‎Giovan Battista Della Porta ‎
‎Della magia naturale del sig. Gio. Battista Della Porta napolitano. Libri 20. ‎

‎Napoli, appresso Giovanni Giacomo Carlino, 1611, pp. [8] 725 [1]. In-4. Book in Italian. Original full vellum, ink title on the spine. Title in black. Small restoration on the title page. Old but later endpapers. Clean with a little foxing. Overall Very good. Complete. This rare 1611 Italian 1st expanded twenty-book version of Giambattista della Porta’s magnum opus, Della magia naturale (Natural Magic). Originally published as a shorter four-book treatise in 1558, della Porta spent decades expanding his observations into this monumental encyclopedia of Renaissance science, secrets, and experimental philosophy. Della Porta’s work serves as a fascinating intellectual bridge between medieval alchemy and the Scientific Revolution. To the author, natural magic did not mean sorcery, but rather the understanding and manipulation of the hidden laws of nature through rigorous observation and experimentation. Across its twenty books, this comprehensive volume covers an astonishingly diverse range of subjects. It includes early descriptions of the camera obscura and foundational concepts in optics that later influenced the invention of the telescope. It also delves into metallurgy, cryptography, agriculture, and botany, alongside practical recipes for cosmetics, perfumes, pyrotechnics, and early chemical warfare. As the founder of the Academy of the Secrets of Nature, della Porta was one of Europe’s foremost polymaths, and his writings heavily influenced contemporary titans of science like Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler. Capturing the very peak of late-Renaissance intellectual curiosity, this 1611 edition stands as a highly desirable and significant artifact for any collector of early science, occult philosophy, and the history of ideas. Bibliography: USTC No. 4025330; EDIT16; Riccardi II, 307; Caillet 8851; Duveen (Bibliotheca Alchemica et Chemica) p. 481; OPAC SBN Numer BVEE002361; Graesse V; Dorbon-Aîné 3710-20; STCN 833455907; Ferguson, II, p. 216. ‎

Reference : GEJ-12

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