first edition
1973 · Cambridge, UK
by Hawking, S. W. [Stephen William]; Ellis, G. F. R. [George Francis Rayner]
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1973. First edition, assumed second printing. Near Fine/Near Fine. An early cloth-bound printing of Hawking and Ellis' treatise. The copyright page reads "First published 1973 / First paperback edition 1974." Presumed to be the second printing of the first hardcover edition, perhaps issued simultaneously with the paperback edition. Science Magazine recorded receiving Hawking's book on August 31, 1973, and didn't mention a paperback, just a $28.50 hardcover--a pricey book compared to $7.95 for a cloth-bound first edition of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Breakfast of Champions, published about the same time. Uncommon nonetheless.Bound in publisher's navy cloth with spine lettered and stamped in silver. Near Fine with light wear to covers, former owner's name of acclaimed physicist "T[oichiro] Kinoshita" on front free endpaper dated 1977, original receipts from Cambridge University Press addressed to Kinoshita laid-in. In a Near Fine price-clipped dust jacket with light sunning to spine and modest edge wear. A nice copy of Hawking and Ellis' treatise on the theoretical physics of spacetime, intended for specialists of general relativity. Provenance of theoretical physicist Toichiro Kinoshita (1925-2023), who was teaching at Cornell University as a professor of physics when he purchased this book. Kinoshita was known for his extensive calculations in quantum electrodynamics (QED). His calculation of the electronic moment of the electron contributed to some of the great physics discoveries of the 20th century.
(Inventory #: 140947187)