Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (French Edition)

By: Isaac Newton

Collection ID

PBK.005386

Type

Printed Book

Date

1728

Geography

France

Language

French

Medium

Printed on Paper

Dimensions

9.8 × 7.6 × 2.0 in. (24.8 × 19.3 × 5 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 the first French edition, which appeared in 1728, the same year as the original English edition.

Printed in 1728 by Gabriel Martin, Jean-Baptiste Coignard, Hippolite Louis Guerin, and François Montalant, Paris, France. Acquired by Joseph Alexandre Saint-Yves d’Alveydre.[1] Acquired by 2003 by Librairie Historique F. Teissédre, Paris, France; Purchased in 2003 by Ted Steinbock, private collector, Louisville, Kentucky; Privately purchased in 2020 by Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.

Notes: [1] The bookplate of Joseph Alexandre Saint-Yves, Marquis d’Alveydre (1842–1909) appears on the front pastedown. Saint-Yves was a French political philosopher with various occult interests.

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