Includes the first printing in England of any of the works of Galileo

GASSENDI, Pierre.

Institutio Astronomica, juxta hypotheses tam Veterum quam Recentiorum, cui accesserunt Galileo Galilei Nuntius Siderius et Johannis Kepleri Dioptrice. secunda editi priori correctior / [Galileo Galilei - Sidereus Nuncius / Johannes Kepler - Dioptrice.

London: Jacob Flesher for William Morden, 1653.

2nd Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #001785

Institutio Astronomica, juxta hypotheses tam Veterum quam Recentiorum, cui accesserunt Galileo Galilei Nuntius Siderius et Johannis Kepleri Dioptrice. secunda editi priori correctior. London: Jacob Flesher for William Morden, 1653. 3 parts in one volume. 8vo (177 x 112 mm). General title printed in black and red (some paper repairs) with separate title-pages for each part, numerous text woodcuts and 4 plates of constellations in Sidereus Nuncius. Full calf binding skillfully rebacked retaining the early 18th century blind-ruled boards. Text browned, very minor spotting, few underlinings in text, otherwise clean. Good copy. ----

Carli-Favaro 52 (241); Cinti 301 (155); De Caro 82; Wing G291A, Houzeau-L. 9225; Caspar, Kepler 92. - SECOND EDITION OF THIS IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF SCIENTIFIC WRITINGS (first edition of the collection in this form and 2nd edition of the Institutio Astronomica overall). Gassendi's Institutio astronomica, first published in 1647, outlines the various competing models of the cosmos, notably the Ptolemaic, the Copernican, and the intermediate system invented by Tycho Brahe. This is followed by Galileo's Sidereus nuncius, in which he outlined his observations made by telescope; first published in 1610, this constitutes the third edition of this seminal work. The volume is completed by Kepler's Dioptrice, first published in 1611, which is an effective companion piece to the Sidereus nuncius: Kepler had been researching optics since 1600 but it was the publication of Galileo's work which spurred him to complete his treatise on lenses. It contains the first explanation of myopia and the first design for an inverted astronomical telescope.

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