realised, and duplicate copies were dispersed to other libraries, such as the Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati, the public library in Sienna. In a later attempt to specialise the library's holdings, volumes unrelated to medicine were transferred to the Biblioteca Magliabechiana, an early foundation for what was to become the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, the National Central Library in Florence. A small portion of Viviani's collection, including the manuscripts of Galileo and those of his peers Evangelista Torricelli and Benedetto Castelli, were left to his nephew, Abbot Jacopo Panzanini. This minor collection was preserved until Panzanini's death when it passed to his great-nephews, Carlo and Angelo Panzanini. The books from both Galileo and Viviani's collection began to disperse as the heirs failed to protect their inheritance. Their servants sold several of the volumes for waste paper. Around 1750 the Florentine senator Giovanni Battista Clemente de'Nelli heard of this and purchased the books and manuscripts from the shopkeepers, and the remainder of Viviani's collection from the Panzanini brothers. As recounted in Nelli's memoirs: "My great fortune in obtaining such a wonderful treasure so cheaply came about through the ignorance of the people selling it, who were not aware of the value of those manuscripts..." The library remained in Nelli's care until his death in 1793. Knowing the value of their father's collected manuscripts, Nelli's sons attempted to sell what was left to them to the French government. Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany intervened in the sale and purchased the entire collection. The archive of manuscripts, printed books and personal papers were deposited with the Biblioteca Palatina in Florence, merging the collection with the Biblioteca Magliabechiana in 1861. See also Catholic Church and science Seconds pendulum Tribune of Galileo Villa Il Gioiello Notes References Citations General sources Original edition published by Hutchinson (1959, London). Further reading Drake, Stillman. Galileo (University of Toronto Press, 2017). Drake, Stillman. Essays on Galileo and the History and Philosophy of Science (U of Toronto Press, 2019). Drake, Stillman. Galileo and the First Mechanical Computing Device (U of Toronto Press, 2019). Gilbert, Neal Ward. "Galileo and the School of Padua." Journal of the History of Philosophy 1.2 (1963): 223–231. online Koyré, Alexandre. "Galileo and Plato." Journal of the History of Ideas 4.4 (1943): 400–428. online (PDF) Koyré, Alexandre. "Galileo and the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century." Philosophical Review 52.4 (1943): 333–348. online (PDF) External links Works