Bidspirit auction | [SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - Experimental

[SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - Experimental Physics in the Age of Newton: Illustrated Italian Manuscript (18th c.) - ANONYMOUS – “Physicae experimentalis elementa [...]”. Italy, mid-18th century. 4to (210x155 mm.), contemporary ‘carta rustica’ pasteboard, spine covered with early colored paper, a genuine and well-preserved manuscript, untrimmed, with deckle edges at leaves. Text in Latin, on 29 lines, ruled in blind, single column, by a couple of hands, altogether 129 written leaves +1 blank f., illustrated with 54 drawings/diagrams depicting experiments; apparently complete. This is likely a (fair) copy of a university course in general physics, hard to know if ever intended for printing. The prefatory text contains references to modern scientists, such as Malebranche, Descartes, and Newton, from whom the author draws the four fundamental rules that form the basis of the treatise (”The causes of natural phenomena are not many, but sufficient to explain the truth”; ”The effects of natural phenomena are the causes of the same kind of phenomena, ” etc.). The lessons focus on the concepts of physics, physical and optical phenomena, with instructions for practical experiments, etc. The present manuscript is sold with an export license from Italy.