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PROPERTY FROM THE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN GRESHAM MACHEN
GALILEI, Galileo (1564-1642). Il saggiatore. Rome: Giacomo Mascardi, 1623.
Details
GALILEI, Galileo (1564-1642). Il saggiatore. Rome: Giacomo Mascardi, 1623.
The first edition, first issue of “one of the most celebrated polemics in science” (DSB). Il saggiatore was Galileo’s response to Orazio Grassi's 1618 treatise on comets. Because Galileo had been forbidden since 1616 to defend Copernican theory, he had to avoid direct discussion of the earth's motion. Instead he took a more general scientific approach, insisting that Grassi needed to first prove that comets were celestial bodies rather than just optical effects of the Sun. The book is dedicated to his patron, the Barberini Pope Urban VIII, who later condemned Galileo after the astronomer put the Pope’s views in the mouth of the fool in his 1632 Dialogo. Carli and Favaro 95; Cinti 73; DSB V, p. 243; Norman I, 857.
Quarto (214 x 149mm). Engraved title by Francesco Villamena, numerous in-text diagrams (lacking portrait; some spotting and browning, dampstained). Contemporary speckled calf (some wear to boards and superficial worm damage).
The first edition, first issue of “one of the most celebrated polemics in science” (DSB). Il saggiatore was Galileo’s response to Orazio Grassi's 1618 treatise on comets. Because Galileo had been forbidden since 1616 to defend Copernican theory, he had to avoid direct discussion of the earth's motion. Instead he took a more general scientific approach, insisting that Grassi needed to first prove that comets were celestial bodies rather than just optical effects of the Sun. The book is dedicated to his patron, the Barberini Pope Urban VIII, who later condemned Galileo after the astronomer put the Pope’s views in the mouth of the fool in his 1632 Dialogo. Carli and Favaro 95; Cinti 73; DSB V, p. 243; Norman I, 857.
Quarto (214 x 149mm). Engraved title by Francesco Villamena, numerous in-text diagrams (lacking portrait; some spotting and browning, dampstained). Contemporary speckled calf (some wear to boards and superficial worm damage).