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 has some esteem for his trifle or chimera. He thought that, as Copernicus had been left untouched for about eighty years, he might hope to escape: but a celestial voice dissipated the whole vision.

A subsequent letter, dated Bellosguardo, March 7, 1631, to the Secretary of the Grand Duke, states that the writer had submitted his work, containing the Copernican doctrine, to the Master of the Sacred Palace, previously to publication at Rome, and that the latter had given his license with his own hand. He was, however, prevented from printing there by the death of his friend, Cesi, head of the Academy de' Lincei, and determined to print it where he was. Upon that the Master of the Sacred Palace wished to have another sight of the work, which was rather inconvenient; and a consultor of the Inquisition was appointed to revise it on the spot, which he did with extreme scrupulosity, and earnestly advised the publication. There were, however, delays from Rome, where fresh authority was wanted, and this discomposed the writer.

The work, nevertheless, was published [at Florence in 1632, 4to.]; for in a letter in December of 1633, Galileo writes to V. Renieri