The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended

By: Isaac Newton

Collection ID

PBK.005384

Type

Printed Book

Date

1728

Geography

England

Language

English

Medium

Printed on Paper

Dimensions

9.4 × 7.3 × 1.5 in. (24 × 18.5 × 3.8 cm)

Exhibit Location

Not on View

Isaac Newton is universally known for his contributions to science—chiefly the law of gravity and the three laws of motion—but he was also a Christian who worked and wrote as much on religious topics as scientific issues. His scientific and religious interests came together in his study of chronology. Newton attempted to chart a history of humanity by meshing biblical history with extra-biblical histories and chronologies from the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and others. An abridgement of Newton’s chronological work was printed without his permission in 1725, provoking widespread interest in his unorthodox dates, which departed from the traditional consensus at many points. He died before releasing his full account, but his work was posthumously edited and published by friends. This is a first-edition copy, which appeared in 1728.

Printed in 1728 by either Jacob Tonson or by Thomas Longman and John Osborn, London, England.[1] Acquired by 1984 by the John Crerar Library, Chicago, Illinois;[2] Purchased at auction in 1995 by Ted Steinbock, private collector, Louisville, Kentucky;[3] Privately purchased in 2020 by Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.

Notes: [1] The first edition was produced by two separate printers in London: Jacob Tonson in the Strand and Thomas Longman and John Osborn in Pater-noster Row.[2] A John Crerar Library perfin stamp appears on the title page. On the rear of the title page, a deaccession stamp reads, “This book is no longer the property of the John Crerar Library.” This stamp, inside a rectangular box with a blank line at the bottom for a date, appears in many books that were deaccessioned as duplicates after the merger of the University of Chicago Library and the John Crerar Library. Most were deaccessioned in the mid-1980s, although this particular stamp is undated. [3] Christie’s, University of Chicago Rare Science Duplicates, Part II, March 30, 1995, Lot 344. This auction contained a large number of duplicate items held by the University of Chicago Library after its merger with the John Crerar Library. This copy has been rebound and no longer contains the provenance information included in the Christie’s catalog—particularly the inscription of Alexander Ross (1783–1846)—but the JCL perfin stamp, damp-staining on the title page, and documentation from Ted Steinbock confirm that this is the same copy.

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