by The Saint Louis University Libraries Special Collections announces a guest lecture by Nick Wilding, PhD, Associate Professor of Early Modern History at Georgia State University.
Galileo’s Sidereus nuncius, or “Starry Messenger,” is a landmark in the history of astronomy. Published in Venice in 1610, it is the first book to record astronomical observations made with the aid of a telescope. In it, Galileo described the cratered surface of the moon and postulated the presence of mountains in the lunar terrain; he reported the existence of a wealth of new stars; and he announced his discovery of the moons of Jupiter, which he named the “Medicean stars.” It is a very rare book, of which only about 150 copies are known to survive. In 2005 a hitherto unknown copy of the Sidereus nuncius came to light that purported to be a signed proof copy illustrated by Galileo himself.
Dr. Wilding will recount the fascinating story of how, beginning in 2011, he revealed this supposedly unique copy of Galileo’s work to be a forgery, one that has also been linked to the looting of the Girolamini Library in Naples. See Nicholas Schmidle, “A Very Rare Book: The Mystery Surrounding a Copy of Galileo’s Pivotal Treatise,” The New Yorker (December 16, 2013). His discovery has had repercussions not only for the history of science, but also for the authenticity of historical artifacts and the rare book trade. New forgeries of hand press era books are easier and cheaper to make than ever before and closer to perfect in their ability to deceive. How are they made, and how can we detect them? Focusing on the now-exposed fraudulent copy of Galileo’s Sidereus nuncius, this lecture will examine the tests these forgeries may pass and describe new ones that—at least until now—they have failed.
Nick Wilding is Associate Professor of Early Modern History at Georgia State University. He has published widely on the history of early modern science, and his first book, Galileo’s Idol: Gianfrancesco Sagredo and the Politics of Knowledge, is now available from the University of Chicago Press. He has held fellowships at Stanford, Cambridge, the American Academy in Rome, the New York Academy of Medicine, and Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.
The lecture is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception. Call 314-977-3090 for more information.
