Traité de Mécanique Céleste by LAPLACE, Pierre Simon - 1799

Paris: Bachelier et al., 1799. 1st Edition. Soft cover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Soft cover. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. 7 volumes and 4 supplements, with 5 volumes bound in original wrappers and 2 volumes bound in full calf. Paris: Crapelet, An VII [1799] (VII, vol. Ia and IIa), Bachelier, 1829 (vol. Ib and IIb), Crapelet for J.B.M. Duprat, 1802 (vol. III), Courcier 1805 (vol. IV), Bachelier, 1825 (vol. V). 4to (270 x 215 mm). Half-title to each volume, vol. III with "Supplément au Traité de mécanique céleste .présenté au Bureau des Longitudes, le 17 août 1808" (pp. 1-24) bound at end; vol. IV with folding engraved plate and two supplements, "Supplément au dixième livre du Traité de mécanique céleste. Sur l'action capillaire" (pp. [2], 1-65); and Supplément à la théorie de l'action capillaire (pp. 1-78), one unnumbered leaf with "Table des matières" on recto and the "errata" on verso bound at end; vol. V with "Supplément au 5e volume du Traité de mécanique céleste..." dated 1827 (pp. [2], 1-35) bound at end. Vol. V without the section titles as usual (not issued in this print). Vols. Ib, IIb and III to V in the original pink mottled wrappers with original printed spine labels and additional hand-lettered shelf-mark labels, pages untrimmed, housed in a custom-made cassette (spines sun-faded, chipping and wear to spines and extremities, wrappers partially torn with some loss). Vols. Ia and IIa in contemporary marbled calf with rich gilt-decoration, gilt-lettered morocco spine labels and marbled endpapers (spine leather partly soiled and darkened, spine ends chipped, upper hinge of vol. I partly cracked towards head). Upper blank corner of half-title in vol. Ia torn. A few pages little browned, occasional minor spotting, light dampstaining to top blank margin of a few gatherings, otherwise quite crisp and clean. A very fine set, mostly in original condition, rarely found as complete as here with all the supplements present. ---- Dibner, Heralds of Science 14; Grolier/Horblit 63; PMM 252; Sparrow, Milestones of Science 125; Norman 1277; Roberts-Trent, p.197. LAPLACE'S FUNDAMENTAL WORK ON CELESTIAL MECHANICS. FIRST EDITIONS OF ALL PARTS, with the first two volumes Ia and IIa in FIRST ISSUE and bound around 1800 in fine calf. Volumes III to V together with the 2nd edition of volumes Ib and IIb form a uniform set as issued. Published over a period of 27 years, Laplace's monumental work codified and developed the theories and achievements of Newton, Euler, d'Alembert and his contemporary Lagrange. In the tradition of Newton's Principia, Laplace "applied his analytical mathematical theories to celestial bodies and concluded that the apparent changes in the motion of planets and their satellites are changes of long periods, and that the solar system is in all probability very stable" (Dibner 14). Newton remained uncertain with respect to the continuity of our solar system. In this work, Laplace also offered explanations unsolved by his predecessors and contemporaries. He "offered a brilliant explanation of the secular inequalities of the mean motion of the moon about the earth - a problem which Euler and Lagrange had failed to solve. He proved that these irregularities are connected with certain solar actions and changes in the orbit of the earth. He also investigated the theory of the tides and calculated from them the mass of the moon" (PMM 252). The first four volumes of the work appeared from 1799 through 1805, and contain the laws of mechanics for their application to the motions and figures of the heavenly bodies. The final parts of the fourth volume and the entire fifth volume really constitute a separate work and contain important material on physics not already included in the original sequence. Our set contains the first state title-pages in the first two volumes Ia and IIa, with French Republican dates only and without the added Berlin imprint (printed for European distribution). Only few sets have survived in its original wrappers. Ou set can best be compared with the Norman set which has the firt 4 volumes in original wrap.