Synopses & Reviews
Placed in a convent at the age of thirteen, Virginia Galilei, Galileos eldest daughter, wrote to her father continually. Now Dava Sobel has translated into English all 124 surviving letters that Virginia (renamed Suor Maria Celeste at the convent) wrote to Galileo. The letters span a dramatic decade that included the Thirty Years War, the bubonic plague, and the development of Galileos own universe-changing discoveries. Suor Maria Celestes letters touch on these events, but mostly they focus on details of everyday life that connect her and her father: descriptions of confections she sent to him; news of his estate, which she managed while he was on trial; a request for Galileo to fix the convent clock. Her prose reveals an exceptional woman and presents a memorable portrait of deep affection between a father and daughter.
Review
"Finely produced...clearly a labor of love." —
Los Angeles Times
"Turn off CNN and leave behind the troubled modern world for a leisurely sojourn in a 17th-century convent." —Chicago Tribune
"The intelligent, pious, and literary nun comes across centuries as a compellingly intriguing woman in her own right." —Booklist
Synopsis
The fascinating letters of Galileo's eldest daughter to her father
Placed in a convent at the age of thirteen, Virginia Galilei, Galileo s eldest daughter, wrote to her father continually. Now Dava Sobel has translated into English all 124 surviving letters that Virginia (renamed Suor Maria Celeste at the convent) wrote to Galileo. The letters span a dramatic decade that included the Thirty Years War, the bubonic plague, and the development of Galileo s own universe-changing discoveries. Suor Maria Celeste s letters touch on these events, but mostly they focus on details of everyday life that connect her and her father: descriptions of confections she sent to him; news of his estate, which she managed while he was on trial; a request for Galileo to fix the convent clock. Her prose reveals an exceptional woman and presents a memorable portrait of deep affection between a father and daughter.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."
About the Author
Dava Sobel is an award-winning former science writer for
The New York Times. The author of the bestselling
Longitude and
Galileo’s Daughter, Sobel’s work has also appeared in
Audubon,
Discover,
Life, and
The New Yorker.
Dava Sobel is an award-winning former science writer for The New York Times. The author of the bestselling Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, Sobel’s work has also appeared in Audubon, Discover, Life, and The New Yorker.
Dava Sobel is an award-winning former science writer for The New York Times. The author of the bestselling Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, Sobel’s work has also appeared in Audubon, Discover, Life, and The New Yorker.
Table of Contents
Galilei Genealogy viii
Introduction xi
Letters to Father 1
Within a Decade's Correspondence 151
The Sisters of San Matteo 155
Florentine Weights, Measures, and Currency 157