Il corpus ottico mauroliciano : Origini e sviluppo

Francesco Maurolico’s optical works. Origins and development – This essay deals with the optical works written by Francesco Maurolico (1494-1575). A list of Maurolico’s optical works is reconstructed through the investigation of documents of different kind, including letters and other works by the same author which bring information on optical studies. In particular, it’s proved that the optical corpus included much more texts than only the four known nowadays. For example, Maurolico wrote a Compendium perspectivae (now lost) containing his own versions of Pecham’s Perspectiva communis and Bacon’s Perspectiva and possibly also of the two optical works ascribed to Euclid. The essay also includes a detailed discussion of some bibliographic issues concerning the first (Photismi de lumine et umbra, Naples, 1611) and the second edition of the optical works (Theoremata de lumine et umbra, Lyon, 1613).