A famous Galileo Galilei's manuscript turned out to be a forgery

(University of Michigan https://bit.ly/3AdgWKw)

An historian discovered that the manuscript of Galileo Galilei from the library of the University of Michigan is a forgery.

Nick Wilding found that the document was supposedly made by the famous forger Tobia Nicotra in the 1930s.

For almost a century, the library of the University of Michigan has kept a one-page document attributed to the famous Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei

It became known for the first time back in 1934 when artifacts collected by a wealthy collector of manuscripts and old books were put up for auction.

Then it was indicated that the authenticity of Galileo's manuscript was established by the Italian cardinal and archbishop of Pisa Pietro Maffi, who lived in 1858-1931.

Then in 1938, the manuscript was donated to the University of Michigan.

The text consists of two parts. In the first, the Venetian wiseman is informed about the newly built telescope.

The second contains notes on observations of Jupiter and its moons.

The original letter to the famous astronomer is kept in the State Archives of Venice.

---

---

THE RESEARCH
Wilding, who rose to prominence after exposing a forged copy of Galileo Galilei's Nuncia's Sidereus, was working on a new book about the Italian physicist.

He became interested in the draft letter of the scientist, which is stored in the library of the University of Michigan.

So he wrote to the curator of this institution Pablo Alvarez, in which he expressed doubts about the authenticity of the document.

Wilding drew attention to the fact that the watermark on the paper contains the monograms of its manufacturer - "AS" and the place of production - "BMO".

The last monogram designates the Italian city of Bergamo, but no other documents with such a watermark written before 1770 (Galileo died in 1642) are known to scientists.

The historian came to the conclusion that the manuscript of Galileo is a forgery of the XX century (tentatively 1930s), created allegedly by the famous forger Tobia Nicotra.

Now, an independent review from the University of Michigan itself sadly confirmed Wilding's conclusion.

Source:

• University of Michigan: https://www.lib.umich.edu/collections/collecting-areas/special-collections-and-archives/history-astronomy-and-mathematics/galileo-manuscript/
• Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/08/22/galileo-fake-forgery-manuscript/

---

---

If you like my content, please consider following, upvoting and commenting. I really appreciate it.
Follow my Telegram channel: https://t.me/stemsteemit

---

---

#science #fintech #history #galileo #italy #news #nftmc