Book of the Week – Dialogo di Galileo Galilei

Tags

astronomy, Copernicus, dialogo, Galileo, heliocentric, Index, Inquisition, Italian, Landini, Latin, mathematics, medicine, Padua, philosophy, Pisa, Ptolemaic, Roman Catholic Church, solar system, telescope, vernacular

Dialogo di Galileo Galilei, 1632, Frontispiece

Dialogo di Galileo Galilei, 1632, Title Page

Dialogo di Galileo Galilei, 1632

Dialogo Di Galileo Galilei Linceo Matematico Sopraordinario Dello Stvdio de Pisa
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Fiorenza: Per Gio Batista Landini, 1632
First edition

Born in Pisa in 1564, Galileo studied medicine, mathematics, and philosophy. In 1592 he was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics in Padua. His early research was mainly on motion, particularly of falling bodies, but he became interested in astronomy. He developed a new type of telescope. Much of Galileo’s early work proved the theories of Copernicus, of which the Roman Catholic Church disapproved, placing an injunction not to hold or defend Copernican doctrine. Galileo ignored the injunction with the publication of Dialogo. Galileo’s Dialogo is a scientific and philosophical affirmation of the Copernican heliocentric theory over the earth-centered Ptolemaic theory of the solar system. Written in a literary style, Galileo deliberately chose to write this work in vernacular Italian rather than scholarly Latin in order to reach a mass audience. The topic made Galileo a threat to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. It was this book that brought Galileo before the Inquisition in 1633, where he was forced to recant his views. He was put under permanent house arrest. Dialogo was placed on the Index of prohibited book where it remained until 1835. Publication took place between June 1631 and February 1632.  The first printing numbered 1000 copies of 500 pages. This printing sold out before the end of September when it was banned by the Pope. Illustrated. University of Utah copy edges untrimmed.

Book of the Week – Seven of Aesop’s Fables

Tags

Aesop, copper, drafting film, etching, fables, George Fyler Townsend, goat vellum, Grafix, Joel Tabachnick, laser print, letterpress, line art, Mary Laird, Mohawk, Pergamom, Quelquefois Press, Samantha Hamady, Susi Schneider

Seven of Aesop’s Fables, 2008, Cover

Seven of Aesop’s Fables, 2008, The Ant and the Dove

Seven of Aesop’s Fables, 2008, The Ant and the Dove

Seven of Aesop’s Fables
Berkeley, CA: Quelquefois Press, 2008
Z239 Q39 A37 2008

Translation by Rev. George Fyler Townsend. From the colophon: “Samantha Hamady created the whimsical line art for the text. Joel Tabachnick coaxed the likes of an ancient copper box from an old etching plate in my closet. And I, Mary Laird, teamed up an ounce of my letterpress with a pound of alligator computer, to laser print this book on Mohawk 100 # text and Grafix drafting film. Susi Schneider gave me the goat vellum from Pergamom tanners which I used for the binding…” Edition of six copies. University of Utah copy is no. 4.

Book of the Week – Fossil Ridge

Tags

handmade paper, handset type, Sue Cotter

Cotter, Fossil Ridge, 1988, Title Page

Cotter, Fossil Ridge, 1988

Cotter, Fossil Ridge, 1988

Fossil Ridge
Sue Cotter
S.l.: The Author, 1988
N7433.4 C6875 F6 1988

Handset type. Leaves hand cut, sewn in binding of handmade paper.

Book of the Week – Exhibition of Relics of the Prophet Joseph Smith

Tags

Auerbach, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith, LDS Centennial, pioneer, Utah

Exhibition of Relics of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1930

Exhibition of Relics of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1930

Exhibition of Relics of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1930

Exhibition of Relics of the Prophet Joseph Smith During the L.D.S. Centennial. April 5 to 12^th, 1930 at the Auerbach co., Broadway at State, Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, UT: Auerbach Co., 1930

From the title page: “The Auerbach Company, one of the pioneer institutions of Utah, is exhibiting this unique collection on the occasion of the Centenary Anniversary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Book of the Week – Talking Your Ear Off

Tags

Chris Collicott, pop-up

Collicott, Talking Your Ear Off, 1998, Cover

Collicott, Talking Your Ear Off, 1998, Text

Collicott, Talking Your Ear Off, 1998, Image

Talking Your Ear Off
Chris Collicott
Los Angeles, CA: C. Collicott, 1998
N7433.4 C647 T35 1998

Folded pop-up cards mounted on blank pages. Edition of one hundred copies, signed and numbered. University of Utah copy is no. 55.

