Descripción
De stella nova in pede serpentarii. Prague: Typis Paulus Sessius, 1606. In two parts. II. De stella tertii honoris in cygno, quae us que ad annum M.DC. fuit incognita. Prague: Paulus Sessius, 1606. III. Jesu Christi servatoris nostri vero anno natalitio. Frankfurt: Wolfgang Richter, 1606. Four parts in one volume. 4to (205 x 160 mm). [12], 212; 35, [3] pp., including general title with woodcut printer's device and 3 separate title-pages, folding engraved plate, woodcut initials, woodcut illustrations and diagrams in text, with final blank E4. Signatures: )?(6 A-Cc4 Dd2; A-E4. Near contemporary vellum over boards, title gilt-lettered on spine, green-dyed edges (small wormholes at spine, wormtracks in pastedowns, light bumping of lower corners). Text browned as usual (12 gatherings more heavily), occasional minor spotting, larger ink smudge on p.60, a few smaller ink stains elsewhere, tiny single wormholes to title margins, small early paper repairs in leaf Dd2 just touching a letter (no loss), the folding plate with ink stain at top corner. A very good, complete copy. ---- RARE FIRST EDITION of Johannes Kepler's detailed description of the supernova of October 1604, commissioned by the Emperor, observing the colour, brightness, distance to the earth and other phenomena of the 'new star'. The supernova suddenly appeared within a few degrees of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, in the constellation of Serpentarius. Kepler first observed it on October 17th. Although he shared Tycho Brahe's opinion as to the origin of such bodies by condensation of nebulous matter from the Milky Way, Kepler attached mystical significance to the fact that the star appeared at the time of a triple conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. "Kepler was of opinion that it was generated from an ethereal substance, not confined exclusively to the region of the Milky Way, as Tycho Brahe had supposed in the case of the star of 1572, but pervading all space" (Grant). The new star surpassed in brightness these planets, as well as stars of the first magnitude; it remained visible for 17 months. Kepler's "extensive collection of observations and opinions appeared in a longer work . . . A subtitle announced it as: 'a book full of astronomical, physical, metaphysical, meteorological and astrological discussions, glorious and unusual.' That it was. Early chapters described the nova's appearance, astrological significance, and possible origin" (DSB). It discusses the central position of the sun in the universe and also calculates the size of the universe. The Nova was subsequently named Kepler's Nova or Kepler's star. The book was printed partly at Prague and partly at Frankfurt am Main. Two variants of the title-page of the first two parts are recorded, this one with the imprint: "Typis Pauli Sessii, impensis Authoris". No definitive priority has been established but correspondence by Kepler (quoted by Caspar) suggests that the present title-page is the second corrected version, which was Kepler's preferred issue and is much scarcer. In the last part of this work Kepler speculates on the true birthdate of Jesus, a study which increasingly interested him and which resulted in the publication of his chronological essays on this subject in 1615. References: Caspar 27; Cinti 17; Houzeau & Lancaster 2843; DSB VII, p. 297; R.Grant, History of Physical Astronomy, from the earliest ages to the middle of the nineteenth century, etc., 1852, p.539. - Visit our website to see more images!. N° de ref. del artículo 003736
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