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8vo. x, ii, 368, [4] pp. 16 engraved folding plates, last two leaves contain the errata and advertisements. Original full calf, gilt-stamped raised bands; front cover reinforced with kozo. Bookplate of Rev. N. Hubbersty, Wirksworth [U.K.]. Very good. Scarce. First edition. Preface signed: 'W. Emerson'. Emerson was an English mathematician. "Unsuccessful as a teacher he devoted himself entirely to studious retirement, and published many works which are singularly free from errata. In mechanics he never advanced a proposition which he had not previously tested in practice, nor published an invention without first proving its effects by a model." ΓΆΒ Β" Britannica. Niccol- Guicciardini describes Emerson as among the group in Britain that developed Newtonian calculus during the eighteenth century. As Emerson was industrious he produced, perhaps by contract with his publisher John Nourse, several solid works on mechanics, mathematics and the present one on astronomy. All are considered part of the growing literature of presenting advance science to the masses, rather than keeping highly technical knowledge to a select few. ΓΆΒ Β" Niccol- Guicciardini, The Development of Newtonian Calculus in Britain, 1700-1800, Cambridge University Press, (1989), p. 61. / "[Emerson] refused to become a member of the Royal Society because, as he said, 'it was a d---d hard thing that man should burn so many farthing candles as he had done, and have to pay so much a year for the honour of F.R.S. after his name.'" ΓΆΒ Β" DNB. "Emerson was an eccentric, living on a small private income, and devoting himself to mathematical writing and teaching. He was widely known and his books highly esteemed." ΓΆΒ Β" Taylor, The Mathematical Practitioners of Hanoverian England, 1966, p. 157. PROVENANCE: Reverend Nathan Hubbersty, Church of England, (1767-1828), attended Clare College, Cambridge and became Head Master of the Grammar School at Wirksworth, Derbyshire. ΓΆΒ Β" My Hubberstey/Hubbersty Family History Blog, A genealogical journey to discover what I can about the Hubberstey past. [web-source]. REFERENCES: ESTC: T77160; DNB. Not in Honeyman. Seller Inventory # RW1388
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