MAGGIO, Lucio
ON EARTHQUAKES
Del terremoto
Bologna, per Alessandro Benacci, 1571£2,750.00
FIRST EDITION. 4to. ff. (iv) 56. Roman letter. T-p with fine woodcut of crown, decoratedinitials and headpieces. Lower outer corner of first few ll. very slightly thumbed, anexcellent, well-margined copy, crisp and clean, in contemporary limp vellum, yapp edges,lower part of spine repaired. In folding box.
Fine copy of the first edition of Lucio Maggio’s major work on seismology. Written in theaftermath of the earthquake that hit Ferrara in 1570, this is one of three pamphlets printed inBologna in 1571 discussing this devastating event, which caused the last stretch of the nearbyriver Po to shift to a different site. The Bolognese Maggio (d. 1589?) was part of the circle ofthe Duke of Urbino, on whose behalf he visited Ferrara to report on the disaster. Hepresented his work in the form of a dialogue between three learned gentlemen leaving theruins of Ferrara by sea, after witnessing the earthquake. With the help of ancient authoritieslike Aristotle, Anaximenes, Pliny and Democritus, their debate touches on all aspects of earlymodern seismology, blending scientific observations with traditional beliefs: e.g., areearthquakes caused by the four elements? What are their warning signs and types? Why dosubterranean fires and odd natural phenomena precede and plagues follow earthquakes?How do earthquakes affect the sea? ‘Del terremoto’ suggested that earthquakes were causedby underground exhalations escaping under the reaction of the heat of the sun and the earth.The final section is devoted to collateral seismic effects, including tsunamis (‘the sea risesand swells and floods whole provinces’), the formation of new mountains, higher mortalityand plagues generated by the poisonous exhalations long trapped underground. The well-documented Ferrara earthquake generated widespread debate in Europe, leading to thedevelopment of the earliest examples of quake-proof architecture. Maggio’s work wastranslated into French in 1575 and remained influential in seismological studies throughoutthe C17.
USTC 839587; BM STC It., p. 403. Not in Brunet, Graesse, Honeyman or Riccardi.In stock