Stukeley Stonehenge Temple Restor'd 1740 Inscribed Presentation Copy 1st Ed Nr For Sale

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OFFERED WITH is AN EXTRAORDINARY INSCRIBED PRESENTATION COPY OF THE GENUINE 1740 FIRST EDITION OF WILLIAM STUKELEY’S ‘STONEHENGE: A TEMPLE RESTOR’D’ printed at London in folio in 1740 for Innys, Manby, Dod and Brindley, ADORNED WITH A FRONTISPICE AND 35 FURTHER FULL-PAGE AND FOLDING PLATES, constituting THE FIRST GENUINE ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY OF STONEHENGE, complete in all respects, in excellent condition internally and externally, and FINELY BOUND IN MID 18TH CENTURY POLISHED CALF, CONTEMPORARY TO THE TIME OF PUBLICATION. The volume may be referenced as Lowndes 2541 and Allibone 2296. THIS IS THE GENUINE 1740 FIRST EDITION, NOT THE MORE COMMONLY FOUND 1835 REPRINTS. This is easily confirmed by noting the tall ‘s’ in ‘West’ in the imprint of ‘Stonehenge.’THIS VOLUME WAS PRESENTED BY WILLIAM STUKELY TO THE ANTIQUARY HENRY GALE. STUKELEY’S PRESENTATION INSCRIPTION READS AS FOLLOWS: “HENRICO GALE ARMIGORO / AMICO PLURIMUM COLONDO / D.D. / AUCTOR.” THIS MEANS, ESSENTIALLY, IN ENGLISH, “HENRY GALE / IN GREAT FRIENDSHIP / THE AUTHOR.”

The full title of ‘Stonehenge’ reads as follows:

“Stonehenge / A Temple Restor’d to the British Druids. / By William Stukeley, M.D. Rector of All Saints in Stamford. / ---Deus est qui non mutatur in aevo. Manilius. / London: / Printed for W. Innys and R. Manby, at the West End of St. Paul’s. / M DCC XL [1740].”

THIS IS THE FIRST WORK TO RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SOLSTICES AT STONEHENGE. MOREOVER, STUKELEY’S ‘STONEHENGE’ IS GENERALLY RECOGNIZED AS THE EARLIEST AUTHENTICALLY ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK CONCERNING THE GREAT MONUMENT. INDEED, IT HAS A FAIR CLAIM TO BEING THE EARLIEST RECOGNIZABLY MODERN AND SCIENTIFIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK IN ENGLISH.

THIS IS ONE OF ONLY TWO PRESENTATION COPIES OF THE FIRST EDITION OF STUKELEY’S STONEHENGE OF WHICH I CAN FIND EVIDENCE. THE OTHER WAS AT sale IN 1955 AND CONTAINED A PRESENTATION TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK (IT HAS NOT SINCE REAPPEARED AT sale, AND NEITHER HAS ANY OTHER PRESENTATION COPY).

PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT THE PRESENTATION IS GENUINE. Included with the volume is a letter dated 1983 from Professor Stuart Piggott, CBE, to the book’s previous owner, a Dr. Kernd’l. The letter reads as follows:

“Dear Dr. Kernd’l / I was delighted to receive your letter and to know you are interested in William Stukeley and the Wiltshire Downs. This house where I have been living since I retired from Edinburgh is only about 30km from Avebury! / YOU ARE LUCKY TO HAVE GOT A COPY OF STUKELEY’S ‘STONEHENGE’ WITH AN INSCRIPTION IN HIS HAND-WRITING. I was puzzled by Henry Gale at first, but I find that Roger Gale had a son, Roger Henry, who would presumably have been known as Henry so as to distinguish him from his father. I think he must have been the recipient of the presentation copy of the book from Stukeley. / All good wishes, / Yours sincerely, / Stuart Piggot.”

Per Wikipedia:

William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeologicalinvestigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology".[1] Stukeley was also one of the first biographers of Isaac Newton, of whom he was a friend. He was an Anglican clergyman.

