Galileo’s Library at Nineteenth-Century Auctions

Abstract

This chapter investigates the effect of individual collectors on the story about Galileo and his library in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. While less data-driven than previous chapters, the close, historical analyses demonstrate how new sources invite us to revisit the data with a fresh perspective. The auction catalogs raise questions about the sources seen in early chapters, suggest new leaks from the collection over time, and provide clues about some of Galileo’s books that have been lost, but nonetheless shape our perception of him. Auction inventories as representations of books, and as representations of Galileo’s books, introduce significant uncertainty into the understanding of the collection.