Mecanique analitique
Paris: La Veuve DeSaint, 1788. 4to. xii, 512 pp. FIRST EDITION. Contemporary polished calf, spine with morocco label and gilt floriated compartmental designs, covers with gilt borders, gilt dentelles and marbled edges; a3 with small stain in paper, and other than some occasional soiling and browning, interior clean. From the library of H.C. Schumacher with his small ownership inscription dated 1810 on the verso of half-title. Item #13942
First edition of the author’s masterpiece which laid the foundation of modern mechanics. “Perhaps the most beautiful mathematical treatise in existence; called by Hamilton, ‘a kind of scientific poem.’ It contains the discovery of the general equations of motion, the first epochal contribution to theoretical dynamics after Newton’s Principia, next to which it has been ranked” (Evans). The book is divided into two parts: statics and dynamics, each of which addresses the subdivisions of solid bodies and fluids. Lagrange presents his discovery of the general equations of motions applicable to any system of bodies, having improved upon the calculus of variation set forth by the Bernoullis and Euler by substituting analytical treatment for their geometrical one.
Lagrange (1763-1813) was born in Turin and studied under Beccaria. He is noted for his contributions to mathematics, celestial mechanics and astronomy. Ball considered him the foremost mathematician of his period.
Schumacher (1780-1850), who studied astronomy under the direction of his good friend Gauss, established an observatory in Altona in 1821. He also founded the journal Astronomische Nachrichten in 1823, which is still published today.
Ball, A History of Mathematics, pp. 411-22; Dibner, 112; En Français dans le Texte, 179; Evans, Exhibition of First Editions of Epochal Achievements in the History of Science, 10; Horblit, 61; Sparrow, Milestones of Science, 120 (plate 105).
Price: $17,500.00