Scripture and Science

The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence

By: Samuel Clarke

Collection ID

PBK.005355.a-.c

Type

Printed Book

Date

1717

Geography

England

Language

English

Medium

Printed on Paper

Dimensions

7.6 × 4.8 × 1.4 in. (19.2 × 12.2 × 3.5 cm)

Exhibit Location

Not on View

This is the first printed edition of the famous correspondence between Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Samuel Clarke, two prominent philosophers in early modern Europe. The debate between the two men concerned the religious implications of Isaac Newton’s revolutionary physics, with Leibniz arguing against Newton’s system and Clarke defending it. They covered a wide range of topics, from the nature of space and God’s relationship to creation to the validity of natural theology. The collected correspondence was published under Clarke’s supervision in 1717, the year after Leibniz’s death. Leibniz’s original French was printed alongside the English translation.

Printed in 1717 by James Knapton, London, England. Acquired by Douglass, unknown owner.[1] Acquired, likely by the mid-1980s, by the University of Chicago Library, Chicago, Illinois;[2] Deaccessioned by the University of Chicago Library, Chicago, Illinois.[3] Purchased at auction in 1995 by Ted Steinbock, private collector, Louisville, Kentucky;[4] Privately purchased in 2020 by Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.

Notes: [1] At the top of the title page, partially trimmed off, appears the handwritten name, “Douglass [?]:H.” [2] A University of Chicago Libraries perfin stamp appears on the title page. [3] A deaccession stamp appears on the back of the title page, reading, “This book is no longer the property of the University of Chicago Library.” There is also a handwritten call number and “Berlin Coll” on the back of the title page, as well as a stamped call number on the first page of the dedication. Many historical scientific texts were deaccessioned by the University of Chicago Library in the mid-1980s during the merger of the University of Chicago Library and the John Crerar Library due to the existence of duplicate copies. These copies often contain the same perfin stamp and identical deaccession stamp that appears in this copy, although this copy lacks the usual initials and date of the individual who deaccessioned the object below the stamp. Nonetheless, the book was almost certainly owned by the University of Chicago Library at the time of the merger in the mid-1980s. [4] Christie’s, University of Chicago Rare Science Duplicates, Part II, March 30, 1995, Lot 322. This auction contained a large number of duplicate items held by the University of Chicago Library after its merger with the John Crerar Library. A collation slip inserted before the front flyleaf may have come from this auction, although it may also have been produced during a later rebinding.

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