The first manuscript copy of Isaac Newton’s book, which describes the 3 laws of motion that became the basis of modern physics, was discovered in a library on the island of French Corsica. The book was found hidden at the top of one of the shelves in the library. Vannina Schirinsky-Schikhmatoff, the director of conservation at the Fesch public heritage library in Ajaccio, said that he discovered a copy of Isaac Newton’s work in the 17th century while examining a directory from Lucien Bonaparte (one of Napoleon’s brothers), the founder of the library. Schirinsky-Schikhmatoff stated that there was little damage to the cover of the book, but it was wonderfully preserved inside. The book “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica” written in Latin was first published by Newton in 1687. Later translations of the book were published in English, but original editions were taken by collectors. “The Latin edition was sold for $ 3.7 million in an auction made by Christie’s a few years ago, which was the only edition left in the Ajaccio library,” Schirinsky-Schikhmatoff referred to an unnamed buyer. Schirinsky-Schikhmatoff previously announced in 2018 that he found a “Thesaurum Hyeroglyphicorum” hieroglyphs on Egyptian hieroglyphics from 1610.
