ROSACCIO, Giuseppe

by Giuseppe Rosaccio

£4,750 · Offered by Sokol Books

A lovely collection of three fascinating treatises on chronology, geography, geology and astronomy, with charming naïf illustrations. In the first work, the author records: “1492: in this year, Cristoforo Colombo of Genova discovered the New World”. These Venetian editions of 1597 are extremely rare. Giuseppe Rosaccio (c. 1520/50-1620) was an Italian physician, astronomer, cosmographer, geographer and traveller. Details of his early life and education are debated; traditionally, he was born in Pordenone (Friuli) and graduated in medicine and philosophy in Padua. He frequented the courts of northern Italy and eventually settled in Florence. An extremely prolific author, Rosaccio wrote some 40 works on a variety of subjects, including medicine, human physiognomy, history, travel and especially the natural sciences. He also published some free-standing planispheres and maps. ‘The six ages of the world’ is a treatise which summarises the history of the world according to the ‘six ages’ of the traditional Christian chronology. It is divided into six section, each dedicated to one age: the creation of the sky and the earth by God (first), Adam and his descendants (second), the Flood (third), the monarchies (fourth), the life of Christ (fifth), the lives of the Popes and Princes up until year 1596 (sixth). Within each section, Rosaccio lists the most remarkable events year by year: e.g. the accession and death of popes and emperors, plagues and faminse, and countless bizarre and pro

• Binding: Hardcover

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