CECCATO, Valentino (1722-1792). Il moto della Terra dimostrato contrario alla fede ed alla ragione in sei lettere scritte ad un amico. Venice: Fenzo, 1783. Rare first and only edition, recorded in only three libraries (OPAC SBN), of one of the last printed works in defence of geocentrism, published when the Newtonian heliocentric model had already become dominant. The Venetian priest Valentino Ceccato, of the Church of San Geremia, addresses these six letters to an imaginary friend with the aim of refuting the Earth's rotation and orbital motion, which he considers contrary to both faith and reason. This work represents a rare example of late 18th-century anti-Copernican polemic and, in its marginality, marks one of the final echoes of a long-disputed cosmological paradigm. 4to (235 x 170mm). Copper-engraved allegorical frontispiece depicting an anthropomorphic sun, 5 folding engraved plates at the end, uncut (light foxing). Contemporary rustic paper (slightly worn). (1)