NATURAL PHILOSOPHY
Manuscript (7 ½“ x 10”) in ink on wove paper with a J. Whatman 1794 watermark. 138 pages or 69 leaves of text and diagrams, plus 3 blank leaves. Illustrated with numerous mathematical diagrams and other illustrations, including a mill with a water wheel and a screw press. In a modern one-half mottled calf over marbled paper binding, with a burgundy morocco spine label, five raised bands, and gilt-stamped titles and borders.
A fascinating and beautifully illustrated manuscript of natural philosophy covering mechanics and appearing to date from between 1794 and circa 1829. The manuscript is written in English in a single hand and was likely prepared for teaching or as a textbook because of the organizational nature of the materials.
The writer summarized the subject matter on the undated title page: “The object of Natural Philosophy is to investigate the laws that produce the phenomena of the natural world and from these laws to account for the different subordinate appearances. Natural Philosophy is commonly divided into the following branches: Mechanics, Hydrostatic Pneumatics, Optics, Electricity, and Magnetism.”
This volume is specifically dedicated to mechanics. The writer is unknown, but the name C.H. Travers is written on a front flyleaf.
The manuscript is organized into six sections: Of Axioms and Preliminary Propositions, Of Constant and Uniform forces, Of Constants and Uniform Forces when Neither Begins or Ends in Rest, Of Variable Efforts, Of Subilineal Motion, [and] Mechanical Powers.
Each section includes a brief description of the concepts, followed by examples, diagrams, and illustrations, along with propositions, corollaries, cases, and questions. In some instances, there are also remarks. For example, on page 50, the author remarks on contact and uniform forces: “The returning force of no substance can be determined by reasoning, an experiment must be made, but after an experiment is made with one ball of any diameter or of any metal, we may infer what will be the retarding force to a ball of any other diameter or metal in the same substance.”
On pages 112-113, the writer discusses the curvilineal motion of the planets, which have “been an object of thought among (all ages) men in all ages. But these motions has (sic) been ascribed to very different causes.” The comment is followed by brief descriptions of the theories of Aristotle, Descartes, Leibniz, and Newton.
“Natural philosophy” is often used by historians of science as an umbrella term to designate the study of nature before it could easily be identified with what we call “science” today. Modern meanings of the terms science and scientists date only to the 19th century. Early natural philosophy would have included empirical investigations, like observing the paths of celestial bodies, but also introspective contemplation or speculation, like contemplating similarities between humans and other living things.
The dating of this manuscript is tied largely to the watermark in the 1794 paper. Whatman, founded in England during the mid-18th century, supplied the paper for Audubon's Birds of America and is renowned globally for the quality of its paper products and for introducing an innovative method of creating “wove” paper. The manuscript also provides an illustration for a Spanish burton pulley. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest evidence for a Spanish burton dates to 1829.
A fascinating manuscript recording early concepts of mechanical science. The volume is in very good condition with one dime size chip to the lower corner of page 57-58, not impacting the contents. Item #78407
Price: $8,500.00