Cornelio Malvasia, 1662

MALVASIA, Cornelio (1603-1664). Ephemerides novissimae motuum coelestium. Modena: Andrea Cassiani, 1662.

The fine, uncut Macclesfield copy of the first edition. Rare: RBH records only three other copies at auction. Cornelio Malvasia, an aristocrat from Bologna, made his astronomical observations in the private observatory he built over his villa in Panzano, near Modena. There he collaborated on Ephemerides with the main astronomers of the time, including Giovanni Domenico Cassini, and Geminiano Montanari, whose depiction of the moon for the book was one of the most detailed lunar maps up to that point. The allegorical frontispiece, engraved by Francesco Stringa of Modena (1635-1708), shows a young woman observing Jupiter with a telescope while she paints a coat of arms, which contains the stripes of the planet. Riccardi 77.

Folio (380 x 252mm). Uncut. Engraved frontispiece by Francesco Stringa, 12 engraved plates, 1 engraved folding plate of the moon at end (folding plate trimmed just past platemark on one side). (Second blank with a couple tears, a handful of minor spots, C1-H4 with small hole in gutter margin.) 18th-century vellum-backed blue boards, manuscript title to spine (repair to front hinge, vellum worn and separating, some soiling to boards, bumping to tips). Provenance: Library of the Earls of Macclesfield (armorial bookplate and blindstamps; Sotheby's, Part 5 - Science I-O, 14 April 2005, lot 1292) — Owen Gingerich (bookplate).