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ROSSETTI, Donato (1633-1686) – A sammelband containing the following works by Rossetti
ROSSETTI, Donato (1633-1686) – A sammelband containing the following works by Rossetti: Antignome fisico-matematiche con il nuouo orbe, e sistema terrestre . Livorno: Giovanni Vincenzo Bonfigli, 1667. Title in red and black with arms of Leopold de' Medici, woodcut diagrams and illustrations. (Title frayed, browning to margins of title and preliminaries, E2 with small marginal repair.) Riccardi I(ii) 394.1*. Dimostrazione fisico-matematica delle sette proposizioni . [ Lettera … al signor dottor Carlo Fracassati ]. Florence: Insegna della Stella, 1668. 2 parts. Title with arms of Cosimo III, woodcuts in text of first part. Drop-head title to the Lettera , which also contains a letter by Geminiano Montanari. Honeyman 2696; Riccardi I(ii) 394.2*. Insegnamenti fisico-matematici ... dati ad Ottavio Finetti scolare del dott. Geminiano Montanari ... sopra la prostasi . Livorno: Giovanni Vincenzo Bonfigli, 1669. Arms of Ferdinand II on title, woodcuts in text. (Q4 and R1 slightly soiled.) Riccardi I(ii) 395.3*. Composizione e passioni de' vetri, overo Dimostrazioni fisico-matematiche delle gocciole, e de' fili del vetro, che rotto in qualsisia parte tutto quanto si stritola . Livorno: Giovanni Vincenzo Bonfigli, 1671. Arms of Cosimo III on title, woodcuts in text. (Tear to dedication leaf, some waterstaining, final leaf browned and repaired at head with loss to running title.) Riccardi I(ii) 395.4*. Together 4 works in one volume, 4° (202 x 147mm). Contemporary vellum, speckled edges (full length split between upper cover and spine, lacks spine label). FIRST EDITIONS BY A THEORIST OF THE ATOM. Rossetti's teacher, Borelli, presented an elaborate mechanical corpuscular theory of matter in De motionibus naturalibus (1667). In Rossetti's own theory of matter the shape and size of particles was subordinated to the central role of force or energy. The Antignome , in which he affirmed that capillary action could be explained by the behaviour of atoms, was his response to Montanari’s Pensieri fisico-matematici (Bologna, 1667), a work based on experiment and in which the tendency of atoms to attract or repel each other was given no place. The dispute between the two mathematicians over the phenomena of capillary action unfortunately spread to other subjects such as the centre of gravity of solids, the validity of the principle of Archimedes, and the behaviour of tempered glass drops. Further tracts published by Montanari as part of the battle with his atomist rival were the Prostasi (Bologna 1669), and Le Speculazioni fisiche (Bologna 1671). Their irreconcilable differences are said to represent the profound divergence in thought among the second generation of the Galilean school (see Dizionario biografico degli Italiani , vol. 75, 2011).