Lettere Ottiche Riguardanti Alcuni Fenomeni Della Visione A Madama La Principessa N.N.
Naples, G. Raimondi 1807.
8vo (203 x 120 mm.). [ii], 120p. and a folding etched plate with ten figures.
Mid-19th-century blue cloth, five-line title gilt-lettered on the front panel, gilt-ruled flat spine, edges sprinkled red.
Only Edition. Conversational in tone, this women’s book is at the junction of science, medicine and technology. The six essays describe the basic laws of vision (illustrated on the folding plate), the role of the retina, our perception of the position, shape, size, color and luminosity of objects, double vision, strabismus, etc. The final chapter (misnumbered “seven”) treats the visible spectrum of light, the distortion of objects at a great distance, phantasmagoria and seeing absent objects including ghosts. For this last, “the illustrious clinician”, Ruggiero, refers to his experience at the Ospedale degli Incurabile (est. 1521), of which he became Director (Barra, tr.). Placed at the end, the dozen footnotes broaden the discussion to the reading of handwriting, the influence of memory and of instinct on perception, artists’ portrayal of objects (particularly portraits) and HOW TO CONSTRUCT A MAGIC LANTERN, ARRANGE ITS MIRRORS AND LENSES AND PREPARE ITS PAINTED GLASS PLATES (pp. 101-4 & 119-20). I have located one copy in U.S. collections (Cornell). My thanks to Russell Johnson for his assistance. In good condition.
¶Bara, “Antonio Sancio. Un tecnico illuminsta al servizio dei Borbone” in Antonio Sancio Platea di Carditello edd. Barra and Puca 19; Annali civili del regno delle due Sicilie 23 (1840) 176.
Price: $1,750.00
Status: On Hold