First edition of Isaac Newton's Principia set to fetch $1m at auction

Rare European copy of key mathematics text is going under hammer at Christie's in New York with record guide price

A first edition of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica could become the most expensive print sold of the revolutionary text when it goes under the hammer with a guide price of at least $1m (790,000) this month.

The extremely rare continental copy being sold by auction house Christie's in New York is one of a handful of texts thought to have been destined for Europe and has minor differences from those distributed in England by Newton and the book's editor, Edmond Halley.