WITH AN INTRODUCTION, COMPILED CHIEFLY FROM
DAVID LEVI'S GIORDANO BRUNO O LA RELIGIONE DEL PENSIERO
LONDON
GEORGE REDWAY
YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN
1887
INTRODUCTION.
First Dialogue.
Second Dialogue.
Third Dialogue.
Fourth Dialogue.
Fifth Dialogue.
PREFACE.
When this Translation was begun, more than twoyears ago, for my own pleasure, in leisure hours,I had no knowledge of the difficulty I should findin the work, nor any thought of ever having itprinted; but as "Gli Eroici Furori" of GiordanoBruno has never appeared in English, I decided topublish that portion of it which I have finished.
I wish to thank those friends who have so kindlylooked over my work from time to time, and givenme their help in the choice of words and phrases.I must, moreover, confess that I am keenly alive tothe shortcomings and defects of this Translation.
I have used the word "Enthusiasts" in the title,rather than "Enthusiasms," because it seemed to memore appropriate.
L. W.
Folkestone, September 1887.
ERRATA
Page 3, line 10, for "also mother" read "also my mother."
Page 47, line 9, for "poisons" read "poison."
Nola, a city founded by the Chalcidian Greeks, at ashort distance from Naples and from Vesuvius, wasthe birth-place of Giordano Bruno. It is describedby David Levi as a city which from ancient timeshad always been consecrated to science and letters.From the time of the Romans to that of theBarbarians and of the Middle Ages, Nola wasconspicuous for culture and refinement, and itsinhabitants were in all times remarkable for theircourteous manners, for valour, and for keenness ofperception. They were, moreover, distinguished bytheir love for and study of philosophy; so that thiscity was ever a favourite dwelling-place for thechoice spirits of the Renaissance. It may also beasserted that Nola was the only city of MagnaGræcia which, in spite of the persecutions of Paganemperors and Christian princes and clergy, alwayspreserved the philosophical traditions of the Pytha[Pg 2]goreans,and never was the sacred fire on the altarof Vesta suffered to become entirely extinct. Suchwas the intellectual and moral atmosphere in whichBruno passed his childhood. His paternal home wassituated at the foot of Mount Cicada, celebrated forits fruitful soil. From early youth his pleasurewas to pass the night out on the mountain, nowwatching the stars, now contemplating the arid,desolate sides of Vesuvius. He tells how, inrecalling those days—the only peaceful ones of hislife—he used to think, as he looked up at theinfinite expanse of heaven and the confines of thehorizon, with the towering volcano, that this mustbe the ultimate end of the earth, and it appeared asif neither tree nor grass refreshed the dreary spacewhich stretched out to the foot of the bare smoky