Galileo's library
  • Database

The reconstruction of the inventory of Galileo' s library represents an essential tool to fully understand the cultural references of the great Tuscan scientist. By the end of the nineteenth century, Antonio Favaro, curator of the National Edition of the Opere by Galileo, found more than 500 works belonging to the private library of the scientist (cfr. A. Favaro, La libreria di Galileo Galilei, in «Bullettino di bibliografia e di storia delle scienze matematiche e fisiche», XIX, 1886, p. 219-293 and subsequent appendices of 1887 and 1896).

That catalog is here fully made available to scholars. Favaro's work is also enriched with further bibliographical records, which are the result of recent research on the subject carried out by Michele Camerota (La biblioteca di Galileo: alcune integrazioni e aggiunte desunte dal carteggio, in Biblioteche filosofiche private in età moderna e contemporanea. Firenze : Le Lettere, 2010, p. 81-95) and Crystal Hall (Galileo's library reconsidered. «Galilaeana», a. 12 (2015), p. 29-82). A total of 600 volumes, that were certainly in the availability of Galileo, have thus been identified.

The database here published offers scholars a wide range of search possibilities (by keyword, author, title, publisher, date etc.). Many works are also available in digital version.

 

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