Lettere inedite nella corrispondenza tra Jacopo Riccati e Giovanni Poleni

Abstract

The first half of the 18th century was a florid period for the scientific and literary development of the Republic of Venice and the related University of Padua. The scholars Giovanni Poleni (1683-1761) and Jacopo Riccati (1676-1754) played a leading role in such a scientific environment. Also limiting our attention to the last 30 years, the amount of manuscripts dedicated to them witnesses their historical relevance. Riccati and Poleni were in contact with each other and had a rich correspondence. In 1997, M. L. Soppelsa published this correspondence in a volume with more than 70 letters. Recently, 18 unpublished letters between these two scholars, that were not present in Soppelsa’s collection, have been discovered at the Public Library of Verone and the Marciana Library of Venise. This paper aims to shed light on these scholars’ scientific work according to the newly found correspondence. We also provide a complete and annotated transcription of such letters.