Modo brevissimo da far orioli orizontali, et verticali
- Hardcover
- Italy: 17th c.
Italy: 17th c.. Hardcover. Fine. 17th c. manuscript in Italian on paper, illustrated with five diagrams, one of them tipped in. Bound in modern marbled boards. Leaves skillfully re-margined. Shine-through and occasional ink blots. From the collection of Robert B. Honeyman (1979, III, n°1195). A practical manual for making sundials, both horizontal and vertical. The last sentence ("ex Patre Horatio Grassio Socie[tatis] Jesu.") indicates that the text is the work of the Jesuit mathematician, astronomer, and architect, Father Orazio Grassi, famous for his dispute with Galileo over the nature of comets (1618-1619) and as architect of the Church of Sant' Ignazio in Rome.
The sundial was a key scientific instrument and the Jesuits, whose churches, colleges, gardens, and observatories were outfitted with them, were among the foremost experts in their design and use. They designed and supervised the construction of numerous dials for the papacy, for noble patrons, and as gifts for foreign rulers (such as those brought to China and presented to the Wanli Emperor by Matteo Ricci, S.J.).
The Jesuit Orazio Grassi (1583-1654) distinguished himself as an architect, mathematician, physicist, and a designer of instruments. He studied in Rome at the Jesuit Collegio Romano, where from 1604 to 1606 he attended the "Mathematical Academy" of the Jesuit astronomer Christoph Clavius, a leading expert on horology and on the premier instrument of that science, the sundial. From 1616 to 1628 Grassi held the chair of mathematics at his alma mater. There he taught astronomy, optics, and architecture and conducted scientific research.
Grassi wrote at least two unpublished works on sundials, both of which survive in manuscript: "Tractatus tres de sphera, de horologis ac de optica", 1617, and "In primum librum de architectura M. Vitruvii et in nonum eiusdem De horologiorum solarium descriptione duo brevissimi tractati", 1624 (Milan, Biblioteca nazionale Braidense, AF.IX.33) This manuscript has not been compared with either text.
The sundial was a key scientific instrument and the Jesuits, whose churches, colleges, gardens, and observatories were outfitted with them, were among the foremost experts in their design and use. They designed and supervised the construction of numerous dials for the papacy, for noble patrons, and as gifts for foreign rulers (such as those brought to China and presented to the Wanli Emperor by Matteo Ricci, S.J.).
The Jesuit Orazio Grassi (1583-1654) distinguished himself as an architect, mathematician, physicist, and a designer of instruments. He studied in Rome at the Jesuit Collegio Romano, where from 1604 to 1606 he attended the "Mathematical Academy" of the Jesuit astronomer Christoph Clavius, a leading expert on horology and on the premier instrument of that science, the sundial. From 1616 to 1628 Grassi held the chair of mathematics at his alma mater. There he taught astronomy, optics, and architecture and conducted scientific research.
Grassi wrote at least two unpublished works on sundials, both of which survive in manuscript: "Tractatus tres de sphera, de horologis ac de optica", 1617, and "In primum librum de architectura M. Vitruvii et in nonum eiusdem De horologiorum solarium descriptione duo brevissimi tractati", 1624 (Milan, Biblioteca nazionale Braidense, AF.IX.33) This manuscript has not been compared with either text.
Details
Title
Modo brevissimo da far orioli orizontali, et verticali
Author
Grassi, Orazio, S.J. (1583-1654)
Binding
Hardcover
Condition
Fine
Publisher
17th c.: Italy