Penn in Hand: Selected Manuscripts

Galilei, Galileo, 1564-1642.

Lettera a Madama Cristina di Lorena, Granduchessa di Toscana [manuscript].

[Italy, after 1615]

58 leaves : paper, ill. ; 218 x 157 (158 x 109) mm. bound to 222 x 162 mm.

Italian, with a few quotations in Latin.

Letter to Maria Cristina, consort of Ferdinand I, de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in defense of the Copernican system. Cf. his Opera, v. 5 (Florence, 1895), pp. 307-348. This may perhaps be one of a number of manuscript copies, not in Galileo's hand, which were circulated among scholars.

Formerly owned by Francis Campbell Macauley (bookplate, inside upper cover).

Christine, of Lorraine, Grand Duchess, consort of Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 1565-1636, recipient.

Macauley, Francis Campbell, former owner.

Copernicus, Nicolaus, 1473-1543 Criticism and interpretation.

Astronomy - Early works to 1800.

Religion and science - Early works to 1800.

Codices.

Manuscripts, Italian - 17th century.

Manuscripts, European.

Ms. codex.

Title from Zacour-Hirsch Catalogue, no overall title in manuscript.

Foliation: Paper, i (modern paper) + 59 + i (modern paper); [1-59]; modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto. Catchwords on each page, lower right corner.

Layout: Written in 18 lines.

Script: Written in cursive script by a single hand.

Decoration: Engraved portrait of Galilei (Piroli sc.) inserted as frontispiece.

Binding: Half vellum.

Origin: Written in Italy after 1615 (Zacour-Hirsch).

Incipit: Alla serenissima madama la Gran Duchessa...

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965), p. 118 (Ms. Italian 128).

UPenn Ms. Codex 369

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Codex 369