Library acquires third edition of Galileo’s 414-year-old book

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Jason Dean’s enthusiasm for books is contagious. That passion makes him the perfect person to oversee rare books at the Linda B. Hall Library in Kansas City, Missouri.

Dean gave KSHB 41 News an exclusive look at one of the library’s newest acquisitions: Sidereus Nuncius, a 414-year-old book by Italian scientist and astronomer Galileo Galilei.

Dean said publishers 400 years ago printed essentially three versions of the book: one in Venice on fine paper, another in Venice on regular paper, and a third in Frankfurt.

Of the estimated 550 books from Venice, about 90 still exist today. Only 15 copies of the Frankfurt edition remain, says Dean.

The Linda B. Hall Library already owned copies of the Frankfurt edition and the Venice bond paper edition. Last year it acquired a Venice edition on plain paper. The library is now the only place in the world that has all three original versions of the publication.

“Even though it’s the same word on the page, each of them tells us something different about Galileo’s intentions and something different about the world Galileo lived in,” Dean said.

Al Miller

Here, Dean becomes a detective of sorts, using the book to travel back in time. The library knows that Galileo sent the beautiful paper copy from Venice to a monk who helped him give the publication a name – which translates from Latin as “starry messenger.”

Dean found handwritten notes in the margins of both Venice editions. Dean believes Galileo made these corrections himself.

“To touch something that Galileo himself touched, yeah, that’s pretty good,” Dean admitted. “I find it really exciting and I think it gives a clue as to why people love old and rare books so much, because it’s almost like a time machine. It puts you in touch with a past generation.”

Sidereus Nuncius was important to previous generations because it was the first time someone had published that the moon was a sphere, not a flat plate in the sky. The book also gave credibility to the use of instruments in science. Galileo relied on a telescope for many of the observations printed in the book. Additionally, Dean said Galileo wrote the book so that anyone could understand it.

“He’s put a lot of effort into making the narrative very accessible, especially with this book. So we have a translation that’s super easy to read. It’s even fun. He’s an entertaining writer,” Dean said.

Accessibility is part of the Linda B. Hall Library’s mission. The independent academic research library will display the Venice Edition in regular paper form during a rare book exhibition beginning July 25. Anyone can visit the exhibition — which includes books dating back to the 15th century — weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Linda B. Hall Library is located at 5109 Cherry St. in Kansas City, Missouri.

Al Miller

The library makes its rare books available for loan. In order to view and keep the original, someone must have a legitimate research purpose. Patrons are not allowed to take the books home, but must make an appointment to borrow the books from the library.

The library has also scanned all three Sidereus Nuncius publications and made them available for viewing on the Internet. Dean likes to imagine what Galileo would think of his work on the World Wide Web.

“I think Galileo would be a fan of the Linda Hall Library. We love Galileo,” Dean said. “I think one of his main concerns is to make sure his work is made available to as many people as possible. What we’re doing here reinforces that.”

As for the price of a 414-year-old book, Dean said the library paid a price to purchase the book, but argues it is now priceless because the library will keep it forever, so the book will not go on the market where it could fetch a price.