Description

GALILEI, Galileo. Opere. In questa nuova editione insieme raccolte, e di varii Trattati dell’istesso Autore non piu Stampati accresciute. Bologna: Heirs of Evangelista Dozza, 1655-56.

First collected edition, edited by Carlo Manolessi, and a large, crisp and absolutely complete copy. This edition, which appeared only a year after Galileo’s death, contains all of his major works, excluding of course the ‘Dialogo’ and ‘Letter to Christina’ which were then on the Index and did not appear in editions of his works until 1744. Amongst the important texts reprinted are the ‘Sidereus nuncius’, the first work of telescopic astronomy, the ‘Discorsi, e dimostrazioni matematiche,’ “the first modern textbook of physics, a foundation stone in the science of mechanics” (Grolier/Horblit), the ‘Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari,’ in which Galileo first supported Copernicus in print, ‘Discorso delle comete,’ which ignited the ‘controversy on the comets’, culinating in the publication of ‘Il Saggiatore,’ also reprinted here. In addition, the volumes contain Galileo’s work on the proportional compass, ‘Le operationi, del compasso geometrico e militare,’ Baldassar Capra’s ‘Usus et fabrica circini cuiusdam proportionis’, a plagiarism of Galileo’s work published a year later, and Galileo’s defence, ‘Difesa . . . contro alle calunnie & imposture di Baldessar Capra,’ published in the same year, and also reprinted here for the first time. The volumes also contain substantial unpublished material, both by Galileo himself as well as by his supporters and critics. Many of these items were provided to the editor by Vincenzo Viviani, Galileo’s friend and disciple, including a number of Galileo’s hitherto unpublished letters and experiments and ‘La Bilancetta,’ his first scientific work, written in 1586. A feature of this edition is that each work has its own separate title page, imprint and pagination, which has resulted in several copies being broken up, the individual tracts being sold individually.

Carlo & Favaro 251; Cinti 132; Riccardi I 518-9; Houzeau-Lancaster I, 3386; Honeyman 1418; Roller-Goodman I, 433; Wellcome III, 83.

Two vols, 4to (226 x 161 mm), I: pp. [24], 29-32, 48, 48, [8], 160, [4], 68, 127, [1], [4], 264, 43, [1], including allegorical frontispiece signed Stefano della Bella, engraved portrait of Galileo by Villamoena, and with large folding plate of proportional compass; II: pp. [2], 60, 8, 105, [3], 105-156, 48, [8], 179, [1], [2], 53-106, [2], 103-126, [8], 238 (i.e. 242), [6], numerous woodcut illustrations in text (a few gatherings uniformly browned as usual with this book, a few marginal stains, hole (paper flaw) to fore-margin of one leaf, a few other minor defects but nothing affecting the text). Inscription of a Jesuit institution in Bologna at foot of frontispice and title of ‘Sidereus nuncius’ (the former faded but still legible). Eighteenth-century half-calf and marbled boards, spines gilt with lettering-pieces (a bit rubbed with minor loss of paper to boards).