ROSE, Elizabeth (her copy) - EULER, Leonhard.

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Letters to a German Princess, on Different Subjects in Physics and Philosophy. First edition in English, from the library of Elizabeth Rose (1747-1815), one of the foremost female autodidacts in Enlightenment Scotland. Rose read widely and intensively for many decades, and discussed her findings with several Scottish writers, including Robert Burns and her cousin Henry Mackenzie. This copy, uncut in the original boards, demonstrates her engagement with contemporary scientific thought.Both volumes are inscribed in Rose's hand: on the front pastedowns "Kilravock" and on the half-titles "El. Ross [sic] 1796". For Rose, reading was a "virtuous occupation that was intended to effect her own moral improvement" (Towsey, p. 28), and she typically chose literary materials with an overt ethical message. However, in the second half of the 18th century, "science-reading became increasingly acceptable for women" (Pearson, p. 65). Its advocates argued that it often had practical applications and that understanding the natural world could support religious faith. Euler's book, first published in French in 1768, is "often called the world's first pre-calculus textbook" (Mayfield, p. 82). In straightforward, vernacular language, it explains advanced concepts in astronomy and physics, including electricity, magnetism, and optics. The contents are composed of a series of letters Euler sent to Princess Friederike Charlotte of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1745-1808) when she was in her teens; due to her

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