[ASTRONOMY]. GREGORY, David (1659-1708). Astronomiae, physicae & geometricae elementa. Oxford: Sheldonian Theatre, 1702.

Folio (349 x 222 mm). Engraved device of Minerva after M. Burg on title-page, woodcut diagrams in text. (Light marginal dampstaining to first several leaves, title-page reinserted on stub and with repair near lower gutter.) Contemporary paneled calf (re-backed, corners repaired, surface wear to covers). Provenance: Unidentified ownership signatures and inscriptions on title-page.

FIRST EDITION of the first astronomical book on gravitational principles, important for containing the FIRST PUBLICATION OF ISAAC NEWTON'S PAPER "LUNAE THEORIA." Newton's Lunar Theory explained that the gravitational attraction between the Earth and the Moon was the primary force governing the Moon's motion around the Earth. This theory showed that the Moon's orbit around the Earth was a consequence of the gravitational pull exerted by the Earth on the Moon, keeping it in a nearly circular orbit. Babson 71; ESTC T18607; Sotheran I:1652; Wallis 87.