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 stages in this chapter. There is an initial fair copy (siglum A), which then undergoes various revisions, leading to a final handwritten version (siglum E). In addition, there are the two published printed versions from 1740 and 1742 (sigla F and G). The final manuscript revision stage is available as a full version E, and the earlier revision stages available in the edition as variants.

VERSIONS AND VARIANTS	SOURCE
A = VARIANT DOCUMENTED IN THE VARIANT APPARATUS OF VERSION E	Émilie Du Châtelet: Institutions de physique, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12265, 326r-334v
B = VARIANT DOCUMENTED IN THE VARIANT APPARATUS OF VERSION E	Émilie Du Châtelet: Institutions de physique, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12265, 326r-334v
C = VARIANT DOCUMENTED IN THE VARIANT APPARATUS OF VERSION E	Émilie Du Châtelet: Institutions de physique, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12265, 326r-334v
D = VARIANT DOCUMENTED IN THE VARIANT APPARATUS OF VERSION E	Émilie Du Châtelet: Institutions de physique, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12265, 326r-334v
E = MAIN TEXT = VERSION	Émilie Du Châtelet: Institutions de physique, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12265, 326r-334v
F = MAIN TEXT = VERSION	Du Châtelet: Institutions de physique, Paris: Prault, 1740, pp. 387-397
G = VARIANT DOCUMENTED IN THE VARIANT APPARATUS OF VERSION F	Du Châtelet: Institutions physiques, Amsterdam: Au Depens de la Compagnie, 1742, pp. 410-420

II. Short survey of the main manuscript version E

This chapter, despite undergoing numerous minor revisions, retains much of the text from the original fair copy (variant A) in this version, E. It is one of the shortest chapters in the manuscript, with the fair copy prepared by a copyist. All corrections and revisions are in Du Châtelet’s handwriting. Notes appear in the margins and at the bottom of the page concerning the definition of the diameter of a parabola, with its numbering changing several times. This indicates adjustments in the chapter's position within the manuscript as a whole. The chapter number itself also changes, marked as 16 in the fair copy, later revised to 15, and finally to 20.

III. Some significant differences between versions

The key differences between versions A and E lie in the rewriting of section 392, which describes the perpendicular motion of an object thrown toward the Earth. The relationships between the forces acting on this phenomenon are depicted in different ways (288v/320v). The derivation of the properties of the parabola within projectile motion also undergoes some significant revisions. In sections 396 and 397, we observe various approaches to describing these characteristics, with Du Châtelet even shortening an extended version of the text in revision stage D to a more concise version (290r/332r-291r/323r). Section numbering within the chapter is introduced only in version E.

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.