BORELLI, Giovanni Alfonso (1608-1679). Historia, et Meteorologia incendii Aetnaei anni 1669 . Reggio Calabria: Dominici Ferri, 1670.
BORELLI, Giovanni Alfonso (1608-1679). Historia, et Meteorologia incendii Aetnaei anni 1669 . Reggio Calabria: Dominici Ferri, 1670. 4° (219 x 153mm). Half-title, folding engraved plate by Fren. Doria, depicting the eruption of Mount Etna, woodcut illustrations in the text, final errata leaf. (Some light staining at beginning, mostly confined to margins, occasional light spotting and soiling.) Old vellum (later endpapers, tiny split to joint at head of spine, extremities lightly rubbed). FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST WORK ON VULCANOLOGY IN ITALIAN. The work was inspired by the massive eruption of Etna in 1669. While Borelli himself, did not witness the eruption, he was asked by the Royal Society of London to investigate it. Borelli in his study observed 'the topography of the mountain, the locations of the flows, and the nature of the various materials ejected' (DSB). This data is visually conveyed by the fine plate at the beginning of the volume. Borelli also gave some consideration to the cause of the eruption; and in so doing disagreed with Athanasius Kircher's theory, developed in the Mundus subterraneus (1664; see Beltrame pt. I, lot 69), that the Earth contains hollow repositories of lava. Riccardi I, 159 (9): ‘Raro’.
BORELLI, Giovanni Alfonso (1608-1679). Historia, et Meteorologia incendii Aetnaei anni 1669 . Reggio Calabria: Dominici Ferri, 1670.
BORELLI, Giovanni Alfonso (1608-1679). Historia, et Meteorologia incendii Aetnaei anni 1669 . Reggio Calabria: Dominici Ferri, 1670. 4° (219 x 153mm). Half-title, folding engraved plate by Fren. Doria, depicting the eruption of Mount Etna, woodcut illustrations in the text, final errata leaf. (Some light staining at beginning, mostly confined to margins, occasional light spotting and soiling.) Old vellum (later endpapers, tiny split to joint at head of spine, extremities lightly rubbed). FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST WORK ON VULCANOLOGY IN ITALIAN. The work was inspired by the massive eruption of Etna in 1669. While Borelli himself, did not witness the eruption, he was asked by the Royal Society of London to investigate it. Borelli in his study observed 'the topography of the mountain, the locations of the flows, and the nature of the various materials ejected' (DSB). This data is visually conveyed by the fine plate at the beginning of the volume. Borelli also gave some consideration to the cause of the eruption; and in so doing disagreed with Athanasius Kircher's theory, developed in the Mundus subterraneus (1664; see Beltrame pt. I, lot 69), that the Earth contains hollow repositories of lava. Riccardi I, 159 (9): ‘Raro’.
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