OPERE DI GALILEO GALILEI LINCEO NOBILE FIORENTINO GIA LETTORE DELLE MATEMATICHE NELLE VNIUERSITA DI PISA, E DI PADOUA, DI POI SOPRAORDINARIO NELLO STUDIO DI PISA. PRIMARIO FILOSOFO, E MATEMATICO DEL SERENISSIMO GRAN DUCA DI TOSCANA. In quest nuoua editione insieme raccolte, e di varij Trattati dell’istesso Autore non piů Stampati accresciute.

Firenze: Tartini & Franchi, 1718. 3 volumes. Rare first three volume collection, the second issuance of certain parts of the OPERE and the first printing of many of the works of Galileo or pieces heretofore unpublished in any form including the GIORNATA SESTA DEI DISCORSI E DIMOSTRAZIONI MATEMATICHE INTORNO ALLE NUOVE SCIENZE. With a very finely engraved vignette title-page printed in black and red to volume one, also an engraved portrait of Galileo, engraved folding plan, folding plate of the compass, many woodcut plates, astronomical renderings, mathematical tables and diagrams throughout, a number of fine woodcut initials. 4to, [241mm x 180 mm], handsomely bound in contemporary bindings of fine full mottled calf, handsomely decorated in gilt on the spines with gilt panels incorporating a floral motif between gilt-tooled raised bands, two compartments featuring fine gilt ruled and lettered red morocco labels. cxii, 628, 2 page errata; [viii], 722, errata; [vi], 484, [50pp of errata, index, registri, etc]. A truly fine copy, large and unusually fresh. A rare survival in contemporary state, crisp and an especially clean copy throughout, the bindings quite handsome with only minimal wear or evidence of age. EXTREMELY SCARCE IN FULL CALF BINDINGS OF THE PERIOD. USUALLY ENCOUNTERED IN VELLUM BINDINGS, THIS RARE EDITION OF GALILEO’S COMPLETE WORKS (excepting the DIALOGO, which was still on the Index of Prohibited Books at the time), preserves a record of some of the most seminal discoveries in astronomy, scientific methodology, mathematics, primary work in the study of motion, as well as the most significant support of the Copernican theory of a heliocentric planetary system--in other words, the embodiment of the "Galilean Revolution."
This issue of the OPERE, contains an entire volume of Galileo’s writings which appear here for the first time, having never before been printed. The long list of these first printings is given by Riccardi (p. 520-521) and cited by Centi. Included are the GIORNATA SESTA DEI DISCORSI E DIMOSTRAZIONI...as well as other works such as the LETTERE IN PROPOSITO DI TROVARE LE LONGITUDINI, the NOTE SOPRA IL NUNZIO SIDEREO..., the LA OPERAZIONI ASTRONOMICHE and a profusion of other works.
Contained in this collection are many of the most important works in the history of science and physics, works that would cost many, many thousands of dollars to collect individually. Some among these are: RISPOSTA ALLE OPPOSITIONI , Galileo’s work on virtual velocity; DISCORSO AL SERENISSIMO DON COSIMO II, on floating bodies and expanding greatly on the work of Archimedes; The DIFESA, his first work of Astronomy; LE OPERATIONI DEL COMPASSO GEOMETRICO, E MILITARE, the seminal work on the compass and it’s use in scientific and military enterprise.
In 1610 Galileo published his SIDEREUS NUNCIUS (included here), in which he described the construction of his telescope and his observations using the new instrument. His discoveries did not prove that Copernicus's heliocentric theory was correct, but they did show that geocentric philosophy of Aristotle and the geocentric system proposed by Ptolemy were incorrect, providing strong evidence for the heliocentric theory--an implausible theory which had largely been ignored for sixty years after Copernicus's death. His new support for the Copernican system reopened the controversy, and in 1615 he was officially silenced as regards the truth of astronomy. " Astronomy and the science of motion, rightly understood, says Galileo, are hand in glove. There is no need to fear that the earth's rotation will cause it to fly to pieces" (PMM). Galileo pioneered the study of motion and its mathematical analysis, a field which was taken up by Decartes and Huygens and culminated in the "massive achievements of Newton in dynamics and gravitational astronomy".
"Galileo, more than any other man, had introduced the change in our manner of thinking that broke with ancient and led on to modern science. Contributions had also been made by Copernicus, by Vesalius, by Harvey, by Tycho, and by Kepler and others. The share of Galileo, however, is overwhelming...[It] was more than an addition to knowledge. It was more even than an alteration in the conception of the structure of the universe. It was rather a change in mood as to the kind of knowledge that was to be sought. It partook of the nature of a philosophical crisis" (Singer, A HISTORY OF SCIENTIFIC IDEAS, p. 249). The influence of the new mood affected ideas regarding the mechanical world, the extension of the senses, the idea of the universe as mathematical and boundless, and indeed altered the whole world of science and religion.

Gamba 227; Centi 170; Riccardi I, 520-521; Carli-Favaro 431. Razzolini 157; Graesse III, 15