$9,600
Molyneux, William (1656-1698) Dioptrica Nova. A Treatise of Dioptricks . London: Tooke, 1692. First English edition, quarto, collated, complete with half-title, errata, advertisements, and forty-three folding engraved illustrations, minor marginal worming and dampstain, four plates accompanying the appendix on browned paper, original boards, rebacked with gilt spine. This rare work by Irish founder of the Dublin Philosphical Society Molyneux has only been offered at auction twice in the last forty-six years; it is his most famous work. Molyneux started making astronomical observations in the 1680s, after procuring a telescope from Flamsteed. Molyneux also associated with Sir Edmond Halley (1656-1742), and reproduces his colleague's theorem for calculating the foci of lenses in this work.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2012-11-18