Book of the Week – De Cometis Libelli Tres

Tags

comets, Galileo, heliocentric, Johannes Kepler

Kepler, De Cometis…, 1619, Title Page

Kepler, De Cometis…, 1619

Kepler, De Cometis…, 1619

De Cometis Libelli Tres
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
Avgvst  Vindelicorvm: A. Apergeri, 1619
First edition
QB724 K46

Johannes Kepler, a staunch supporter of Galileo, extended the Copernican heliocentric theory of the universe with his three laws of motion, including the revolutionary premise that the planets move not in circular but in elliptical orbits. A mathematician and astronomer, Kepler became Imperial Mathematician to the Emperor Rudolf II of Prague in 1601. After the emperor’s death, Kepler faced religious persecution and for this reason moved often until his death in Regensburg. De Cometis is divided into three sections. The first and longest contains Kepler’s observations of the comets of 1607 and 1618 and the theories of cometary motion he derived from those observations. The middle section discusses the physical nature of comets. The third section discusses astrological connections with the comets. As a scientist, Kepler recognized that astrological beliefs were based on superstition, but as a man of his age he nevertheless tended to share those beliefs. This thinking included the belief that comets presaged evil and disaster. Five fold-out plates illustrate Kepler’s observations.

Book of the Week – A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language

Tags

American, Benjamin Franklin, Britain, dictionary, English, John Quincy Adams, language, lexicon, Noah Webster, spelling, United States

Webster, A Compendious Dictionary…. 1806, Title Page

Webster, A Compendious Dictionary…. 1806, OPI-ORT

Webster, A Compendious Dictionary…. 1806, Chronological Table

A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language
Noah Webster (1758-1843)
Hartford: From Sidney’s Press, for Hudson & Goodwin, Book-sellers; New-Haven: Increase Cooke & Co., Book-sellers, 1806
First edition
PE1625 W3 1806

Noah Webster’s goal was to produce an “American” dictionary. He envisioned something bigger and better than the English pocket dictionaries that were the standard fare of the time in the new United States. Webster was an enthusiastic patriot. He wanted to use the dictionary to promote national unity and cultural independence from Britain. Influenced by his friend Benjamin Franklin, Webster worked for “a reformed mode of spelling” but rejected the radical phonetic innovations proposed by Franklin. He did make enough changes, however, to produce a distinct American spelling for some words. This American spelling first appeared in the Compendious Dictionary. It was immediately adopted by American printers. Webster was struck by the inconsistencies of English spelling. His spelling reform was based upon a combined sense of logic and aesthetics. He changed the ‘-ce’ in words like defence and offence to ‘–se;’ abandoned the second silent “l” in verbs such as travel and cancel when forming the past tense; dropped the “u” from words such as humour and colour; and dropped the “k” from words such as publick. Webster included thousands of words – chowder, hickory, skunk, subsidize, and caucus, for instance – which were in daily use in America but not listed in any lexicon. John Quincy Adams, a future president, was shocked by some of these “vulgarisms.” Appended to the Dictionary, Webster included a list of the Post Offices in the United States, the number of its inhabitants, and the amount of its exports.

Book of the Week – The Pennsylvania Gazette

Tags

American colonies, Benjamin Franklin, Hugh Meredith, John Penn, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Quakers, Ronald Rubin, Samuel Keimer, William Penn

The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1763, Front Page

The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1763, Spread

The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1763, Back Page

The Pennsylvania Gazette
Philadelphia, PA: Printed by B. Franklin and H. Meredith, 1763
AN2 P4 U64, No. 1822 November 24, 1763

