Essay on the First Principles of Natural Philosophy Wherein the use of natural means, or second causes, in the oeconomy of the material world, is demonstrated from reason, experiments of various kinds, and the testimony of antiquity. In four books illustrated with copper-plates.

Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Printing-house, 1762. NEWTON, Sir Isaac. First Edition. Four books in one quarto (10 x 7 7/8 inches; 255x 198 mm). [6], 281, [1, blank] pp. With three engraved plates, two of which are folding. The four books are entitled Of the Mechanism of Nature; Attraction and Gravity Considered at Large; Of a Vacuum in the Heavens; The Judgment of Antiquity on the System of Nature. There are numerous mentions of Issac Newton throughout, prominently in Book I, Chapter III. Chapter III of book I is entitled An Answer to a physical Objection from Sir Issac Newton wherein "Jones argued against Newton's theory of gravity, claiming it was (truncated) not the true explanation for celestial movements and instead proposed alternative explanations based on biblical interpretations."

Bound to style in modern quarter speckled calf over marbled boards. Spine with brown morocco spine label, lettered in gilt. Edges speckled red. Newer endpapers. Some minor toning to top outer corner of title-page and last leaf. A light dampstain to bottom margin of signature LL. Ink date written at lower margin of title-page. Otherwise a very god copy.

William Jones, known as William Jones of Nayland was a Church of England clergyman and religious controversialist... " At Oxford, too, Jones, Horne, and some of their other friends were drawn to the semi-mystical writings of the anti-Newtonian and anti-Lockian John Hutchinson, and developed a high-church theology which was entirely consistent with the predominantly tory mentality of their university. Although by no means an uncritical Hutchinsonian, Jones shared Hutchinson's admiration for the nonjurors and his notions of the English constitution as divinely sanctioned." (Oxford DNB).

"In 1756 Jones published his tract The Catholic Doctrine of a Trinity, a statement of the doctrine from the Hutchinsonian point of view, with a summary of biblical proofs. This was followed in 1762 by an Essay on the First Principles of Natural Philosophy, in which he maintained the theories of Hutchinson in opposition to those of Isaac Newton" (Wikipedia)

"Early Hutchinsonians did not see Newton and his followers simply as searchers after the truth of the material cosmos, but as aiming to reach conclusions about the Divine Cosmos leading to Deist/Arian or even Unitarian conclusions. As far as the Hutchinsonians were concerned, Newtonians were more to blame than any other potentially heterodox group in England, for the existing threat to the religious and political establishment." (Academic Hutchinsonians and their quest for relevance, 1734–1790, Derya Gurses)

ESTC T116067.

HBS 69314.

$1,100. (Inventory #: 69314)