Natural Magick

New York: Basic Books, 1958. First edition, second printing. Light brown quarto (red spine) in white slipcase; ix, 409 p, b&w illus & diagrams; 28 cm. Extremely faint scuff to spine head fold & foot fold, else near fine(-) in very good (-) slipcase, with bumping to corners and some wear to bottom edge. Hardcover.

A book of great interest to anyone interested in the history of science, magic and/or scientific writing. Complete facsimile of John Baptista Porta's twenty books of Natural Magick from 1658, "the only printed record of an evanescent and little known organization that was the first scientific society of modern times, progenitor of the Accademia dei Lincei (1600-1630), the Accademia del Cimento (1657-1667), The Royal Society of London, and indeed, alll manifold groups into which society is now formally organized." (Introduction). Giambattista della Porta 1535 – 4 February 1615), also known as Giovanni Battista Della Porta, was an Italian scholar, polymath and playwright who lived in Naples at the time of the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution and Counter-Reformation. Giambattista della Porta spent the majority of his life on scientific endeavours. He benefited from an informal education of tutors and visits from renowned scholars. His most famous work, first published in 1558, is entitled Magia Naturalis (Natural Magic).[1] In this book he covered a variety of the subjects he had investigated, including occult philosophy, astrology, alchemy, mathematics, meteorology, and natural philosophy. He was also referred to as "professor of secrets".//Science -- Early works to 1800.