PLANA Giovanni Antonio Amedeo Théorie du mouvement de la lune. – [Et:] Supplémént.

Poggendorff, t. II, col. 460-463; Zeitlinger-Sotheran, n°13387; DSB, XI, pp.6.

The rare first edition of the important work on celestial mechanics.

Dedicated to the King Charles-Albert of Sardinia, this edition is printed on heavy paper.

“[Plana’s] study of the moon was inspired by Barnaba Oriani, director of the Brera Observatory in Milan. Oriani had suggested the he and Francesco Carlini, who had done geodesic work with Plana, should attempt to compile reasonably precise lunar tables solely on the basis of the law of universal gravity – that is, using only the observational data essential to determine the arbitrary constants of the problem. Plana soon quarried with Carlini, who withdrew in disgust; and Plana succeeded alone, after almost twenty years. The results were presented in the three-volume Théorie du mouvement de la lune (Turin 1832)… of notable scientific and philosophical value” (DSB).

The additional volume contains three offprints by Plana, taken from Mémoires de l’Académie des sciences de Turin, Série II, tome XVIII sq.:

– Mémoire sur l’équation séculaire du moyen mouvement de la Lune. Turin, Imprimerie Royale, 1856. 59 pp. of which the last two pages contain the errata for La Théorie du Mouvement de la Lune.

– Recherches historiques sur la première explication de l’équation séculaire du moyen mouvement de la Lune d’après le principe de la gravitation universelle. Turin, Imprimerie Royale, 1857. 80 pp.

– Sur la théorie de la Lune. Lettres à Mr John W. Lubbock. Communiquées à l’Académie des Sciences de Turin le 25 Novembre 1860. Turin, Imprimerie Royale, 1860. 26 pp.

Very nice untrimmed copy in the original printed boards. Some occasional foxing.