Thomas Salusbury (ca. 1620-ca. 1665)—English translator
Galileo (1564-1642)— Italian physicist, mathematician, engineer, astronomer and philosopher
London: W. Leybourn, 1661-1665
First English edition of Galileo’s Dialogo
Bound into five volumes with the fragments of, “Galilaeus First Dialogue,” “Galilaeus Second Dialogue,” “Galilaeus 3rd and 4th Dialogues,” “Galilaeus Philosophical Controversies,” and, “Castellus on Running Waters”
Four volumes in quarter red morocco over matching cloth boards with black leather spine label gilt, one volume in blue morocco over matching cloth boards with green leather spine label gilt
Quarto; 323 mm x 223 mm

This is a neatly bound collection of rare fragments of Thomas Salusbury’s, “Galilaeus First Dialogue,” “Galilaeus Second Dialogue,” “Galilaeus 3rd and 4th Dialogues,” “Galilaeus Philosophical Controversies” and “Castellus on Running Waters.” Few copies of this text survived the Great Fire of London in 1666, making Leybourn’s edition rare in its time, and exceedingly rare today. The second volume, delving extensively into the life of Galileo in part two, was published in 1665, and was almost entirely destroyed within a year of its printing. The first tome, released in 1661, preceded the Latin edition published in London by Thomas Dicas by two years. Not only the first English edition of Gaileo’s Dialogo, Salusbury’s text remained the only vernacular translation for two centuries.

In, “Galilaeus First Dialogue,” the first two leaves are preserved on tissue. “Galilaeus 3rd and 4th Dialogues,” has one leaf with a significant portion torn away and a second leaf with a tear into text not affecting the legibility. “Galilaeus Philosophical Controversies” has a few tears with minor loss to text in places. “Castellus on Running Waters,” has a small piece town away at the gutter of the section title, a tear into the text repaired with scotch tape on the verso, extensive fraying to pages 37-42, and the final leaf preserved by mounting on Japanese paper. All volumes have trimmed leaves, damp staining, and age toning along the edges where leaves protrude from former binding. Overall very rare and bound fragments of Salusbury’s exceptional translation of Galileo.

Thomas Salusbury (Wales ca. 1620-ca. 1665 London, England)

Little is definitively known about scholar Thomas Salusbury. It is likely that he received his mathematical training at Trinity College in Dublin. Between 1645 and 1654, Salusbury lived abroad, particularly in Italy and France, where he became fluent in French and Italian. From around 1655, he lived in London and attempted to earn a living there as a writer. His command of Latin and Greek lives on in his erudite texts.

Galileo Galilei (Pisa, Italy 1564-1642 Arcetri, Italy)

Galileo Galilei’s contributions to science during the Renaissance instrumentally changed how scientists interact with the universe today. His improvements on the telescope led to confirmations in the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter, and the way we observe and analysis sunspots. Of Galileo’s many contributions, he is most known for his support of heliocentrism, the theory that the planets revolve around the Sun. Due to his controversial view that the Earth was not the center of the universe, the Catholic Church convicted him of heresy in 1633 and prohibited his book ofdialogo. After which, he spent the remainder of his life under hour arrest.