TOLAND, JOHN. Letters to Serena. [52], 239 pages. 8vo, contemporary panelled calf, rebacked, endpapers renewed; contents toned or browned, occasional early underscoring and marginalia, minor restoration along fore edge of title and next leaf; blank lower outer corner excised from H5. London: Bernard Lintot, 1704
first edition of a collection of letters by the Irish freethinker and philosopher (1670-1722) addressed to Queen Sophie Charlotte of Hanover, "in which he examines prejudice and superstition and argues that motion is essential to matter, rejecting both Spinoza's ahistorical account of motion and Isaac Newton's reliance on divine agency" (DLB).
