The Anti-Newtonian

The Anti-Newtonian is a Flat Earth book published in 1819 and predates Rowbotham's initial work on the subject by 30 years. The model in The Anti-Newtonian features three aligned poles: A central North Pole, the South Pole at one end, and the "Unknown Pole" at the other end.

Online Copy
A copy of the book is available online through Google Books.

The Anti-Newtonian (1819)

The writer of this book is unknown. The author refers to himself as "The Author". Since Samuel Birlery Rowbotham was born in 1816 and was only three years in age at the time of its publishing it is unlikely that he was the author. The arguments made in The Anti-Newtonian are very unique, in that The Author bases most of his Flat Earth model on the behaviors of the sun. There are numerous details on why the Flat Earth model in The Anti-Newtonian must exist as consequence of the sun's actions.

Schadewald Description
In The Plane Truth: A History of the Flat Earth Movement its author Robert J. Schadewald describes this model.

Model Diagram
The Three Pole model of The Anti-Newtonian is depicted with the following illustration from the text:



Other Works
In the preface The Author hints that he had previously written about the subject of speculative astronomy. A Google Books search on that term comes up with the following:

Reflections on the Inconsistency of Speculative Astronomy, Volume 4 (1819)

Volumes 1 through 3 have yet to be found. The text of this work seems to follow the same style of writing, with an unknown author, and ends with "THE END." as The Anti-Newtonian does. This appears to be a Flat Earth book, as it is suggested in several places that the earth is likely a plane. The Author again speaks at length on his investigation into the sun.

Importance
While difficult to parse due to a lack of illustrations to accompany explanations in the text, it is believed that this model holds importance because it is an original work based on fresh study of astronomy.