NEWTON, Sir Isaac.
The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended.
First edition of Sir Isaac Newton's The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended
London: Printed for J. Tonson in the Strand, and J. Osborn and T. Longman in Pater-noster Row, 1728.
$4,200.00
In Stock
Item Number: RRB-149863
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First edition of Newton's ambitious attempt to reconstruct and rationalize the timelines of ancient history. Quarto, bound in full contemporary Cambridge calf, ruled and tooled in blind with speckled panels, gilt turn-ins, ordinary paper issue, illustrated with 3 folding engravings. From the library of Harvard University professor Owen Gingerich. Owen Gingerich (1930–2023) was an American astronomer and historian of science renowned for his scholarship on early modern astronomy, particularly his meticulous census of De revolutionibus that illuminated how Copernicus’s work was read and received in the sixteenth century. A longtime professor at Harvard and a senior astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Gingerich helped bridge scientific and humanistic inquiry, demonstrating how historical context shapes the development and interpretation of scientific ideas. In very good condition.
The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (published posthumously in 1728) was Isaac Newton’s ambitious attempt to reorganize and compress the timelines of ancient history by applying critical philology, comparative mythology, and astronomical calculation. Seeking to reconcile classical sources with biblical chronology, Newton argued that the conventional dating of Egyptian, Greek, and Near Eastern kingdoms was excessively long, and he used evidence such as eclipse records, regnal lists, and mythic genealogies to propose a shorter, more unified ancient past. Although modern historians largely rejected Newton’s revised dates, the work was significant for revealing the breadth of his intellectual pursuits beyond physics and mathematics and for illustrating how early Enlightenment thinkers employed scientific reasoning to interrogate historical and scriptural authority.
The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended.
$4,200.00
In Stock
