De lucis natura et proprietate

Isaac Vossius

Adoption amount: $1500.00

About the Author

Isaac Vossius or Isaak Voss (1618-1689) was a Dutch scholar and book collector. He added to his father’s library – said then to be the best in the world – and also worked with Queen Christina in Stockholm to expand her remarkable library. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1664 moved to England in 1670. His library of books and manuscripts went to the University of Leiden on his death.

About the Book

A scarce first edition, this book discusses the research of Snell and Descartes on the law of refraction and accuses Descartes – incorrectly – of plagiarizing from a Snell manuscript. Anyone working in optics at the time – including Newton and Hooke – would have known this work.