[MOON TRAVEL]. [WILKINS, John (1614-1672]. The First Book of The Discovery of a New World. [Bound with:] A Discourse concerning a New Planet... London: Printed for John Maynard, 1640. Small 8vos. Two volumes bound in one. Some woodcut intertextual diagrams. [8], 242, [6]; [12], 246, [2] pp. Separate title-pages. Bound without the engraved title-page of the first part. Bound to style in modern full brown calf, boards double-ruled in black, spine tooled in black in compartments, four raised bands, burgundy gilt morocco lettering label. THIRD IMPRESSION OF THE FIRST PART, FIRST EDITION OF THE SECOND PART. 

The first part was first published in 1638, but the third impression is corrected and enlarged - the best edition which added the discourse on the possibility of reaching the Moon. Wilkins was an English philosopher, scientist, and a founder of the Royal Society. The purpose of these titles was to promote knowledge of the (then new) theories of Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler, and to discourage dependence on the Aristotelian and biblical views of the heavens. In this work, Wilkins takes a page from Galileo, speculating that the Moon is a world similar to ours, possibly capable of supporting life, and what that life might look like. This third edition was the first to discuss actual travel to the Moon, with references to various problems (gravity, the height of the atmosphere, etc.) based on the knowledge of his time. 

Text a bit toned with occasional light soiling. Fine.