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The invention of the telescope

PORTA, Giambattista.
Magiae naturalis, libri XX. Ab ipso authore expurgati, & superaucti, in quibus scientiarum naturalium divitiae, & delitiae demonstrantur.

Title with rich ornamental Renaissance woodcut border; medallion woodcut portrait of the author at the age of fifty on verso of the title; several woodcut illustrations of stones, distilling equipment, on catoptrics, etc. in text, as well as 20 large ornamental Renaissance woodcut headpieces and numerous small woodcut vignettes and initials.

Title with rich ornamental Renaissance woodcut border; medallion woodcut portrait of the author at the age of fifty on verso of the title; several woodcut illustrations of stones, distilling equipment, on catoptrics, etc. in text, as well as 20 large ornamental Renaissance woodcut headpieces and numerous small woodcut vignettes and initials.

Title with rich ornamental Renaissance woodcut border; medallion woodcut portrait of the author at the age of fifty on verso of the title; several woodcut illustrations of stones, distilling equipment, on catoptrics, etc. in text, as well as 20 large ornamental Renaissance woodcut headpieces and numerous small woodcut vignettes and initials.

Title with rich ornamental Renaissance woodcut border; medallion woodcut portrait of the author at the age of fifty on verso of the title; several woodcut illustrations of stones, distilling equipment, on catoptrics, etc. in text, as well as 20 large ornamental Renaissance woodcut headpieces and numerous small woodcut vignettes and initials.

Title with rich ornamental Renaissance woodcut border; medallion woodcut portrait of the author at the age of fifty on verso of the title; several woodcut illustrations of stones, distilling equipment, on catoptrics, etc. in text, as well as 20 large ornamental Renaissance woodcut headpieces and numerous small woodcut vignettes and initials.



Naples, Horatius Salvianus, 1589. Small folio. 19th century half green calf, spine gilt. Title with rich ornamental Renaissance woodcut border; medallion woodcut portrait of the author at the age of fifty on verso of the title; several woodcut illustrations of stones, distilling equipment, on catoptrics, etc. in text, as well as 20 large ornamental Renaissance woodcut headpieces and numerous small woodcut vignettes and initials. (16), 303, (1 blank) pp.

First edition of Porta's Magia Naturalis in twenty Books, in its matured and most complete state. The publication of this work started in 1558 with four Books only. It now treated all known aspects of natural philosophy, including medicine, optics  and perspective. Giambattista della Porta (1535-1615), famous mathematician and natural philosopher, lived and worked at Napels. 
The academies of Naples had been closed in 1547 under suspicion  of political intrigue, and began to reopen only after 1552. The Altomare was the outstanding literary Academy of Naples and several of Porta's close friends were members. Porta established an Academia Secretorum Naturae, which met in his house and was modelled after the earlier litarary academies. It was devoted to the discussion and study of the secrets of nature. Around 1580  it was closed by order of the Inquisition and Porta was examined. In 1592 the Inquisition forbade all further publication of Porta's  works.
Porta's academy became the model for the famous Accademia dei Lincei founded by Cesi at Rome in 1603, of which Gallileo became a member in 1611. The Magia Naturalis was Porta's first  book, containing the secrets of nature, which he began to study when he was fifteen. With the title Natural Magic the author meant the perfection of natural philosophy considered to be the highest science.
This first collection of secrets constituted the basis of the present twenty-book edition of the Magia Naturalis, which became Porta's most famous work and the basis of his reputation. Apart from the mixture of curiosity and credulity common in late Renaissance science, it represents a serious attempt to define and describe natural magic and some refined application of mathematical and experimental techniques in science, including perspective. Book  XVII on the refraction of light, for instance, gives to Porta the priority in the invention of the telescope, and shows Porta's involvement with both the theory and practice of optics.
Behind Porta's conception of natural magic lie the Hermetic and Neo-Platonic traditions given new life in Renaissance philosophy. The wide range of  Porta's scientific interests is clearly demonstrated by the subjects treated in the twenty Books of the present edition, which are all listed on the title. It includes discussions on animals, plants, medical experiments, optics, the breaking of light and perspective, the properties of metals and precious stones, chemistry and distilling, magnets, etc., but also cosmetics and women's beauty.
The book is  also finely produced and richly adorned with Renaissance woodcut  ornaments.

Good copy.- (Binding rubbed).
STC Italian p. 536; Poggendorff II, 505; Ernst Weil Cat. 27, 175; Wheeler Gift Cat. 64; Riccardi I, 307; Dict. Scient. Biogr. 11, p. 95 ff.; cf. Ferguson II, p. 216 (Frankfurt ed. of 1591 and Leyden ed. of 1644); Duveen p. 481 (Leyden ed. of 1651); Caillet III, p. 312 (Rouen ed. of 1650 and Leyden ed. 1651).

Related Subjects: Occult  Optics  Science 

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