Becoming involved in the newly fashionable organisation of Freemasonry, he also began to describe himself as a "druid", and incorrectly believed that the prehistoric megalithic monuments were a part of the druidic religion. However, despite this he has been noted as being a significant figure in the early development of the modern movement known as Neo-druidry.

William Stukeley was the son of the site of Stukeley Hall, a primary school that now bears his name. After taking his M.B. degree at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Stukeley went to London and studied medicine at St Thomas' Hospital. In 1710, he started in practice in Boston, Lincolnshire, becoming a member of Spalding Gentlemen's Society(founded by his friend Maurice Johnson II), before returning in 1717 to London. In the same year, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society and, in 1718, joined in the establishment of the Society of Antiquaries, acting for nine years as its secretary. In 1719 Stukeley took his M.D. degree, and in 1720 became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, publishing in the same year his first contribution to antiquarian literature.

Stukeley was one of the first learned gentlemen to be attracted to speculative freemasonry, newly fashionable after the appointment of the first noble Grand Master. His Diary and Commonplace Book of June 6, 1721 says "I was made a Freemason at the Salutation Tav., Tavistock Street, with Mr. Collins, Capt. Rowe, who made the famous diving Engine." The same entry says he was the first person for many years who had been so made in London; there was great difficulty in finding sufficient members to perform the Ceremony; and immediately thereafter "Freemasonry took a run and ran itself out of breath through the folly of its members." His diary and papers are among the earliest sources on the subject of the new Grand Lodge. He was vicar of All Saints' Church, Stamford between 1730 and 1747.

Stukeley's principal works, elaborate accounts of Stonehenge and Avebury, appeared in 1740 and 1743. These were supposed to be the first of a multi-volume universal history. Stukeley proposed that an ancient patriarchial religion was the original religion of mankind. This had subsequently degenerated as idol-worship had emerged. Stukeley believed that the Druids and the early Christians were examples of this religion. Stukeley himself was a priest in the Church of England. (Source: Stonehenge, a Temple Restor'd, by Stukeley).

Stukeley's work on Stonehenge was one of the first to attempt to date the monument. Working with the renowned astronomer Edmund Halley, he proposed that the builders of Stonehenge knew about magnetism, and had aligned the monument with magnetic north. Stukeley used some incomplete data about the variation of the North Magnetic Pole; he extrapolated that it oscillated in a regular pattern. Today it is known that the North Magnetic Pole wanders in an irregular fashion. However, Stukeley inferred that Stonehenge was completed in 460 B.C., which as we now know is several thousand years too late.

He wrote copiously on other supposed Druid remains, becoming familiarly known as the "Arch-Druid." In 1729 he took Holy Orders, and, went on to hold two livings in Lincolnshire, including that of the parish of All Saints, Stamford, Lincolnshire, where he did a considerable amount of further research, not least on the town's lost Eleanor Cross. He was subsequently appointed rector of a parish in Bloomsbury, London. He died in London on 3 March 1765.

In 1742 he visited the Royston Cave at Royston, Hertfordshire and a year later he published his Palaeographia Britannica or discourses on Antiquities in Britain no.I, Origines Roystonianae, or an account of the Oratory of lady Roisia, Foundress of Royston discovered in Royston in August 1742. Following a response by the Reverend Charles Parkin he penned the sequel: Palaeographia Britannica or discourses on Antiquities in Britain no.II, or defense of Lady de Vere, Foundress of Roiston, against the Calumny of Mr. Parkin, rector of Oxburgh wherein his pretended answer is fully refuted: the former opinion further confirm'd and illustrated. To which are occasionally added, many curios matters in antiquity.

Stukeley was a friend of Isaac Newton and wrote a memoir of his life in 1752. This is one of the earliest sources for thestory of the falling apple that inspired Newton's formulation of the theory of gravitation.

