I. Versions and variants

Since the Paris manuscript BNF Fr. 12265 reveals many revision stages, it was crucial for the editors to make explicit the main stages of revision in structure and content made by Émilie Du Châtelet, through establishing them as textual versions on their own, rather than placing them in the variant apparatus. On the one hand, this makes it easier for the reader to perceive the differences by presenting the versions as distinct texts, so that the reader does not need to reconstruct all revision stages from the entries in the variant apparatus, which at times is quite a complicated task. On the other hand, in order to analyze the differences between the revision stages in detail, the reader needs to compare the online edited versions by arranging them in separate windows on the screen or display. This might be demanding at times, yet it is still easier than reconstructing all revision stages from the variant apparatus.

However, in order to make the comparison between the distinct versions easier, we decided to offer, in these introductory notes, a survey of some striking differences between the versions. We continue to provide a variant apparatus, however, representing the finer-grained revisions made by Émilie Du Châtelet.

By consequently establishing versions as texts on their own, and as distinguished by the amount of changes in structure and content, we also establish revision stages as variants which might only consist of one word being changed.

We have identified five total revision stages in this chapter. There is an initial fair copy (siglum A), which then undergoes various revisions, leading to a final handwritten version (siglum C). In addition, there are the two published printed versions from 1740 and 1742 (sigla D and E).

Of the manuscript revision stages, the first and third are established as a full versions (sigla A and C). The other revision stages are available in the edition as variants.

VERSIONS AND VARIANTS	SOURCE
A = MAIN TEXT = VERSION	Émilie Du Châtelet: Institutions de physique, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Fr. 12265, 236r–245v
B = VARIANT DOCUMENTED IN THE VARIANT APPARATUS OF VERSION C	Émilie Du Châtelet: Institutions de physique, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12265, 236r–245v
C = MAIN TEXT = VERSION	Émilie Du Châtelet: Institutions de physique, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12265, 236r–245v
D = MAIN TEXT = VERSION	Institutions de physique, Paris: Prault, 1740, 255–272
E = VARIANT DOCUMENTED IN THE VARIANT APPARATUS OF VERSION D	Institutions physiques, Amsterdam: Au Depends de la Compagnie, 1742, pp. 267–284

II. Short survey of the main manuscript versions A and C

In this chapter, the fair copy is significantly revised in versions B and C, with large portions being cancelled and rewritten.

III. Some significant differences between versions

First, early in the chapter (fols. 236r–236v) there is a classification of different ways in which heaviness (pesanteur) can be considered, and this undergoes important modifications. In the initial fair copy, gravity (gravité) is defined as heaviness “par Raport au corps qui peze sur [un] obstacle, et qui tomberait vers la terre, s’il n’etoit pas soutenu”: so gravity only draws bodies towards the earth (236r). This version also considers “attraction,” which is defined as heaviness in relation “au point vers lequel cette force dirige le corps”: this notion of attraction is linked to Newton (236v). However, in later revisions, all reference to heaviness in relation to a specified point is deleted. Instead, gravity and attraction are both, “avec mr. neuton,” merely that force that make bodies fall towards the earth. Precisely towards what bodies are attracted is no longer specified.

Second, the earliest draft of the chapter clearly states that all parts of matter, including the smallest bodies, are subject to “pesanteur” (237r). There is no particle of matter so small that, all things being equal, it will not tend towards the surface of the earth. This statement is deleted from later versions.

A third change is a notable addition to a list of consequences of Galileo’s law of falling bodies (or more precisely, an experiment confirming that law). In a later version Du Châtelet adds in her own hand a consequence of the experiment, which is now listed first: “que la force qui fait tomber les cors agit egalemt sur eux a chaque instant indivisible” (242v). The earlier fair copy made no mention of indivisible instants.

A fourth change occurs in a discussion of the fact that bodies move more slowly when rolling down an inclined plane than when they descend perpendicular to the earth (244r). In the early fair copy version A, Du Châtelet adds that “donc puis qu’il y a du plus ou du moins, jl y a necessairement une quantité determine.” This passage is deleted from later versions.

IV. Note on the technical and editorial presentation of the edition

There are still changes to come in the technical presentation of the edition. The design and structure as well as the information implemented in the XML files will be refined. Due to the work required to program all these refinements, it will take some time until the final edition can be presented online. Also to be added is the commentary on the texts.

For now, we show a preliminary version, a work in progress, which is the basis for all future refinements.