Light.- Diffraction.- Grimaldi (Francesco Maria) Physico-Mathesis De Lumine, Coloribus, et Iride, first edition, titles in red and black, the first with large engraved vignette, additional letterpress title, early ink inscriptions and stamp to letterpress title, woodcut diagrams, light uniform browning to several leaves, marginal damp-stain to last several gatherings, C18th vellum, manuscript title to spine, lightly toned, 4to, Bologna, heirs of Vittorio Benacci, 1665.

⁂ Grimaldi's only book, this celebrated work unveils his discovery of the optical phenomenon of what he termed 'diffractio', or, diffraction. He outlined how the diffusion of light was instantaneous; it defied the notion of an exclusively rectilinear passage and evidenced that light was of a fluid nature, hence the terminology coined by Grimaldi from the Latin 'diffringere', to break into pieces. De Lumine was the first scientific attempt to establish a comprehensive wave theory of light and later influential to others, such as Hooke and Newton, it was particularly problematic for the latter in his own research and progress with Opticks (1704).