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First Latin edition of the Dialogo, the summation of Galileo's astronomical thought and the work which directly precipitated his 1663 trial and judgement for heresy. Preceded only by the first Italian edition, published in Florence in 1632. Quarto, bound in full red Jansenist morocco by Marius Michel with gilt titles and five raised bands to the spine, double gilt ruled turn-ins and elaborately gilt ruled and scrolled inner dentelles stamp-signed by Michel, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Additional engraved title page depicting a dialogue between Aristotle, Ptolemy and Copernicus, engraved portrait of Galileo by Jacob van der Heyden, errata leaf. The Dialogo takes the form of a conversation between supporters of the rival cosmic systems; although ostensibly impartial, it proved a step too far, and in 1633 Galileo was tried, forced to abjure Copernicanism and sentenced to permanent house arrest. The Dialogo itself was banned. This Latin edition includes two tracts in the appendix not in the Italian edition of 1632, and it is the only major work of Galileo's to be published outside Italy during his lifetime. The two added Latin tracts are the introduction to Kepler's Astronomia nova (pp. 459-464), and a letter by Paolo Antonio Foscarini defending the truth of Copernicanism and rebutting the charge that it conflicted with scripture (pp. 465-495). Brunet II, 1462; Carli and Favaro 148; Cinti 96; Riccardi I, 513; Willems 426; PMM 128. Provenance: from the library of Albert Linemann, 1603-1654, astronomer and professor of mathematics at the University of Konigsberg, inscription to the title page. Born in Fischhausen, Linemann was a mathematician and professor known in part for his critical stance against astrological interpretations of the time. Subsequently from the renowned library of American astronomer and historian of science at Harvard University Owen Gingerich, bookplate to the pastedown. In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities, lower margin of engraved title extended. In 1632, Galileo Galilei published his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo), a bold and sophisticated defense of the Copernican heliocentric model that swiftly became the most controversial and widely banned scientific work of the 17th century. Framed as a conversation among three interlocutorsâ "Salviati, a proponent of the Copernican system; Sagredo, an intelligent and open-minded layman; and Simplicio, a defender of the Ptolemaic-Aristotelian geocentric worldviewâ "the dialogue format allowed Galileo to explore complex scientific arguments in an engaging and rhetorically strategic way. Simplicioâ s arguments, often marked by naivety and rigidity, appeared to echo the views of Pope Urban VIII and traditional Church teachings, a parallel that likely intensified the controversy surrounding the book. The Dialogue was crafted both as a public appeal and as a means of circumventing ecclesiastical constraints on scientific discourse. As a "masterly polemic for the new science," it championed empirical observation and mathematical reasoning while exposing the weaknesses of Aristotelian natural philosophy. Galileo presented the latest telescopic discoveriesâ "the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, sunspots, and the irregular surface of the Moonâ "as decisive evidence against geocentric cosmology. He ridiculed the intellectual inertia of those who clung to outdated systems and emphasized the philosophical and physical coherence of a moving Earth. Galileo's Dialogo ". was designed both as an appeal to the great public and as an escape from silence â ¦ it is a masterly polemic for the new science. It displays all the great discoveries in the heavens which the ancients had ignored; it inveighs against the sterility, willfulness, and ignorance of those who defend their systems; it revels in the simplicity of Copernican thought and, above all, it teaches that the movement of the earth.
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