Institutes of Natural Philosophy, Theoretical and Experimental by William Enfield, 1785

"Institutes of Natural Philosophy, Theoretical and Experimental" by William Enfield, published in London by J. Johnson in 1785. This substantial illustrated work presents seven books covering matter, mechanics and motion, hydrostatics and pneumatics, optics and vision, astronomy, magnetism, and electricity. Notably, Enfield excluded chemistry, considering the field too imperfectly understood at the time. The volume includes a dedication to Rev. Joseph Priestley and was issued with 11 folding plates.

Quarto (8.25" x 10.5"). xii, 353 pages, plus an advertisement. Bound in full tan reverse calf with five raised spine bands. Ten of the eleven folding plates are present, lacking Plate V on fluids and vision. The binding shows edgewear, bumped and rubbed corners, scuffing, staining, and soiling. The half-title has been repurposed as a front pastedown, and the original rear endpaper, bearing manuscript calligraphy, is pasted down at the rear. The first free endpaper and both flyleaves are lacking. The title page bears an old ink ownership inscription, with worming extending through the first seven leaves. Foxing and marginal stains occur throughout, and neat old ink manuscript notes and corrections appear on more than a dozen pages. The lower corners of pages 293–320 have been excised, affecting text on the first few pages. The surviving plates show marginal chipping, small closed tears, dampstaining, and old paper repairs.

An intriguing eighteenth-century work on the physical sciences, offering a broad view of natural philosophy during the Enlightenment, with period annotations and an imperfect but historically interesting complement of folding plates.