Galileo’s First Book to Auction

Leading Christie’s' Classic Week next month is Cecco di Ronchitti da Bruzene. Dialogo in perpuosito de la stella nuova, the first published work attributed to Galileo Galilei.

This exceptionally rare first edition of a pseudonymous astronomical text is now recognised as Galileo’s first published book, co-authored with Girolamo Spinelli. No other copy has appeared on the market in more than a century, none are known in private hands, and only seven complete copies are held in institutions. It has an estimate of £500,000 – £700,000 and will go under the hammer in the July 9 Valuable Books and Manuscripts sale.

The dialogue between two peasants, written in vernacular Paduan dialect, offers a witty and accessible critique of Aristotelian views on the heavens, sparked by the appearance of the 1604 Kepler’s supernova. Published anonymously (Padua: Pietro Paulo Tozzi, 1605) it allowed Galileo and his student Spinelli to challenge prevailing scientific beliefs indirectly and promote empirical observation as the foundation of astronomy. The work foreshadows Galileo’s later, more famous dialogues and marks an important early milestone in the scientific revolution.

A second edition published in Verona later in 1605 softened some criticisms of Aristotle and removed dangerous Copernican allusions to the Earth's rotation.