Page:An Index of Prohibited Books (1840).djvu/110

 A Life and Letters of Galileo were published in Italian, in a series, at Venice in 1826. The Life occupies the first place, and is supplied by a friend of his, Vincenzio Viviani, in the form of a letter to the Duke of Tuscany. The letter, of course, is a long one, and about the middle of it the writer introduces the obnoxious tenet of his friend, which he himself affects to condemn. The narrative then proceeds to Galileo's summons to Rome in 1632, and the gentle treatment which he received from the pontiff, Urban VIII. He, however, was obliged to retract his error; and his Dialogue, which contained it, was prohibited. He was likewise put in easy confinement in different places, the last of which was Arcetri — on many accounts acceptable to him. His biographer proceeds to write, that the Dialogue had been translated into various European languages, and that therefore it was impossible to suppress the error, — a circumstance very mortifying to Galileo. So much for the Life.

The Letters are more promising. The first, which immediately concerns the objection to the offensive doctrine, is to P. B. Castelli, dated Firenze, 21 Dicemb. 1613. Galileo there mentions the inquiry of the Grand Duchess of