Discours sur la Parallaxe de la Lune, pour perfectionner la Théorie de la Lune et celle de la Terre by MAUPERTUIS, Pierre Louis Moreau de

Numerous woodcut diagrams in the text. xxxii, 133 pp. 8vo, cont. blond calf (very short crack at foot of upper joint), triple gilt fillet round sides, spine nicely gilt, contrasting morocco lettering piece on spine, a.e.g. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1741. First edition and a fine copy, printed on large and thick paper. This is a further work by Maupertuis to determine the shape of the earth through the accurate measurement of a degree of the meridian, using the results of the French expedition to Lapland in 1735. He argued "that a theory of the moon's motion, based on parallax observations, was integrally tied to accurate knowledge of the shape of the earth."-Terrall, The Man who Flattened the Earth. Maupertuis and the Sciences in the Enlightenment, p. 168. Maupertuis (1698-1759), was the foremost proponent of the Newtonian movement in France. Fine copy. Unidentified ownership inscription on title: "D. Cht d. Ves." ❧ D.S.B., IX, pp. 186-89. Not in Babson or Wallis.