2 books for « della porta giovanni b... »Edit

‎MAGIAE NATURALIS. LIBRI VIGINTI.‎

‎Ab ipso quidem authore adaucti, nunc vero ab infinitis, quibus editio illa scatebat mendis, optime repurgati: in quibus scientiarum Naturalium divitiae & deliciae demonstrantur. sumptibus Ioannis Berthelin, Rothomagi, 1650. In-16 gr. (mm. 182x115), p. pergamena antica, tit. oro al dorso, pp. (14),662, marca tipografica al frontespizio, ornato da grandi capilettera figurati a vignetta, con alcune figure nel t., inc. su legno.Rara edizione di questa celeberrima summa del sapere umano dell'epoca, pubblicata per la prima volta nel 1588 in soli 4 libri, poi aumentati fino a 20. Vi sono trattati fra gli altri: l'origine delle specie animali - la conservazione di alimenti e la preparazione di conserve, tipi di pane, liquori, olii ecc. - la creazione di gemme false - il magnetismo - la preparazione di rimedi di vario tipo (sonniferi, balsami per labbra rotte, cure per mal di testa, coliche, calcoli, fertilit, peste, piaghe, ecc.) - gli specchi ustori e la rifrazione - pure inclusa la prima descrizione della camera oscura e nell'ultimo capitolo, intitolato Chaos, sono affrontate tematiche di vario tipo, dal morso della vipera ai draghi volanti. L'opera ebbe numerose ediz. nel 5/'600 e traduzioni in varie lingue.Cfr. Brunet,IV,826 - Graesse,V,417 - Caillet,III,8853: "C'est le meilleur trait de Magie pratique ou cremonielle, et il renferme toutes les pratiques employes par les ncromanciens du Moyen Age. Il contient de fort curieux secrets sur la beaut des femmes, les teintures, les fards, les cosmtiques, etc." - Bibliotheca Esoterica,3733: Porta contribua dans une trs large mesure rpandre en Italie l'usage des substances vnneuses. On rencontre en outre dans cet ouvrage une foule de renseignements intressants sur divers points concernant l'histoire naturelle, la lumire, les feux d'artifice, l'optique, etc..Antiche scritte a penna, qualche fiorit. sulle prime 8 carte e con lievi tracce d'uso, ma certamente un buon esemplare.‎

‎De Humana Physiognomonia...Libri IIII: Qvi ab extimis, quæ in hominum corporibus conspiciuntur signis, ita eorum naturas, mores & consilia (egregiis ad viuum expressis Iconibus) demonstrant, vt intimos animi recessus penetrare videantur. Nunc ab innum... - [RENAISSANCE PHYSIOGNOMY]‎

‎Hanoviæ (Hannover), G. Antonium, impensis Petri Fischeri Fr.( Frankfurt), 1593. 8vo. (17x12 cm.). Contemporary full vellum. Title with woodcut printer's device. (16), 534, (55) pp. 2 large woodcut portraits (verso of title-page and verso of last leaf in first quire) and numerous woodcuts in the text, depicting human and animal physiognomies. Title-page a bit soiled and a cut in lower right corner (no loss). 3 leaves in Index repaired in lower right corners with loss of a few letters. Otherwise a fine and well-preserved copy.‎

‎The rare second edition (being the first edition printed in Germany) of Porta's seminal work, the richly and well-illustrated ""Physiognomia"", which is considered the founding work on Physiognomy. Giambattista della Porta was an immensely influential Renaissance thinker, scientist and writer, who contributed greatly to the intellectual era of the Renaissance. His groundbreaking work on physiognomies was originally printed in Italy in 1586 and was planned to appear in a second edition in Italy in 1593, but his work had attracted the attention of the Inquisition, and the printing of the work was prohibited. Thus the rare second edition appeared in Germany in 1593, and after 1600, numerous more editions of the work began to appear. He published his last work in 1610.Porta played a seminal role in the development of the academies of the late Renaissance, and he himself established the Accademia dei Segreti (Academia Secretorum Naturae) some time prior to 1580. It met in Porta's house in Naples, and it was devoted to discussion and study of the secrets of nature. It is thus no surprise that he was examined by the Inquisition - this was probably not only due to his astonishing work on the correspondence between the external form of the body and the internal character of the person (the ""Physignomonia""), but also because of the ""dangerous"" activities of his academy. The academy was thus closed by the Inquisition, and in 1592 all further publication of his works was prohibited. This ban was not lifted until 1598. His academy was a forerunner of the important ""Academia dei Lincei"" which was founded in Rome by Federico Cesi in 1603, and which Porta himself joined in 1610. Apart from the founder Cesi, Porta was the most influential member, at least until Galilei joined it in 1611.In his seminal ""De Humana Physiognomia"", Porta sets out to establish a link, in accordance with the prevailing theories of correspondences, between the external form of bodies and the expressions of faces and the psychology of persons by comparing with animal trades. In numerous expressive woodcuts throughout the work, human characters are depicted in comparison with animal counterparts (mammals, birds, etc.). Though credited with having priority in inventing the telescope (due to book XVII, on refraction, of his ""Magiae Naturalis, 1589, and his work on concave and convex lenses, De Refractione, 1593), Porta's world image was fundamentally a magical one, as was typical of many Renaissance scientists and thinkers (e.g. Pico della Mirandola). His system of spiritualistic metaphysics led him to draw interesting and later influential analogies between plants, animals and men, and he saw the same shapes, humours etc. in organisms that at a first glance are not related. This created the foundation of his main physiognomic work, and in it he draws interesting parallels between human and animal shapes and physiognomies, throughout documenting this with illustrations.This could perhaps sound as a fanciful work, but in fact he presents a striking and convincing system which should and would not be dismissedPorta's studies in physiognomy became a main inspiration for Johann Kaspar Lavater in the 18th century. ""Della Porta preceeded Lavater in attempting to estimate human characters by the features. He was the founder of physiognomy, and this is one of the earliest works on the subject."" (Garrison & Morton).Giovanni Battista Della Porta, as he was also known, was born around 1535 and died in 1615, which dates him amidst The Scientific Revolution and Reformation. He was an Italian scholar, scientist, natural philosopher and playwright from Naples, who came to influence Renaissance thought in a number of ways. ""His devotion to experiment and his study of mathematics brought him in the 1580's to the verge of greatness, but he was soon overwhelmed again by the lure of the occult and the marvelous. Perhaps Porta's most compelling virtue and weakness was this youthful enthusiasm for the things of nature. There is a joy in his studies that not even the fatigue of working on the telescope and parabolic mirrors could diminish."" (DSB XI:98).Graesse V: p.417. - Adams P:1925. - Brunet IV:826. - Garrison & Morton No. 150 (1586-edition).‎