The Philosophical Grammar
by Benjamin Martin
Benjamin Martin (1704-1782), lexicographer, science lecturer, and scientific instrument maker was born into a farming family in Surrey, and spent the early part of his life working the lands.[1] Into his twenties, Martin started a school in Sussex where he taught a range of subjects, from writing to astronomy.[2] He even wrote inexpensive textbooks for students, including mathematics as well as what could be considered by modern-day standards as physics.[3]
Written in 1735, The Philosophical Grammar: Being a View of the Present State of Experimented Physiology, or Natural Philosophy in Four Parts was Martin's first published work, and showed his dedication to providing an extensive scientific volume at an inexpensive price.[4] In the book, Martin discusses numerous topics of natural philosophy including both terrestrial and cosmological subjects, and made the topics so as to be easily understood by students.[5] The book underwent 6 reprints in a 40 year period, was translated into 3 other languages, and is considered to be by and large his most successful publication.[6]
Martin went on to publish a number of other works, and started delving into inventing and improving instruments such as microscopes and globes.[7] He even became well known for the design and building of spectacles.[8] Martin then shied away from his teacher role and took on a more adult-focused lecture career, and even started publishing a monthly magazine, all while continually inventing and opening a shop.[9] Although he saw business success early on his his career, he unfortunately did not maintain the business acumen later in his life, and eventually declared bankruptcy a month before his death in 1782.[10]
Bibliographic Information
Author: Benjamin Martin, (bap. 1705, d, 1782)
Title: The Philosophical Grammar: Being A View Of The Present State Of Experimented Physiology, Or Natural Philosophy In Four Parts. Part I. Somatology, ... Part II. Cosmology, ... Part III. Aerology, ... Part IV. Geology, ... : The Whole Extracted From The Writings Of The Greatest Naturalists Of The Last And Present Age
Published: London: Printed for J. Noon, 1735.
Edition:
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as Martin’s Philosophical grammar. 8vo. and given by Thomas Jefferson to his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. The precise edition owned by Wythe is unknown. George Wythe's Library[11] on LibraryThing indicates this, adding "Octavo editions were published at London in 1735, 1738, 1748, 1753, 1755, 1762, 1769, and 1778." The Brown Bibliography[12] lists the second London edition published in 1759 based on the copy Jefferson sold to the Library of Congress.[13] The Wolf Law Library chose to purchase the 1735 (first) edition.
Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy
Bound in full calf and rebacked in leather. Pages are white, bright, unmarked and unfoxed. The front endpapers have the bookplates of Earl of Roden and of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald W. Chase. Purchased from Adams & Adams Booksellers.
View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.
External Links
References
- ↑ John R. Millburn, "Martin, Benjamin (bap. 1705, d. 1782)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed November 21, 2013.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ John R. Millburn, "The London Evening Courses of Benjamin Martin and James Ferguson, Eighteenth-Century Lecturers on Experimental Philosophy," Annals of Science 40, no. 5 (1983), 438.
- ↑ John R. Millburn, "Martin, Benjamin (bap. 1705, d. 1782)."
- ↑ Charles Platts, "Martin, Benjamin", Dictionary of National Biography 36, accessed through Wikisource, November 21, 2013.
- ↑ Millburn, "Martin, Benjamin (bap. 1705, d. 1782)."
- ↑ Millburn, "The London Evening Courses of Benjamin Martin and James Ferguson," 439.
- ↑ Millburn, "Martin, Benjamin (bap. 1705, d. 1782)."
- ↑ Millburn, "The London Evening Courses of Benjamin Martin and James Ferguson," 439.
- ↑ Millburn, "Martin, Benjamin (bap. 1705, d. 1782)."
- ↑ LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on November 13, 2013, http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe
- ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
- ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 4:31 [no.3728].
