Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625-1712) La Meridiana del Tempio di S. Petronio. Bologna: Per l'Erede
Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625-1712)
La Meridiana del Tempio di S. Petronio.
Bologna: Per l'Erede di Vittorio Benacci, 1695.
First edition, folio, with 2 very large folding plates, one bound as frontispiece, the other following the text; full page engraving with portrait of Cassini in a round frame above an image of the Meridiana, the two rondelles in a twining background of olive branches; contemporary 4-leaf manuscript on the same topic loosely inserted entitled, Breve Notitia della Meridiana de S. Petronio; bound in full contemporary marbled paper over boards; 12 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.
Cassini was not the first to transform the gothic basilica of Saint Petronio in Bologna into one of the world's largest astronomical instruments, but he was responsible for re-calculating its particulars with precision in 1655. The line itself is 219 feet long and inlaid into the floor of the church. The light of the sun is conducted into the building through a carefully positioned and beautifully decorated round opening measuring 1.066 inches across and 88.8 feet above the floor in the outer wall of the church. At noon every day, an elliptical image of the sun is projected onto the floor, always falling on the meridian line. The sun's projected position on the line, the size of the image and its shape vary throughout the year. The fact that the sun follows the line, based on Cassini's calculations, also independently verifies Kepler's laws of planetary motion.
Condition
Condition: [-]4, A-I4. Ex libris Professor, Astronomer, Historian & Bibliophile Owen Gingerich. Please contact us to request a condition report: Devon Eastland, Senior Specialist: deastland@swanngalleries.com Grace Meschery-McCormack, Cataloguer: grace@swanngalleries.comPlease contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.
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Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625-1712)
La Meridiana del Tempio di S. Petronio.
Bologna: Per l'Erede di Vittorio Benacci, 1695.
First edition, folio, with 2 very large folding plates, one bound as frontispiece, the other following the text; full page engraving with portrait of Cassini in a round frame above an image of the Meridiana, the two rondelles in a twining background of olive branches; contemporary 4-leaf manuscript on the same topic loosely inserted entitled, Breve Notitia della Meridiana de S. Petronio; bound in full contemporary marbled paper over boards; 12 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.
Cassini was not the first to transform the gothic basilica of Saint Petronio in Bologna into one of the world's largest astronomical instruments, but he was responsible for re-calculating its particulars with precision in 1655. The line itself is 219 feet long and inlaid into the floor of the church. The light of the sun is conducted into the building through a carefully positioned and beautifully decorated round opening measuring 1.066 inches across and 88.8 feet above the floor in the outer wall of the church. At noon every day, an elliptical image of the sun is projected onto the floor, always falling on the meridian line. The sun's projected position on the line, the size of the image and its shape vary throughout the year. The fact that the sun follows the line, based on Cassini's calculations, also independently verifies Kepler's laws of planetary motion.
Condition
Condition: [-]4, A-I4. Ex libris Professor, Astronomer, Historian & Bibliophile Owen Gingerich. Please contact us to request a condition report: Devon Eastland, Senior Specialist: deastland@swanngalleries.com Grace Meschery-McCormack, Cataloguer: grace@swanngalleries.comPlease contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.
Sale price
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
