Galileo’s Lost Star: Rare Book Breaks $1.5M at Auction
Galileo’s rare first book on the 1604 supernova sold for $1.5 million at Christie’s, a stellar result for the scientist who changed how we see the heavens.
There are rare collectibles, and then there are items that change the way we see the universe. A rare first edition of Galileo Galilei’s first book, Dialogo in perpuositio de la stella nuova, that came to auction at Christie’s in London on July 9 and sold for £1,129,000, or $1,535,400, is both.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) is one of the most influential scientists in history. His work in physics and astronomy marked a transition from adherence to classical philosophy to modern scientific techniques based on observation. He created his first telescope, one of the earliest practical models, in 1609 and used it to observe sunspots, Jupiter's moons, and Saturn's rings, which had never been seen before. His challenges to established ideas, especially his support of a heliocentric solar system, were incredibly controversial at the time. He was famously investigated by the Roman Inquisition and, in 1632, tried and sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life.
Portrait of Galileo Galilei by Justus Sustermans. Image: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection, WikiCommons
But before all that, he was a teacher of math and astronomy at the University of Padua, and, in 1605, collaborated with his student Girolamo Spinelli to write his first book, Dialogo in perpuositio de la stella nuova. The book concerned the “new star” that appeared in the sky in October 1604 and was famously observed and documented by German astronomer Johannes Kepler. Now known as a supernova, this “new star” was, to 17th-century observers, a challenge to the commonly accepted idea that the heavens were perfect and unchanging. Galileo’s book explored this idea in the accessible, often humorous form of an imaginary dialogue between two peasants.
Like most books from the 1600s, few copies of the Dialogo survive. Only eleven others are known, all of which are held in institutions. The copy that sold at Christie’s, discovered in a private collection in Europe, is the first to come to market in over a hundred years. With its rarity and historical impact, much like the supernova it discusses, it is no wonder its price reached astronomical heights.
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