Physico-Mathesis de Lumine, Coloribus, et Iride...
Added title-page with a large engraved vignette & woodcut diagrams in the text. Both titles printed in red & black. 11 p.l. (including the added title-page), 535 pp., 8 leaves. 4to, fine antique mottled calf (some faint dampstains), sides panelled in gilt, spine richly gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Bologna: Heirs of V. Benati, 1665.
First edition, the copy of William Molyneux (1656-98), astronomer, founder of the Dublin Philosophical Society, and author of the first treatise on optics in English (for more on Molyneux, see D.S.B., IX, pp. 464-66). This is Grimaldi’s only book; in it he describes... More