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Details
WRIGHT, Thomas (1711-1786). An original theory or new hypothesis of the universe, founded upon the laws of nature, and solving by mathematical principles the general phaenomena of the visible creation; and particularly the Via Lactea. London: H. Chapelle, 1750.
4° (275 x 220mm). Title in red and black. 32 engraved plates, 2 folding, 8 in mezzotint. (Title browned, staining to plate 6, some plates lightly soiled.) Contemporary calf with red morocco spine label (covers scuff marked). Provenance: ‘The gift of Mr Walcot to his friend B: Cuff 1781’ (inscription on front free endpaper; 26-line poem, first line ‘Creative God! O grant a mortal grace’ copied onto front blank).
FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. Wright’s most important book aimed to reach an understanding of the shape of the Milky Way. He concluded that its stars must be arranged in a disc or grindstone, or a spherical shell like the rind of an enormous orange. However, his equation of the physical centre of gravity with the spiritual eye of God was an occult rather than a scientific idea, and his work had little immediate influence on astronomical studies. David Knight comments in ODNB: ‘It was only in the nineteenth century, after the work of William Herschel, that the spiral shape of the galaxy became accepted, and Wright with his grindstone was seen as a precursor.’ Norman 2265.
4° (275 x 220mm). Title in red and black. 32 engraved plates, 2 folding, 8 in mezzotint. (Title browned, staining to plate 6, some plates lightly soiled.) Contemporary calf with red morocco spine label (covers scuff marked). Provenance: ‘The gift of Mr Walcot to his friend B: Cuff 1781’ (inscription on front free endpaper; 26-line poem, first line ‘Creative God! O grant a mortal grace’ copied onto front blank).
FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. Wright’s most important book aimed to reach an understanding of the shape of the Milky Way. He concluded that its stars must be arranged in a disc or grindstone, or a spherical shell like the rind of an enormous orange. However, his equation of the physical centre of gravity with the spiritual eye of God was an occult rather than a scientific idea, and his work had little immediate influence on astronomical studies. David Knight comments in ODNB: ‘It was only in the nineteenth century, after the work of William Herschel, that the spiral shape of the galaxy became accepted, and Wright with his grindstone was seen as a precursor.’ Norman 2265.
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