GALILEI, Galileo (1564-1642). [Dialogo, in Latin.] Systema cosmicum. Translated from Italian by Matthias Bernegger. London: Thomas Dicas, 1663.

First edition printed in England of Galileo's famous Dialogo, complete with both blanks. This edition, which is the third Latin edition overall, has a new version of the engraved title in which Copernicus looks more like Copernicus and less like Galileo. According to Stillman Drake, Galileo's work was received more favorably in England than in any other country outside Italy. During his lifetime, Englishmen (including John Milton) sought him out in his homeland as well as read, discussed, and taught his published works. The Dialogo had sold out in England almost immediately (much to the chagrin of Thomas Hobbes), but did not get its own print run in that country until the present edition, twenty years after Galileo's death. Matthias Bernegger's Latin translation includes Kepler's introduction from the Astronomia nova, as well as a text by Foscarini. For the first edition, see lot 22. Carli and Favaro 287; Cinti 140; Riccardi I, 513.10; Wing G-168. See Mordechai Feingold, "Galileo in England: The First Phase" in Novità celesti e crisi del sapere (1984) and Stillman Drake, "Galileo in English literature of the seventeenth century," in Galileo Man of Science (1967).

Octavo (167 x 104mm). Engraved additional title, woodcut diagrams (some shoulder notes just shaved, a few small holes and spots). Modern blind-tooled calf (binding a bit tight). Provenance: "William Marr" (signature on first blank) – "William Wallace" (signature on letterpress title).