Lucretius and Giovanni Nardi, 1647

LUCRETIUS CARUS, Titus (94-55 BCE) and Giovanni NARDI (c.1585-1654). De rerum natura libri sex. Unà cum paraphrastica explanatione, & animadversionibus. Florence: Amatore Massa, 1647.

First edition of Nardi's commentary on Lucretius—an important Galilean text and Wunderkammer book, illustrating Egyptian antiquities from both Nardi's collection and that of Fernando II de' Medici. The present work was the first complete edition of Lucretius’ controversial poem of ancient atomism to be published in Italy following Aldine 1515 edition, and after the prohibition of the Synod of Florence in 1517 against the publication of the text. Its appearance in the years following the death of Galileo, and the ensuing debates at Pisa over atomism, made a major impact on his followers, inspiring much correspondence and even a new translation into Italian (which would not see print until 1717).

Nardi's commentary here is considerably larger than the poem itself, comprising fifty "adnimadversiones" relating natural history, medicine, physics, and Lucretiuss theory of atomism. He had studied at the University of Pisa before becoming the personal physician to Ferdinando II, Grand Duke of Tuscany. He corresponded with many of the leading natural philosophers and antiquaries of his day, including members of the Accademia dei Lincei. Nardi created his own museum of curiosities in Florence, part of which is illustrated here as part of a discourse on the funerary practices of the ancient Egyptian. The dedication leaf found after p 268 was probably intended to be in the initial gathering of the work, where it appears in some other copies preceded by a blank. Schweiger III, 575.

Quarto (229 x 167mm). Half title, unsigned leaf with dedication to Giovanni Andrea Ricco inserted after p 268. 9 engraved plates, woodcut ornaments (some gatherings toned, Ll1 repaired at gutter). Contemporary limp vellum (a few little cracks). Provenance: "Ex libris Nicolai Berigardi Molinensis Galli" (inscription on half title and several marginal notes; perhaps a relative of Claude Guillermet de Berigard, who succeeded Liceti at Padua in 1653 and was deeply involved in atomist debates).