Nova de machinis philosophia - photo 1
Nova de machinis philosophia - photo 2
Nova de machinis philosophia - photo 3

Nova de machinis philosophia

Lot 92
27.01.2023 10:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
$ 1 134
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 887868
Lot 92 | Nova de machinis philosophia
Estimate value
$ 1 200 – 1 800
ZUCCHI, Nicolo (1586-1670). Nova de machinis philosophia in qua, paralogismis antiquae detectis, explicantur machinarum vires unico principio, singulis immediato. Rome: heirs of Manelfo Manelfi, 1649.

First edition of this Jesuit attack on Galilean atomism and vacuum theory, with one of the first published accounts of barometric experiments, including the Torricelli barometer. As Redondi notes, the barometric tube was to the birth of modern physics what the telescope was to astronomy.

The original work, Experimenta vulgata non vacuum probare, sed plenum, & antiperistasim stabilire (Rome, 1648), is of exceptional rarity, the British Library having the only recorded copy (misleadingly catalogued under Valerianus Maximus). This 21-page account includes a description of Gaspare Berti’s initial experiments of creating a vacuum in a column of water, which were perhaps carried out at the suggestion of Galileo, and Zucchi’s own experiments with a mercury barometer. Zucchi, a Jesuit professor of mathematics in the Collegio Romano, was motivated to refute the existence of a vacuum, and proposed instead a concept akin to the ether to account for the void at the top of the column of mercury.

This work is reprinted, with some slight alterations of text, in the Nova, where it occupies pages 101–122. As is clear not only from Middleton’s History of the Barometer, but also from Redondi’s researches into the Jesuit opposition to Galileo, Zucchi’s text is fundamental both to the experimental foundations of physics in Italy during the Galilean twilight, and to the hidden agenda behind much of the attacks on Galilean physics.

Gaspare Berti’s experiments on the existence of vacuums in the early 1640s attracted a great deal of attention. Zucchi, along with Kircher and Maignan, was a witness to the experiments, and also published the first account of them here. Pages 101-122 contain an account of the Torricelli barometer. Sommervogel VIII 1526 5; see Redondi, Galileo: Heretic.

Quarto (198 x 150mm). Woodcut illustrations and diagrams (some dampstaining mostly at end, browning to some gatherings). Contemporary Italian limp vellum (lacking ties). Provenance: Jesuits of Ghent (inscription and faded stamp).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
13.01.2023 – 27.01.2023
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>