Morghen, Filippo

MORGHEN, Filippo (1730-1807). Raccola delle cose più notabili vedute da Giovanni Wilkins erudite Vescovo Inglese nel suo famoso viaggio dalla Terra alla Luna, con i disegni di animali, e machine a noi incognite e dal medisimo descritte nella sua celebre Istoria. [?Naples, ca 1767-68].
Broadsheets (548 x 337 mm). Engraved title and nine engraved plates (previously folded at center, the center fold flattened, last two plates with some very pale stains). Modern green morocco, titled in gilt on front cover and spine, by Zaehnsdorf. Provenance: acquired from Scribner Rare Books, 1967.
Second edition of this rare work, the title re-engraved with the name of Giovanni Wilkins and the plate with the addition of the Montgolfier balloon above the flying machine. Wilkins is probably John Wilkins (1614-1672), theologian and scientist who published in 1638 A Discourse concerning a New World and Another Planet or a Discourse tending to prove, that 'tis probable there may be another habitable World in the Moone. The first title-page was addressed to Wild Scull and de la Hire, and McColley proposes that the change was made to Wilkins because de la Hire did not regard the moon as inhabited, while Wilkins argued that it is populated and discussed the possibility of a passage to it. Morghen's plates illustrate the animals and plants of the moon, its inhabitants and their modes of transportation. See Grant McColley, "The three Editions of Filippo Morghen's Raccolta," in: Art Bulletin, XIX (1937), pp. 112-118. Fact and Fantasy 65.