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Jerome Cardan A Biographical Study By: W. G. (William George) Waters (1844-1928) |
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JEROME CARDAN A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY BY W.G. WATERS "To be content that times to come should only know there was such a man,
not caring whether they knew more of him, was a frigid ambition in
Cardan." SIR THOMAS BROWNE. [Illustration] LAWRENCE & BULLEN, Limited, 16 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, MDCCCXCVIII.
RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON & BUNGAY.
PREFACE
No attempt is made in the following pages to submit to historical
treatment the vast and varied mass of printed matter which Cardan left as
his contribution to letters and science, except in the case of those works
which are, in purpose or incidentally, autobiographical, or of those which
furnish in themselves effective contributions towards the framing of an
estimate of the genius and character of the writer. Neither has it seemed
worth while to offer to the public another biography constructed on the
lines of the one brought out by Professor Henry Morley in 1854, for the
reason that the circumstances of Cardan's life, the character of his work,
and of the times in which he lived, all appeared to be susceptible of more
succinct and homogeneous treatment than is possible in a chronicle of the
passing years, and of the work that each one saw accomplished. At certain
junctures the narrative form is inevitable, but an attempt has been made
to treat the more noteworthy episodes of Cardan's life and work, and the
contemporary aspect of the republic of letters, in relation to existing
tendencies and conditions, whenever such a course has seemed possible. Professor Morley's book, The Life of Girolamo Cardano, of Milan,
physician , has been for some time out of print. This industrious writer
gathered together a large quantity of material, dealing almost as fully
with the more famous of the contemporary men of mark, with whom Cardan
was brought into contact, as with Cardan himself. The translations and
analyses of some of Cardan's more popular works which Professor Morley
gives are admirable in their way, but the space they occupy in the
biography is somewhat excessive. Had sufficient leisure for revision and
condensation been allowed, Professor Morley's book would have taken a high
place in biographical literature. As it stands it is a noteworthy
performance; and, by reason of its wide and varied stores of information
and its excellent index, it must always prove a valuable magazine of
mémoires pour servir for any future students who may be moved to write
afresh, concerning the life and work of the great Milanese physician. An apology may be needed for the occurrence here and there of passages
translated from the De Vita Propria and the De Utilitate ex Adversis
capienda , passages which some readers may find too frequent and too
lengthy, but contemporary opinion is strongly in favour of letting the
subject speak for himself as far as may be possible. The date and place of
Cardan's quoted works are given in the first citation therefrom; those of
his writings which have not been available in separate form have been
consulted in the collected edition of his works in ten volumes, edited by
Spon, and published at Lyons in 1663. The author desires to acknowledge with gratitude the valuable assistance
in the way of suggestion and emendation which he received from Mr. R.C.
Christie during the final revision of the proofs. London, October 1898.
JEROME CARDAN
CHAPTER I
LIKE certain others of the illustrious personages who flourished in his
time, Girolamo Cardano, or, as he has become to us by the unwritten law of
nomenclature, Jerome Cardan, was fated to suffer the burden and obloquy of
bastardy.[1] He was born at Pavia from the illicit union of Fazio Cardano,
a Milanese jurisconsult and mathematician of considerable repute, and a
young widow, whose maiden name had been Chiara Micheria, his father being
fifty six, and his mother thirty seven years of age at his birth. The
family of Fazio was settled at Gallarate, a town in Milanese territory,
and was one which, according to Jerome's contention, could lay claim to
considerable antiquity and distinction... Continue reading book >>
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