La scienza nuova, 1725, 1730, 1744

Abstract

Vico wrote three versions of his last work, La scienza nuova, all of which were published in Naples in 1725, in 1730 and in 1744, the year of his death.¹ With very few exceptions, it has been the final version which has been considered the definitive edition, to the exclusion not only of the two previous editions but also of all of Vico’s other writings. Only in this century has this overemphasis been somewhat rectified in the Italian-speaking world by research on Vico’s early works, especially in their specific Neapolitan or Italian cultural contexts,² and in addition, more recently, by the 1981 publication by Lessico Intellettuale Europeo of a concordance of the 1725 edition³ (with concordances of the rest of his works to follow shortly) and the release in 1987 by the Centro di Studi Vichiani of the orations as the first volume of the long-awaited scholarly edition of Vico.⁴