CARDANO, Girolamo. Hieronymi Cardani Mediolanensis De propria vita liber. Amstelædami, apud Joannem Rauesteinium, 165412mo; 130x75 mm. Legatura in piena pelle con titolo in oro al dorso a 3 nervi. Tagli picchiettati. Pp. [72], 288. Fregio xil. sul frontespizio. Iniziali e fregi xil. Buon esemplare.Rara seconda edizione. Si tratta della redazione definitiva dell’autobiografia del famoso ed influente umanista e filosofo naturale milanese. Fu pubblicata dal grande bibliografo francese Gabriel Naudé e da questi dedicata ad Élie Diodati. Heirs of Hippocrates: “This rare first edition of Cardano's autobiography was edited by Gabriel Naudé who also prepared an extensive introduction containing a great deal of bibliographical information. It is considered by some to be one of the greatest human documents of all times and is most certainly a pioneering work in clinical psychology.” Redatto negli ultimi anni della sua vita, tra il 1575 e il 1576, rappresenta il punto terminale di una moltitudine di scritti autobiografici, che avevano avuto inizio con il proprio oroscopo stampato nella raccolta astrologica del 1543. È proprio da questo carattere originale dell'oroscopo che deriva l'incredibile profusione di dettagli del testo ha origine. Il medico-astrologo nel compilare l'oroscopo di un cliente doveva tenere conto non solo della configurazione celeste al momento della sua nascita, ma anche del suo tenore di vita, delle sue abitudini quotidiane, delle malattie che aveva e perfino della sua dieta. Nel proprio oroscopo, cioè quello della persona che conosceva meglio, Cardano non si comportò in modo diverso. In questo autentico testamento spirituale parla con franchezza della sua nascita illegittima, della sua vita sessuale, dei suoi dubbi interiori, dei suoi errori, delle sue convinzioni religiose, della morte di suo figlio per decapitazione dopo un uxoricidio, dei suoi beni, del mondo soprannaturale, del concetto di felicità. Brown Burr: “The Book of his Life. was as much reprobated as the Confessions of Rousseau, as much read and as much imitated. It stands in the pages of seventeenth and eighteenth century learning, mentioned by such men as Huet, Burton, Sir Thomas Browne, as among the great intellectual influences of their lives. Cardan is among the first manifestations of what we term the scientific spirit; he is in the forefront of that new order which was to change the face of the universe.”Cushing C76; Wellcome II, p. 300 (1654 ed.); Heirs of Hippocrates No. 251. Cfr. Anna Robeson Brown Burr, The Autobiography: A Critical and Comparative Study, 1909.

12mo; 130x75 mm. Full calf binding with gilt title on spine with 3 nervs. Spotted edges. Pp. [72], 288. Woodcut vignette on titlepage. Woodcut initial letters and ornaments. Good specimen.
Rare second edition. This is the definitive version of the autobiography of the famous and influential Milanese humanist and natural philosopher. It was published by the great French bibliographer Gabriel Naudé and dedicated by him to Élie Diodati. Heirs of Hippocrates: “This rare first edition of Cardano's autobiography was edited by Gabriel Naudé who also prepared an extensive introduction containing a great deal of bibliographical information. It is considered by some to be one of the greatest human documents of all times and is most certainly a pioneering work in clinical psychology.” Drafted in the last years of his life between 1575 and 1576, it represents the terminal point of a multitude of autobiographical writings, which had begun with his own horoscope printed in the astrological collection of 1543. It is precisely from this original character of horoscope that the text's incredible profusion of details originates. The physician-astrologer in compiling a client's horoscope had to take into account not only the celestial configuration at the time of his birth, but also his standard of living, his daily habits, the illnesses he had, and even his diet. In writing his own horoscope, that is, that of the person he knew best, Cardano did not behave any differe. In this authentic spiritual testament he speaks frankly about his illegitimate birth, his sexual life, his internal doubts, his mistakes, his religious beliefs, the death of his son by decapitation after a murder, his possessions, the supernatural world, of the concept of happiness. Brown Burr: “The Book of his Life. was as much reprobated as the Confessions of Rousseau, as much read and as much imitated. It stands in the pages of seventeenth and eighteenth century learning, mentioned by such men as Huet, Burton, Sir Thomas Browne, as among the great intellectual influences of their lives. Cardan is among the first manifestations of what we term the scientific spirit; he is in the forefront of that new order which was to change the face of the universe.”