GHEZZI, Nicolò.

Dell'origine delle fontane e dell'addolcimento del'acqua marina, lettere scritte al Sig. Conte N. N. da Niccolò Ghezzi religioso della Compagnia di Gesù.

Venice, Simeone Occhi, 1742. 8vo, pp. xvi, 404, title printed in red and black and with woodcut ornament, with engraved frontispiece, 5 engraved plates and one folding table; occasionally lightly browned; a very good copy in contemporary Italian green vellum, covers ruled and with ornaments in silver (oxidized); red lettering-piece, edges mottled in red and blue, hinges restored in the 19th century. Contemporary typographical bookplate at foot of title. First edition of Ghezzi's first book. Ghezzi (1683-1766) was a Jesuit teacher of humanities in Como, who devoted much of his time to the study of physics and got in to difficulties with his superiors on theological grounds.The book contains six chapters on hydrology, dealing with springs and underground water, different aspects on the circulation of water between the sea and rivers, examining many meteorological phenomena such as precipitation due to the rising of air, wind, snow and ice. Ghezzi pays particular attention to the physics of the Mediterranean climate. He further deals with various methods of desalinating seawater for the use on ships, referring to suggestions and observations by Boyle, Steven Hales, and Edmund Halley. The final hundred pages of the volume contain the criticisms of the addressee, the fellow Jesuit Conte Giulio Cesare Brusati, and the author's replies.Riccardi I, 595 (3 plates only); Sommervogel III, 1377; Ward & Carozzi, Geology Emerging 908.

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