Francesco Redi, 1668

REDI, Francesco (1626-1697). Esperienze intorno alla generazione degl'insetti … in una lettera all'illustrissimo signor Carlo Dati. Florence: Insegna della Stella, 1668.

First edition of Redi's famous attack on the theory of spontaneous generation. The invention of the microscope had led Redi to the investigation of minute life, and in this work insects are revealed with a degree of anatomical detail that must have struck the book’s earliest readers as a genuine marvel. It contains his experimental demonstration that "flesh and plants and other things whether putrefied or putrefiable play no other part, nor have any other function in the generation of insects, than to prepare a suitable place or nest into which, at the time of procreation, the worms or eggs or other seeds of worms are brought and hatched by the animals." He applies the same principle to parasites, and in this text provides the first description of ectoparasites in his discussion of kinds of ticks. Some copies of this book have a 29th plate depicting a fly, but it seems to have been added towards the end of the print run. Garrison and Morton 97; Grolier/Horblit Science 88 (with 29 pls.); Norman 1812; Prandi, Redi 7.

Quarto (232 x 166mm). Half title without armorial, title printed in red and black. Engraved device of the Accademia della Crusca on title, 28 engraved plates, three of which folding; other engravings in text, most full-page (occasional browning). 19th-century blue half morocco and marbled boards for the John Crerar Library, gilt-stamped spine, red speckled edges (corners showing, worn at extremities). Provenance: John Crerar Library (bookplate with deaccession stamp, a few perforated stamps or ink stamps inside).