Magiae Naturalis Libri Viginti
Magiae Naturalis Libri
Viginti
By Giovanni Battista della Porta
Porta, Giovanni Battista della.: Magiae Naturalis Libri
Viginti…. ; [bound with] ] Donati, Giovanni Battista. Rei Medicae Studio
Stipendia Sex…. Frankfurt: Apud Andrae Wecheli heredes, 1591. [and]
Frankfurt: Apud Joannem Wechelum, & Petrum Viscerum, consortes, 1591.
8vo: [36], 669 pages. Wood-engraved diagrams and vignettes in the text. [and]
8vo: 112, 360 pages. Contemporary half pigskin and boards tooled in blind,
a bit of rubbing and wear, slight internal soiling, light dampstain near
lower edge, occasional contemporary underlining and notes. Magiae Naturalis,
the first book of Giovanni Battista della Porta (1535-1615), is also his
best known work and the basis of his reputation. The first edition, which
consisted of four books, appeared in 1558; this expanded edition of twenty
books was first published in 1589. "It is an extraordinary hodge-podge of
material representing that unique combination of curiosity and credulity
common in the late Renaissance. But combined with the author's insatiable
desire for the marvelous and apparently miraculous is a serious attempt to
define and describe natural magic and some refined application of both
mathematical and experimental techniques in science. Book XVII, on refraction,
is the basis of the attribution of priority to Porta in inventing the telescope
and demonstrates his involvement with both theory and practice."
$3,200.00
De Aeris Transmutationibus Libri
IV
By Giovanni Battista della Porta
PORTA, G.B. della. : De Aeris Transmutationibus
Libri IV. ; Rome, B. Zannetti, 1610. 4to. (8) + 211 + (5)pp. With 1 folding
table. Numerous woodcut diagrams in text. Greek & Arabic verses at beginning.
Dedicatee's arms on title. Old vellum. First edition of one of Porta's rarest
works on the properties of air and all aspects of meteorology including chapters
on earthquakes and hot springs, and also on the origins and effects of lightning.
Some light toning but generally a good copy from the Arata Collection with
stamps and signature on title; 3 initials handpainted in red and green.
$4,200.00
Magiae Naturalis
By Giovanni Battista della Porta
Porta: : Io. Baptistae Portae Neapolitani, Magiae Naturalis
[...] In Quibus Scientiarum Naturalium divitiae, ; & deliciae demontrantur
[...] Francofurti [Frankfurt] Apud Andreae Wecheli heredes, Claudium Marnium,
& Ioann. Aubrium. 1597. 8vo. pp. [xxxvi], 669, [i]. With woodcut device
to title, and with a number of woodcut diagrams in the text. Waterstaining
at intervals throughout, mostly marginal, and with some spotting and browning.
Contemporary limp vellum, somewhat soiled, the upper cover exhibiting faded
arithmetic where a former owner had no scrap paper to hand. Porta was the
inventor of the Camera Obscura. This particular work deals with a fascinating
array of subject matter. Chapter headings range from De variis animalibus
gignendis, through De metallorum transmutatione and De gemmarum adulteris
to De mulierem cosmetice, and concludes with a chapter on Chaos.
$3,800.00
I Tre Libri de Spiritali
By Giovanni Battista della Porta
Porta, Giovanni Battista Della.: I Tre Libri de Spiritali.
; Naples: Gio. Iacomo Carlini, 1606. Squarish 8vo, modern full morocco, marbled
endpapers. Neat handstamp of the Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library
on the front pastedown. An important book on the steam engine by Della Porta,
an Italian natural philosopher, ca. 1538-1615. First Italian edition of this
work and the first appearance of the illustration on page 75, celebrated
in the history of the steam engine. Many illustrations in the text. Wolf,
History of Scinece I, 544: This machine used steam pressure to expel liquid,
whereas Hero used the pressure of expanding air. Porta had thus introduced
something new. . .
$1,875.00
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