HORREBOW, PEDER.
Elementa philosophiae naturalis.
Hafniæ (Copenhagen), Lynowii, 1748.
4to. In a nice contemporary Cambridge-style mirror binding with five raised bands and richly gilt spine. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Light wear to extremities, a few small holes to boards. Head of spine with loss of leather, showing headbands. Internally fine and clean. Printed on good paper with wide marginse. 206, (2) pp.
Rare first edition of Horrebow’s textbook on natural philosophy with a focus on astronomy. When young Horrebow had intensively studied Casper Bartholin’s work “Specimen philosophiae naturalis” and wanted to revise and possibly expand it:
“When during the period 1747-53 the ageing professor of astronomy, Peder Horrebow, held the chair of physics, too, he felt the need for revising the praiseworthy ‘Specimen’, the 56 years old, from which he had himself in his youth acquired his knowledge of natural philosophy. And after having in vain tried to comment upon the ‘specimen’ and to change its text as well as its ordering of subjects he finally produced a completely new text-book [The present].” (Dobrzycki, The Reception of Copernicus’ Heliocentric Theory).
Order-nr.: 61082
DKK 4.500,00