Astronomy. GALILEI. Systema cosmicum...

GALILEI, Galileo. Systema cosmicum ... in quo quatuor dialogis, de duobus maximis mundi systematibus, Ptolemaico & Copernicano … Ex Italica lingua Latine conversum, accessit appendix gemina, qua SS. Scripturae dicta cum terrae mobilitate conciliantur. ...

London, Thomas Dicas for D. Pauli, 1663

First edition printed in England and third Latin edition of the Dialogo. The Dialogo is the culmination of Galileo’s astronomical work and his famous contribution to the Copernican system in the form of an irrefutable hypothesis. PMM: “The Dialogo, more than any other work, made the heliocentric system a commonplace.” Despite the hypothetical nature of the discussion among the three characters, Galileo’s book celebrates the simplicity of Copernican thought and, above all, teaches that the motion of the Earth makes sense philosophically—that is, in physics. The text of this edition includes, following the conclusion of the *Dialogue*, an excerpt from Kepler and Foscarini’s reconciliation of the Copernican system with Scripture. The first Italian edition (Florence: 1632) was banned by the Pope and withdrawn from circulation shortly after publication, leading to the author’s trial and imprisonment a year later; this was followed by the first Latin edition, published in Strasbourg in 1635, translated by Matthias Bernegger—a professor of history and mathematics enthusiast—at Galileo’s request.

This copy conforms to those collated by Riccardi and Cinti, with the page (a)3 erroneously marked as (a)94.

Carli and Favaro 287; Cinti 140; Riccardi I, 513.10; Wing G-168 & 165; See Mordechai Feingold, "Galileo in England: The First Phase" in Novita celesti e crisi del sapere (1984) and Stillman Drake, "Galileo in English literature of the seventeenth century," in Galileo Man of Science (1967).

8vo, 165x110 mm. Contemporary full marbled leather binding, gilt decorations on spine, sprayed edges. Pp. [20], 704, [24]. Collation: (a)6, B-3A8. Engraved frontispiece and several woodcut illustrations in the text. Restorations on binding, slightly dented corners; occasional foxing and damp stains.