356d Burnet, Thomas. (1635?-1715) Th. Burnetii telluris theoria sacra, originem & mutationes generales orbis nostri, quas aut jam subiit, aut olim subiturus est, complectens. Accedunt archæologiæ philosophicæ, sive doctrina antiqua de rerum originibus. Editio ultima, priori longe correctior, & copioso rerum indice auctior.

Amsterdam: Apud Joannem Wolters, 1699

$950

Quarto, 8 x 6 in. The first Latin edition was printed in 1681. *4, A-Z4, Aa-Zz4, Aaa-Zzz4, Aaaa4. (Aaaa4 final blank present). This copy is complete, containing the engraved frontispiece, two folding engravings, and twelve text engravings . It is bound in contemporary sheep over wooden boards and is in excellent condition internally.

“The Sacred Theory of The Earth was Burnet’s attempt to combine the idealism of the Cambridge Platonists, Scripture, and an explanation of the Earth’s surface features in order to account for the past and present states of the Earth and to offer a prophecy about its future. He believed that there were four major events in the Earth’s history: its origin from chaos; the universal deluge; the universal conflagration; and the consummation of all things. These four events divided the history of the Earth into three periods. The first, from the creation to the deluge, Burnet described as the state of paradise and the antediluvian world. […] The second, or present era, was for Burnet the age between the deluge and the conflagration. […] The final period, that of the millennium, is the era following the universal conflagration, when there will be a new heaven and a new earth in which the blessed will enjoy a new life of peace and tranquility.

“Burnet’s importance in the history of science is due less to his theory itself than to certain aspects of it that became standards in the then growing science of geology. For more than a hundred years after Burnet, writers discussing the origins of and changes in the surface of the earth felt compelled to reconcile their theories with the account of creation in Genesis. His emphasis on the importance of the deluge and on the explanation of the formation of mountains continued in geologic writings. Finally, Burnet’s style was such that his work was considered readable long after his death and the ideas expressed in it were widely disseminated. Whether accepted or ridiculed, the theory helped to popularize the idea that the features of the Earth’s surface were constantly changing.” (DSB)