I Gesuiti e la pubblicazione dell'Ottica di Francesco Maurolico

Abstract

This essay examines the events concerned with the publication of four optical works by Francesco Maurolico (1495-1575). The edition was carried out in Naples in 1611 by G. G. Staserius (S.J. 1565-1635). In a recent contribution we presented a complete list of Maurolico’s optical works and proved that some original optical corpus included some texts today lost. In the present essay, instead, it is proposed a reconstruction of the process that led to the printed edition of the four treatises yet available today. The making of the edition is described through the investigation of letters written on this topic by Staserisus to C. Clavius (S. J. 1538-1612). Clavius, as a matter of fact, had an important role in the production of this edition, inserting his own additions to the genuine Maurolican texts. First of all it is investigated the scientific relationship between Maurolico and Clavius. Moreover the role of optical studies in the Ratio studiorum and their presence in the courses at Collegio Romano are taken under scrutiny. In conclusion, it is examined the circulation, in the Jesuit background, of some Maurolician studies in the field of optics.