Voltaire - Philosophie de Neuton - 1741

VOLTAIRE. — ELEMENTS OF NEWTON'S PHILOSOPHY. CONTAINING METAPHYSICS, THE THEORY OF LIGHT, & THAT OF THE WORLD (1741, SECOND EDITION REVISED AND ENLARGED).
Amsterdam / [Paris], 1741.
In-8°. Full contemporary calf binding, spine with raised bands ornamented.
Second fundamental edition published in 1741.

Published first in 1738, the Elements of Newton's Philosophy had sparked lively polemics in Enlightenment Europe. For the present 1741 edition, Voltaire revises his copy and considerably expands the sections on metaphysics, universal attraction, and experimental optics, offering the definitive version of his Newtonian popularization.

The pedagogical iconography is remarkable: experimental engravings showing 18th-century-dressed physicists observing refraction in basins of water, parabolic mirrors, or the laws of dioptrics.
Condition Report:
Copy preserved in its 18th-century full brown calf binding. Spine with raised bands ornamented with attractive period tooling. Title piece in green/blue morocco ("PHILOSOP / NEWTO"). Binding shows pronounced wear at the heads (caps worn/abraded), corners worn, and rubbing on the boards. The overall structure remains solid and authentic. Interior sound on fine period laid paper. Title well preserved. Well complete with engravings and optical figures both in-text and out-of-text.

In 1738, Voltaire had been very irritated by the Dutch publisher Ledet, who had published the manuscript incomplete with chapters altered. The 1741 edition represents Voltaire's completed proofreading from his refuge at Cirey with Madame Émilie du Châtelet!