Paolo Casati, 1684

CASATI, Paolo (1617-1707). Mechanicorum libri octo. Lyon: Anisson, Posuel & Rigaud, 1684.

First edition of "the first attempt at a systematic synthesis of mechanics before the publication of Newton's Principia” (Friedmann and Markschies), demonstrating how Jesuit scientists were able to adopt and build upon Galileo’s physics. Casati was professor of mathematics at the Collegio Romano in Rome and later rector at the University of Parma from 1677 until his death. Besides his Mechanicorum, he was the author of Terra machinis motu, a treatise on determining the size of the earth written in the form of a dialogue, in five parts, amongst Galileo, Mersenne, and Guldin. Friedmann and Markschies, Religious Responses to Modernity (2021); Riccardi I, 272; Sommervogel II, 799-803.

Quarto (225 x 161mm). Woodcut title vignette, diagrams in the text (variable browning, short repaired tear in half-title). 18th-century half vellum over blue paper boards, titled in manuscript on top edge, paper shelf label on spine (lightly soiled). Provenance: Monastery of Discalced Carmelites (inscription on title dated 1755).