Milestones of Science Books

FRACASTORO, Girolamo (FRACASTORIUS).

Homocentrica. Eiusdem de causis criticorm dierum per ea quae in nobis sunt. Cum gratia per annos decem M D XXXVIII.

Venice: [Nicolini da Sabio?], 1538.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #002744

4to (210 x 150 mm). [4], 78 leaves. Full-page woodcut portrait of Fracastoro on verso of leaf [4], several woodcut diagrams and initials within text. Contemporary limp vellum (binding restored, new endpapers), spine with faint hand-lettering. Paper repair to lower blank margin of title-page and two final gatherings, some light dampstaining and purple mildew staining (not weaking paper condition) at lower margin. Provenance: Library of the Pontifical University Antonianum, Rome (old ink stamps with shelf-mark on title-page and few pages elsewhere). Italian export license can be provided with this copy upon request. Still very good copy. ----

Honeyman 1362; NLM/Durling 1640; D.S.B. V, p. 106; Adams F-825; Houzeau-Lancaster I, 2454; Riccardi I, p. 481-482. - RARE FIRST EDITION of this astronomical work by Veronese physician Girolamo Fracastoro [ca. 1478-1553], "in which the movements of the heavens and the celestial spheres with their orbits, the seasons, and various types of days (civil, solar, sidereal) are illustrated ... Apart from the intrinsic value of the work, its attempts to solve certain problems in astronomical and terrestrial physics are interesting, as are the studies on refraction. In the course of the latter Fracastoro points out the apparent enlargement and approach of celestial objects (as well as the moon) observed through two superimposed lenses, analogous to the appearance of a body immersed in water, which varies exactly according to the quantity and density of the water itself" (D.S.B. V, p. 106).
"Copernicus's De revolutionibus and Girolamo Fracastoro's Homocentrica were both addressed to Pope Paul III. Their dedicatory letters represent a rhetorical exercise in advocating an astronomical reform and an attempt to obtain the papal favour ... Copernicus knew of Fracastoro's Homocentrica, and [...] at least part of the rhetorical strategy laid out in De revolutionibus's dedicatory letter can be read as a sophisticated response to Fracastoro's arguments." (Granada, Miguel A. & Tessicini, Dario (2005). Copernicus and Fracastoro: the dedicatory letters to Pope Paul III, the history of astronomy, and the quest for patronage. In: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A_ 36 (3):431-476).

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