at Galileo's request, had repeatedly urged him to send them, could he be induced to do so, after a further delay of two months, and then, as the ambassador graphically describes the situation, not "till formally pulled by the hair."[1] In the letter of 19th July, 1631, which accompanied them, Riccardi empowered the author to alter the style of the revised introduction as he pleased, and to ornament it rhetorically, but so that the sense should remain the same. As to the conclusion, he made the vague remark that it must be based upon the same argument as the beginning.[2]
This seems to be the place to enter into the oft discussed question of the real authorship of this remarkable introduction. Some, who rely upon the letter of Riccardi's above quoted, attribute it to him; others even maintain that it owes its origin to Urban VIII. himself; while, on the other hand, some are of opinion that Galileo had the chief share in it, though assuredly only because he considered that it would secure his object—permission to publish the "Dialogues." All these opinions contain some truth, contradictory as they seem; the truth lies between them. After careful examination of the documents relating to the subject, the historical facts appear to be as follows:—
When Galileo was at Rome in the early part of the summer of 1630, in order to submit his "Dialogues" to the Roman censorship, an introduction was sketched for him, which he was to complete at Florence, and on his intended return to Rome in the autumn to lay it and the whole manuscript before the Master of the Palace for final revision.[3] From the good understanding which then existed between Riccardi, Mgr. Ciampoli, and Galileo, and from the contents of the introduc-
