Letters to Father : Sister Maria Celeste to Galileo, 1623-1633 - Hardcover

Galilei, Maria

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802713874 ISBN 13: 9780802713872

Publisher: Walker Books, 2001

Synopsis

When she was 13, Virginia Galilei, eldest daughter of the great scientist Galileo, was placed by her father in a convent near him in Florence and took the name Suor Maria Celeste. Unable to see him except on his occasional visits, she wrote him continually, as her 124 surviving letters (which Galileo kept) attest. Now, for the first time, all of these letters are reproduced in English, translated by Dava Sobel, and in their original Italian, and Ms. Sobel has also written an introduction and annotations placing the letters in historical context.

The 124 letters span only a decade of Maria Celeste's 33 years. In that dramatic period, a pope came to power who battled the Protestant Reformation; the Thirty Years' War embroiled all of Europe; the bubonic plague erupted across Italy; and a new philosophy of science, promulgated most forcefully by Galileo himself, threatened to overturn the order of the universe. Maria Celeste's evocative, beautifully written letters touch on all of these situations, but they dwell in the small details of everyday life; and though Galileo's letters to her have not survived, it is clear from hers that he answered every one. Especially for those who have read Ms. Sobel's Galileo's Daughter, but even for those who haven't, Maria Celeste's letters provide an indelible chronicle of convent life in the early 17th century, a memorable portrait of deep affection between a famous father and his daughter, and fascinating insight into Galileo himself.

About this title

About the Author

Dava Sobel is an award-winning science writer and former New York Times reporter who has contributed articles to Audubon, Discover, and The New Yorker. As a contributing editor to Harvard Magazine, she covered scientific research and the history of science.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Most Illustrious and Beloved Lord Father,

As for the citron, which you commanded me, Sire, to make into candy, I have come up with only this little bit that I send you now, because I am afraid the fruit was not fresh enough for the confection to reach the state of perfection I would have liked, and indeed it did not turn out very well at all. Along with this I am sending you two baked pears for these festive days. But to present you with an even more special gift, I enclose a rose, which, as an extraordinary thing in this cold season, must be warmly welcomed by you. And all the more so since, together with the rose, you will be able to accept the thorns that represent the bitter suffering of our Lord; and also its green leaves, symbolizing the hope that we nurture (by virtue of this holy passion), of the reward that awaits us, after the brevity and darkness of the winter of the present life, when at last we will enter the clarity and happiness of the eternal spring of Heaven, which blessed God grants us by His mercy. And, ending here, I give you loving greetings, together with Suor Arcangela, and remind you, Sire, that both of us are all eagerness to hear the current state of your health. From San Matteo, the 19th of December 1625.

Most affectionate daughter, Suor M. Celeste

I am returning the tablecloth in which you wrapped the lamb you sent; and you, Sire have a pillowcase of ours, which we put over the shirts in the basket with the lid.

About this edition

• Publisher: Walker Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0802713874
• ISBN 13: 9780802713872
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352