The Pennsylvania Gazette was published in Philadelphia between 1728 and 1800. It began publication with the title The Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences: and Pennsylvania Gazette, founded by Samuel Keimer. In 1729 Benjamin Franklin and Hugh Meredith bought the paper and shortened the name. Franklin printed the paper and also contributed pieces, often using a pseudonym. The paper became one of the most successful in the American colonies. This issue, no. 1822, November 24, 1763, leads with letters of welcome to John Penn, grandson of William Penn, upon his arrival in Philadelphia as governor. Penn took the oath of office on October 31. He would be the last governor of colonial Pennsylvania, leaving in 1776 after the creation of an independent Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, when the Penn family was removed from power. Letters of welcome include those from the Quakers, the “Managers and Treasurer of the Pennsylvania Hospital,” “the Corporation for the Relief of poor and distressed Presbyterian Ministers, and the Relief of their Widows and Children,” “the Baptist Church, at Philadelphia,” and “the Library Company of Philadelphia.” All of the letters seek aid of one sort or another from Penn. The Library Company’s letter notes that the Penn family “has always favoured our Institution, and promoted it, by their frequent and generous Benefactions.”

This issue was a gift from Dr. Ronald Rubin, a frequent and generous benefactor to the Rare Books Division.  Dr. Rubin, a political science professor and noted antiquarian, has written articles on world politics for the New York Magazine, the New York Times, the Jewish Press, the Jerusalem Post, Western Political Quarterly, Christian Science Monitor, Forward, the Wall Street Journal and other leading publications. An anthology of his pieces, A Jewish Professor’s Political Punditry: Fifty-plus Years of Published Commentary by Ron Rubin, was published this March.

Book of the Week – Contra Haereticos et Gentiles

Tags

Arianism, Athanasius, Christianity, monotheism, Orthodoxy, salvation

Contra Haereticos et Gentiles, 1482

Contra Haereticos et Gentiles, 1482

Contra Haereticos et Gentiles, 1482

Contra Haereticos et Gentiles
Saint Patriarch of Alexandria Athanasius (293-373)
Impressum Vicentiae: a Leonardo basilensi, Feb. 1 (cal. Februarias), 1482
Editio princeps
BT1350 A8162 1482

A collection of letters, speeches and tracts written against heretical beliefs. “The Father of Orthodoxy,” Athanasius conducted a life-long battle against Arianism. Before the outbreak of the Arian controversy, which began in 319, Athanasius became known for his two essays addressed to a convert to Christianity, one of them entitled Against the Gentiles, the other On the Incarnation of the Word. The treatises argue such questions as monotheism and the necessity of divine interposition for the salvation of the world. Contra Gentiles is an explanation of the Incarnation and the doctrine of the Trinity. In Contra Gentiles, Athanasius discusses the means by which God can be known. These are principally two: the soul and nature. God may be known through the human soul, for “although God Himself is above all, the road which leads to Him is not far, nor even outside ourselves, but is within us, and it is possible to find it by ourselves” (30.1). A study of the soul reveals something about the nature of God. Sin prevents the soul from perfectly attaining the vision of God, but the soul was made according to the divine image and it was intended to be like a mirror in which that image, which is the Word of God, would shine. The soul is invisible and immortal; therefore, the true God must be invisible and immortal. God may be known through his creation, which, “as though in written characters, declares in a loud voice, by its order and harmony, its own Lord and Creator” (34.4). This is the only edition of this work printed in the 15th century.

Book of the Week – Micrographia Restaurata

Tags

microscope, Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke, Samuel Pepys

Micrographia Restaurata, 1745, Cover

Micrographia Restaurata, 1745, Bug

Micrographia Restaurata, 1745, Eyes

Micrographia Restaurata
Robert Hooke (1635 – 1703)
London: Printed for and sold by J. Bowles, 1745
QH27 H8

Robert Hooke, a gifted student, became the research assistant to Robert Boyle, founding member of the Royal Society. He was appointed Curator of Experiments in 1662 and by 1663 was conducting microscope demonstrations for the Society. Within months, Hooke was invited to Whitehall, where he demonstrated some of his exciting findings to King Charles II.  By order of the King, his discoveries were then published as a commemorative book, Micrographia, in 1664.  Micrographia was an instant bestseller.  Samuel Pepys, who owned a microscope during his tenure at the Navy Office, wrote that he liked Micrographia better than any other book he had purchased, and that he sat up half the night reading it. Seventy years later, plates from the original edition were reprinted by Henry Baker, an amateur enthusiast of Hooke’s work. This new book, Micrographia Restaurata, was published in 1745 and again in 1780.