributed in limited print runs to academic institutions. The 1836 copies are noticeably less visible on the secondary market.

Historical Eulogy of Fourier — Major Element

This copy includes the complete Historical Eulogy of the Marquis de Laplace, written and delivered by Jean-Baptiste Fourier (Perpetual Secretary of the Royal Academy of Sciences) on 15 June 1829.

Fourier — eminent mathematician and founder of the theory of Fourier series — offers here the official scholarly testimony of Laplace's scientific contributions, two years after his death. This Eulogy does not systematically appear in all circulating copies of this edition — it is a major distinguishing feature.

Prestige Editorial

Published by Bachelier (55 Quai des Augustins, Paris), the leading French mathematical and astronomical publisher of the nineteenth century, official distributor of the publications of the Bureau des Longitudes and the Paris Observatory.

Scientific Content

Complete Books I-III: a masterful synthesis of apparent and real celestial motions, and principles of rational mechanics. A foundational pedagogical work presenting, without mathematical formalism, the major conclusions of theoretical astronomy from the Enlightenment century and the nascent nineteenth century.

Book I: Apparent motions of celestial bodies — Sun, Moon, planets, comets, stars, the figure of the Earth, tides, atmosphere (14 chapters)

Book II: Real motions of celestial bodies — planetary orbits, laws of motion (6 chapters)

Book III: Laws of Motion — Principles of Rational Mechanics (5 chapters)

Physical Condition — Very Good

- Binding: well-preserved brown half-basane binding with reinforcements in cognac Morroccan leather
- Back: adorned with gilded fillets and partition rollers, intact
- Counterplates: classic 19th-century marble finish, well preserved
- Paper: white, of good French quality, 19th century, uniform.
- Rosiness: minimal and natural, well distributed (typical for that era)
- Integrity: solid binding, no major detachment, hinges intact
- Completeness: Pages 1-358 + "END OF THE FIRST VOLUME" — entirely complete

Integral Prerequisites

- Original title page (crisp black ink, clear typography)
- Historical Eulogy of Fourier (complete, dated June 15, 1829)
- Editor's note (complete)
- Detailed table of contents (chapters I-XI)

It will be shipped securely, well packed in shockproof materials (reinforced bubble wrap + rigid cardboard).