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Octavo, [2], 32 pages. In Very Good condition. Bound in full green cloth with blind rules to covers, gilt titling to front cover. Very light wear. Inscribed on the title page to Lady Margaret Brodie Herschel, wife of John Herschel, by Davies Gilbert: "M. B. Herschel With the Honble Mr. D Gilbert's Compliments." 'Herschel Library Collingwood' purple stamp to title page and page 3. Small closed tear to upper edge of page 5, finger smudge to page 19. Herschel's letter is present on pages 6/7, where he responds to Gilbert's offer of the Astronomy Treatise and gives his reasons for declining. Also with: The Selection of the Authors of the Bridgewater Treatises. Brock, William H. Reprinted from the Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Volume 21, Number 2, December 1966. Signed by Brock. With a Autograph letter signed by Brock, reading in part: "I was surprised to learn that you had the Hershel family copy of the Enys pamphlet. It is very rare over here, and it took me a long time to locate a copy." Shelved in Case 0. Extremely scarce, with COPAC recording only three copies, being the British Library, the Bodleian Library, Oxford and Trinity College Library, Cambridge, plus one copy located at auction (2009). "The Bridgewater Treatises (1833-36) are a series of eight works that were written by leading scientific figures appointed by the President of the Royal Society in fulfillment of a bequest of £8000, made by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater, for work on "the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation." Despite being voluminous and costly, the series was very widely read and discussed, becoming one of the most important contributions to the Victorian literature on the relationship between religion and science." [wikipedia] Sir John Frederick William Herschel was an English polymath. His work in Astronomy included originating the use of the Julian day system, naming seven moons of Saturn and four moons of Uranus. Additionally he invented the blueprint, coined the term photography, and translated the Homer's Iliad. Hershel was offered the authorship of the Astronomy treatise by Gilbert but declined. The offer then went to William Whewell, whose work was so influential that Charles Darwin began 'On the Origin of Species' with a quotation from it. 1375860. Shelved Dupont Bookstore. Seller Inventory # 1375860
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