White, Richard: Hemisphaerium dissectum. Opus geometricum in quo obiter tractatur de maximis inscriptilibus, & minimis circumscribentibus.
 
Roma, Manelfo Manelfi, 1648. 4to. [xii] + 296 pp. Woodcut arms on p. [viii], repeated on last page, numerous woodcut diagrams, cancel overslip on p. 113.
 
Recent quarter morocco, marbled sides. Some very slight creasing of initial and final leaves, title with mended tear, a small marginal wormhole, very faint dampstain to upper margin. An attractive copy.
 
First edition. ”Hemisphaerum Dissectum” is a geometrical exploration of the solids that can be inscribed in half of a sphere.
 
Richard White (Ricardus Albius, 1590-1682) was an English mathematician and physicist. A Catholic from Essex, he studied under Benedetto Castelli in Pisa and spent most of his career in Italy. In the preface of his book Hemisphaerium Dissectum, printed in Rome with the Inquisition's permission, he wrote with great admiration of Galileo Galilei, with whom he was personally acquainted. White also reveals in the preface that he was forced to leave England in 1616 owing to the its harsh anti-catholic laws.