Milestones of Science Books

ARGOLI, Andrea.

Ptolemaeus Parvus in Genethliacis junctus Arabibus.

Lyon: Joseph and Pierre Vilort, 1652.

2nd Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #003001

8vo (238 x 175 mm). [8], 247 [1] pp. Signatures: )(⁴, A-P⁸, Q⁴. Woodcut device to title-page, several astrological woodcut diagrams and astronomical tables in text. Bound in 20th-century vellum over boards, new endpapers. All pages untrimmed. Little browning of text, minor spotting and staining in places, some faint dampstaining towards upper gutter, title-page with erased old ink signature leaving small ink corrosion hole (affecting two letters and repaired), short tear to blank margin of leaf O7. Provenance: Biblioteca Degli Israeliti (old ink stamp and shelf-mark to title); Beltrame Library. Good copy, collated complete. ----

Caillet 383; Gardner, Astrologica 71; Casanatense 126; Riccardi I, p.51:112 ("Anche quest'opera appartiene pia all'astrologia che all'astronomia"); Houzeau-Lancaster I, 5204; Pianatanda 1507 (1654 edition); Graesse I, 194. SECOND EDITION of Argoli's astrological treatise, first published the same year in Padua. Argoli (1570-1657) studied in Naples and became a professor of mathematics at the Sapienza of Rome in 1622. He was replaced by B. Castelli in 1627, perhaps because of his passion for astrology. According to Thorndike, he teached Wallenstein in astrology (see Thorndike VII, 122). In 1632 he arrived in Padua as a teacher of mathematics at the University. Although follower of the Ptolemaic school, Argoli could not resist the charm of Galileo, inspiring him to write a treatise on the system of the world which he however never publish for fear of condemnation. The manuscript was never found. - Visit our website for additional images and information.

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