pdf - Roger Gaskell Rare Books

emained on the Index until 1835, although he was not oYcially rehabilitated
by the Catholic Church until 1992.
In addition to the Dialogo itself, this edition prints two other works, and
several short texts. These are Galileo, Lettera ... scritta alla granduchessa di
Toscana, Wrst printed in 1636 (pp. 1–35 of the last group of pages) and Paolo
Antonio Foscarini, Lettera... sopra l’opinione de’ Pittagorici, e del Copernico,
Wrst printed in 1615 (pp. 36–68); followed by ‘Perioche ex Introductione
in Martem Joannis Kepleri’ (pp. 69–74); ‘Excerptum ex Didaci à Stunica
Salmanticensis commentariis in Job, editiones Tolotanae, ap. Joannem
Rodricum, Anno 1584...’ (pp. 74–76); ‘Sententia Cardinalium In Galilaeum
et abjuratio eiusdem, excertpae ex J. B. Riccioli Almagesto Novo’ (pp.76–80);
and ‘Abjuratio Galilaei’ (pp. 80–81). In the letter to Christina, Grand Duchess
of Tuscany, composed in 1615, Galileo argued for the independence of science
from religion. Foscarini’s letter in defence of Copernicanism against charges
that it conXicted with scripture had been placed on the Index in 1616.
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GASSENDI, Pierre (1592–1655)
Institutio astronomica juxta hypotheses tam veterum quàm
Copernici & Tychonis dicta Parisiis... Editio ultima paulò ante
mortem auctoris recognita, aucta et emendata.
Amsterdam: apud Janssonio-Waesbergios, 1680.
4to: )( 4 A–u4 , 84 leaves, pp. [8] 160. Title printed in red and black
with woodcut device, table of contents on verso with a blank leaf
pasted over. Woodcut diagrams in the text, those on pp. 3, 7, 102 and
116 full page.
184 x 150mm. Titlepage soiled, woodcut illustrations on pp. 7 and 102
cropped; several clean tears repaired without loss.
Binding: Nineteenth­century half morocco over marbled boards.
Rubbed.
Separate issue with variant titlepage of the Gassendi alone of an edition
published with other works. The Institutio was Wrst printed, on its own,
in 1647. From the second edition, London, 1653, it was printed with
other works: a ‘third’ edition appeared at Amsterdam in 1683.
Gassendi’s famous Institutio Astronomica is the text of his lectures at the
Collège Royale and was, with the ‘Life of Peiresc’, his most popular work. He
expounded the theories of Copernicus, and explained the condemnation of
Galileo by considerations relating to Galileo himself, presenting no objections
to Copernicus’ theories. It is a clear statement of the state of astronomical
science and remained a standard text­book for a long time, especially in
English universities.
This separate issue seems to be unrecorded and may have been something
of an afterthought on the part of the publisher. In most copies the titlepage
has the words ‘accedunt eiusdem varii tractatus astronomici’ after the author’s
name and the register and pagination continue, X–2R2, pp. 161–309, [7]. A
list of contents is printed on the verso of the titlepage, but in the present issue