Catalogue Number 7 - Susanne Schulz-Falster

First reprint of the deWnitive third edition of Vico’s Scienza Nuova, published
1744 – a clear indication of the revival of interest in Vico in the nineteenth
century, after he had been all but forgotten after his death. Croce
maintains that this edition has actually become rarer than the one of 1744
(Croce p. 53). It is also the Wrst edition to include Vico’s autobiography.
‘Early in the nineteenth century the discovery of Vico aroused the astonishment
and the admiration of Italian philosophers, politicians, historians
and jurists, who had noted the philosophic, political and historical weakness
of the Enlightenment and Jacobinism. From Italy his thought spread
to France, where it became known principally through Jules Michelet.’
(Croce in ESS, VI, p. 250).
Croce I, p. 53.
First Critical Edition
80 VICO, Giambattista. Principj di una Scienza Nuvoa di Gio.
Battista Vico. Prima Edizione pubblicata dall’ Autore il 1725, ed ora
riprodotta ed annotata da Salvatore Gallotti . . . seguita da un
Sommario della terza grande Edizione dell’ Autore medesimo,
compilato dal Cav. Giuseppe de Cesare . . . e da una Lettera inedita
del Vico al P. Vitri su l’andamento che le Scienze avevan preso ne’
principj del Secolo XVIII. Napoli, dalla TipograWa Masi, 1817.£800
8vo, pp. [viii], including engraved frontispiece portrait, xii, 51, [1]
blank, 492; some oVsetting from portrait to title page; contemporary
half tan sheep over marbled boards, spine ruled in gilt with gilt-lettered
spine label and gilt initials at foot of spine; a few insigniWcant worm
holes to spine, extending to worm traces on inside back boards and
endpaper, just touching the last two leaves, aVecting two letters only;
minute individual worm hole in upper margin of Wrst signatures; early
private library stamp and ownership inscription in ink at head of title;
still a good copy.
First reprint of the text of the Wrst edition, with notes and amendments
from the third – in eVect, the Wrst critical edition of Vico’s Scienza Nuova.
The editor of the work is Salvatore Gallotti, the excerpts from the third
edition were prepared by Giuseppe de Cesare. In addition, a letter by Vico
to P. Vitri on the advancement of science is reprinted at the end.
Croce I, p. 40.
Contemporary Critique of Vico
81 [VICO.] ROMANO, Damiano. Apologia sopra il terzo
Principio della Scienza Nuova del signor D. Gio. Battista Vico, in
cui egli tratta dell’origine di ogni lingua articolata, e della mutola
signiWcativa. Divisa in quattordici lettere, nelle quali si fà vedere, che,
quanto contiene il sudetto Principio, tutto sia, così per FilosoWa,
susanne schulz-falster rare books catalogue seven
comer per Istoria sacra, e profana, erroneo, e falso. . . Napoli, per
SeraWno Porsile Regio Stampatore, 1749.
[Bound with:] ROMANO, Damiano. Lettere Apologetiche, nelle
quali si risolvono vari Dubbi FilosoWci, Filologici, e Legali. . .
Napoli, per SeraWno Porsile Regio Stampatore, 1748. £1200
Two works bound in one volume, 4tp, pp. [x], 180; [viii], 140; both
works with some spotting and browning; title of the second work with
small paper fault to title page, touching one letter; contemporary full
vellum, gilt-lettered spine label; some wear to head of spine; remains of
library shelf label to foot of spine; extensive contemporary underlining
and marginal annotations throughout.
First edition of two rare critical works by the Neapolitan jurist Damiano
Romano (1708–1776), one a detailed critique of Giambattista Vico’s
Scienza Nuova.
The Wrst work is a detailed criticism of Vico’s treatment of language and
linguistics. The study of language formed a major part of Vico’s Scienza
Nuova. He maintained that the forms of language and representation are
indications of mental processes and outlooks, and have diVered widely over
the course of time. Literary forms such as fables, pictorial images and analogies
were indications of the way people ‘made sense’ of their experiences.
These forms were the very currency of thought in what he called the ‘poetical
periods’ of human history. In his extensive critique Romano, however,
accuses Vico of plagiarism, quoting earlier authors such as Ovid, Cicero,
Lucretius and Plato as proof. He compares Vico’s writings with those of
Grotius, Hobbes and Pufendorf to demonstrate the unoriginality of his
thought.
The second work contains ten essays on juridical and linguistic questions,
going over some of the ground covered in the Wrst work, but without mentioning
Vico speciWcally.
Croce, I, pp. 233–235; both works are rare, with copies recorded at Berkeley,
Emory University and Harvard (I) and just Berkeley (II).
82 [VIVORIO, Agostino.] Sopra i Corpi delle Arti, Risposta ad
un Qesito Accademico. Verona, 1792. £580
8vo, pp. 85, [i] contents; wide-margined copy in contemporary pale
blue stiV wrappers; a Wne copy.
First and only edition of Vivorio’s prize essay on the question of the advantages
and disadvantages of the guild system. Vivorio, (1743–1822), who
dedicates his contribution to the economist Iselin, is clearly aware of the
contemporary European debate on the matter, and cites from Adam Smith,
Condillac, Montesquieu, Iselin, Verri, Rousseau and Forbonnais. In his
well-argued discourse, he Wrst lists some possible advantages of the guild
system, such as hierarchical structure, discipline, and training. However, he
also identiWes some disadvantages inherent in the system, such as the lim-