Rohault's System of Natural Philosophy. Illustrated with Dr. Samuel Clarke's Notes, Taken mostly out of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy. With Additions. 2 volumes. by ROHAULT, Jacques (1618-1672) - 1723

London:: James Knapton, 1723., 1723. 2 volumes. 8vo. [xxxvi], 285, [3]; 292, [24] pp. 27 folding engraved plates, decorative headpieces, titles printed in red and black. Original paneled blind-stamped calf, raised bands; extremities worn, joints slightly cracked at head and tail. Contemporary signature of Henry Monck on titles. Very good. The first English edition of Rohault's Traite de Physique (1671), with Newtonian commentary provided by Samuel Clarke, first published in Latin in 1697, and here translated into English by Samuel Clarke's brother John Clarke. "Prior to this version's publication, the standard physics text used at Cambridge was Theophile Bonnet's clumsy Latin translation of Jacques Rohault's Physics. Clarke's tutor, Sir John Ellis, urged him to prepare a more elegant version of the work. Making use of his familiarity with Newtonian theory, Clarke included a series of detailed notes that had the novel effect of turning a Cartesian treatise into a vehicle for disseminating the ideas of Newton. His translation remained the standard text at Cambridge for over forty years." DSB III, p. 294. PROVENANCE: Henry Monck was likely Henry Stanley Monk of St. Stephen's Green, though it could also be one of his descendants, including Henry Stanley Monk, 1st Earl of Rathdowne. REFERENCES: Wallis 143; Babson 103; ESTC t115947.