Biasio Burlini, professor d’ottica all’Archimede in Venezia, a’ dilettanti d’ Ottica [Drop Title]

[Venice]: [The Author], ca1750. First Edition.. As issued.. Near fine; some minor paper repairs along the fold.. Small folio. [4] pp. (2 conjugate leaves) - last page blank; meas. appx 295 x 205 mm. The illustration is signed Filasi.

Advertisement brochure issued by Burlini who was one of a handful of Venetian opticians in the city during 18th century. It has a leaf containing an ennumerated identification of the parts and general description for a telescope (cannochiale) with an idiosyncratic attachment/conversion to a heliometer designed by Burlini (1709-1771). Ludovico Zucconi (1706-1783) described it in his book: De heliometri (truncated) structura et usu (1758) and in his De altera Machinula parallatica ad Heliometrum (1761). The new heliometer with "parallatica" conversion was used to observe a transit of Venus over the sun’s disk in July 1761. The text provides a brief biography of Burlini in addition to the description of the instrument. See Anthony Turner's informative commentary on the transit measurement in his Early Scientific Instruments ...., pp. 133-134; a technical exposition in Bennett, The Divided Circle, chapter 11; for Zucconi see Riccardi; Schmitz, Handbuch der Gesch. der Optik, II; see also two articles in the Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society: A Lualdi, "Venetian Makers of Optical Instruments ....", #76, March 2003, pp. 35-37 presenting a biography of Burlini; S Talbot, "Biagio Burlini Telescope ....", #159, December 2023, p. 41 on the recent discovery of a rare Burlini telescope at Christie's South Kensington. Unlocated in OCLC. A companion advertisement for a different instrument by Burlini was offered in Nov. 1994 in the Martayan/Lan catalog 15 (item #54). (Inventory #: 22065)