Is My Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Quarto (about 238 x 178 mm), London, 1687
• The title page carries the licence 'Imprimatur S. Pepys, Reg
• 1686' — Samuel Pepys was President of the Royal Society when the book was authorised — and Edmond Halley oversaw the publication and distribution, sending out presentation copies at Newton's direction and forwarding Newton forty copies, some bound and some in sheets
• The first edition exists in two title-page issues, both dated 1687 and sharing the same setting of the text
• The commoner and earlier has an uncancelled title with the two-line imprint 'LONDINI, Jussu Societatis Regiae ac Typis Josephi Streater
• Prostat apud plures Bibliopolas', reflecting Halley's plan to place copies on consignment with many booksellers

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

London, 1687 is the true first, in Latin; there is no earlier or rival edition, and copies of both title-page issues are first-edition copies. The later Latin editions are the Cambridge 1713 second (edited by Roger Cotes) and the London 1726 third (edited by Henry Pemberton). The first edition in English is Andrew Motte's translation, 'The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy', London: printed for Benjamin Motte, 1729, two volumes octavo (197 x 118 mm), with folding engraved plates and folding charts, and with John Machin's laws of the moon's motion added. It is an important book in its own right and should be named alongside the Latin, but it renders the 1726 third edition — so it is a translation first, not the first appearance of the text. 'First edition in English' and 'first edition' are different claims and are routinely conflated in listings.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club apparatus applies. The practical confusions are the later Latin editions of 1713 and 1726 offered as a 'Principia first edition' on the strength of the title alone, the 1729 Motte translation described as a 'first edition' without the qualifier 'in English', and modern facsimiles and reissues. The Pepys imprimatur on the title and the two 1687 imprint forms — not the date on the title alone — are what settle a copy.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica a first edition?

A first edition of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton (Joseph Streater for the Royal Society, London) is identified by: Quarto (about 238 x 178 mm), London, 1687.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. London, 1687 is the true first, in Latin; there is no earlier or rival edition, and copies of both title-page issues are first-edition copies.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club apparatus applies. The practical confusions are the later Latin editions of 1713 and 1726 offered as a 'Principia first edition' on the strength of the title alone, the 1729 Motte translation described as a 'first edition' without the qualifier 'in English', and modern facsimiles and reissues. The Pepys imprimatur on the title and the two 1687 imprint forms — not the date on the title alone — are what settle a copy.

I have a first edition of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.