GALILEI, Galileo (1564-1642). Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari e loro accidenti ... si aggiungono nel fine le Lettere, e Disquisizioni del finto Apelle . Rome: Giacomo Mascardi, 1613. Two parts in one volume, 4 o (220 x 160 mm). Printer's woodcut device on title, first part with engraved portrait of Galileo, 38 full-page engravings of sunspots, 5 full-page engravings of Jovian satellites, WITH AN EXTRA SET OF THE 5 JOVIAN SATELLITE ENGRAVINGS bound immediately following the first series, one engraving and 8 woodcut and typographic diagrams in text, second part with section-title, double-page engraving, one full-page engraving, 3 engravings and 7 woodcut typographic diagrams in text, woodcut initials. (Closed tear in title, small acid hole in B3 and stain on C1v affecting a few letters, occasional pale spotting and browning.) 19th-century blue half morocco (front covers detached, one inch of spine lacking). Provenance : some contemporary marginalia -- "K.C.H.": note tipped to front flyleaf. FIRST EDITION OF GALILEO'S FIRST PUBLISHED ENDORSEMENT OF THE COPERNICAN MODEL, "domestic" issue with Scheiner's letters to Welser. Galileo wrote the Istoria e dimostrazione in the form of letters to Marcus Welser of Augsburg, arguing that sunspots appeared on the surface of the sun and were not tiny satellites of it. Based on observations of their motion, Galileo concluded that the sun rotated on a fixed axis. The work also includes Galileo's first written account of his observations of the phases of Venus and the mysteries of Saturn. His specific endorsement of the Copernican model foreshadowed many of his later theories and their political and religious consequences: "I tell you that this planet also, perhaps no less than horned Venus, agrees admirably with the great Copernican system on which propitious winds now universally are seen to blow..." (Stillman Drake's translation). This "domestic" issue contains the second part, "De maculis solaribus tres epistolae," with letters written to Welser by the Jesuit Christoph Scheiner. This correspondence, in which Scheiner promotes his theory that sunspots are small planets, prompted Galileo to publish his account of his own observations. This issue and that without Scheiner's letters were published at the same time; evidently one for the Italian market where there would be no copyright dispute, and the other issue for export. Since Scheiner was then teaching at Ingolstadt, the printer Mascardi felt free to publish his letters in Italy, but north of the Alps privileges would be infringed. Cinti 44; Stillman Drake, Galileo at Work (Chicago 1978), 198.
GALILEI, Galileo (1564-1642). Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari e loro accidenti ... si aggiungono nel fine le Lettere, e Disquisizioni del finto Apelle . Rome: Giacomo Mascardi, 1613. Two parts in one volume, 4 o (220 x 160 mm). Printer's woodcut device on title, first part with engraved portrait of Galileo, 38 full-page engravings of sunspots, 5 full-page engravings of Jovian satellites, WITH AN EXTRA SET OF THE 5 JOVIAN SATELLITE ENGRAVINGS bound immediately following the first series, one engraving and 8 woodcut and typographic diagrams in text, second part with section-title, double-page engraving, one full-page engraving, 3 engravings and 7 woodcut typographic diagrams in text, woodcut initials. (Closed tear in title, small acid hole in B3 and stain on C1v affecting a few letters, occasional pale spotting and browning.) 19th-century blue half morocco (front covers detached, one inch of spine lacking). Provenance : some contemporary marginalia -- "K.C.H.": note tipped to front flyleaf. FIRST EDITION OF GALILEO'S FIRST PUBLISHED ENDORSEMENT OF THE COPERNICAN MODEL, "domestic" issue with Scheiner's letters to Welser. Galileo wrote the Istoria e dimostrazione in the form of letters to Marcus Welser of Augsburg, arguing that sunspots appeared on the surface of the sun and were not tiny satellites of it. Based on observations of their motion, Galileo concluded that the sun rotated on a fixed axis. The work also includes Galileo's first written account of his observations of the phases of Venus and the mysteries of Saturn. His specific endorsement of the Copernican model foreshadowed many of his later theories and their political and religious consequences: "I tell you that this planet also, perhaps no less than horned Venus, agrees admirably with the great Copernican system on which propitious winds now universally are seen to blow..." (Stillman Drake's translation). This "domestic" issue contains the second part, "De maculis solaribus tres epistolae," with letters written to Welser by the Jesuit Christoph Scheiner. This correspondence, in which Scheiner promotes his theory that sunspots are small planets, prompted Galileo to publish his account of his own observations. This issue and that without Scheiner's letters were published at the same time; evidently one for the Italian market where there would be no copyright dispute, and the other issue for export. Since Scheiner was then teaching at Ingolstadt, the printer Mascardi felt free to publish his letters in Italy, but north of the Alps privileges would be infringed. Cinti 44; Stillman Drake, Galileo at Work (Chicago 1978), 198.
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