For many years a literary and historical body called the Brasenose Society flourished at Stamford School (attended by his father and brother) which was named after the eponymous society founded by Stukeley while Vicar of All Saints, Stamford.

A street in London's Covent Garden district, near the intersection of High Holborn and Drury Lane, is named after him.

CONCERNING ROGER GALE, THE FATHER OF HENRY GALE, WHO WAS THE RECIPIENT OF THIS PRESENTATION COPY FROM STUKELEY:

Roger Gale (27 September 1672 – 25 June 1744) was an English scholar and antiquary as well as a Member of Parliament for Northallerton. His father was an ecclesiastic and professor at Cambridge, which the younger Gale also attended. After his graduation, Gale briefly served as a diplomat in France, as well as holding a position as a reader at Oxford University's Bodleian Library. On his father's death in 1702, Gale retired to his family estate, but was elected to Parliament in 1705, where he served until 1713. He then continued in public service until 1735, when he once more retired to his estates.

Besides his governmental career, Gale was a member of the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Society, where he served as treasurer. Gale was known as a collector of manuscripts and other antiquarian items, writing a few published works on those subjects. He donated his manuscript collection to his alma mater in 1738, and died in 1744. Gale’s contemporaries considered him one of the foremost scholars of his age.

In 1697 Gale translated Louis Jobert's La science des medailles into English, with the title of The Knowledge of Medals. This was designed as an instruction to the beginning coin collector, and also contained information to protect the new collector from fraud. Gale then in 1709 published his father's work on the itinerary of the Antonine emperors, which Gale supplemented with his own notes and commentary. His last major published work was as the editor of a 12th-century manuscript register of the Honour of Richmond that was contained in the Cotton library. He also contributed a number of essays on antiquarian topics to the Philosopical Transactions journal put out by the Royal Society.

The volume is complete in all respects and is paginated [10], 66, [4], plus the frontispiece and 35 full-page or folding plates. The volume measures about 35 cm by 23 cm by 2.3 cm; each leaf measures about 342 mm by 220 mm.

The volume is a very attractive example and is in excellent condition internally, with clean pages, clear print and ample margins throughout. The engravings are excellent and very early impressions in all cases. PLEASE CONSULT THE PHOTOS BELOW IN ORDER TO GAIN THE BEST POSSIBLE UNDERSTANDING OF THE VOLUME’S CONDITION.

The volume is bound in full mid-18th century English polished calf with the spine divided by raised bands into 6 compartments.  The binding is solidly in very good to excellent condition, with strong hinges, a strong book-block, only minor scuffing of the boards and only minor wear at the edges and corners. The leather upon the hinges is cracked but the hinges themselves hold firmly by the cords.

In all, this is an excellent example of ABOUT THE FINEST EXAMPLE ONE COULD HOPE FOR OF THE GENUINE 1740 AND 1743 FIRST EDITIONS OF WILLIAM STUKELEY’S ‘STONEHENGE: A TEMPLE RESTOR’D’ AND ‘ABURY: A TEMPLE OF THE BRITISH DUIDS,’ printed at London in two folio volumes in 1740 and 1743 for Innys, Manby, Dod and Brindley, ADORNED WITH A FRONTISPICE AND 35 FURTHER FULL-PAGE AND FOLDING PLATES IN ‘STONEHENGE,’ AND 40 FURTHER FULL-PAGE AND FOLDING PLATES IN ‘ABURY,’ constituting THE FIRST GENUINELY ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES OF STONEHENGE AND AVEBURY, complete in all respects, in fine condition internally and excellent condition internally, BEAUTIFULLY BOUND IN MID 18TH CENTURY SPECKLED CALF, STRICTLY CONTEMPORARY TO THE TIME OF PUBLICATION,and OFFERED WITH .

Please take the time necessary to review the photos below in order to gain a better understanding of the content and condition of the volume. Please also take a moment to view my other sales of rare and desirable English and Continental printed books dating from the 15th through the 19th century.

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