Eustachius a Sancto Paolo. Summa philosophiae quadripartita, de rebus dialecticis, moralibus, physicis, & metaphysicis. Cologne: Lazarus Zetzner, 1616.

This textbook, first published in Paris in 1609, shows the tremendous continuing popularity of the Aristotelian or Scholastic view of the universe.

Beinecke Call Number: K8 Eu8 c616

E. de Montl’hery. De la trompette dv ciel: c’est á dire, dv comete effrayable, qvi l’an de Christ 1618 est apparu, & diligemment obserue. Iverdon: L’Imprimerie de la Societé heluetiale caldoresque, 1619.

"Montl’hery’s was one of many commentaries sparked by the comets of 1618, viewed, as he writes, “with astonishment by all, like a minister and trumpet of God, who spoke from the heavens in all tongues and to all nations, to demonstrate the wrath thereof [du Comete, qui avec estonnement a esté veu [sic] de tous, comme un Ministre, & Trompette de Dieu, qui a parlé du Ciel en toutes langues à toutes nations, & denoncé l’ire d’iceluy.]”

Beinecke Call Number: QB724 M65

John Bainbridge. An astronomicall description of the late comet from the 18. of Nov. 1618 to the 16. of Dec. following: With certaine morall prognosticks or applications drawne from the comets motion and irradiation amongst the celestiall hieroglyphicks. London, 1619.

This engraving of the comets of 1618, dedicated to the British monarch James I, shows the path of the three comets through the signs of the zodiac. At the bottom left, holding the serpent, is Opiuchus; in the center, Arctophylax and Virgo; at the top right, the tail and rump of Ursa major, the bear.

Beinecke Call Number: QB724 B35

Johann Kaspar Odontius. Kometakribographia, das ist, Eygentliche, gründliche Beschreibung dess im November vnd December erschienenen Cometen, im 1618. Jahr Jesu Christi. Nuremberg: Johann Lauern, 1619.

An astronomer and student of Kepler, Johann Kaspar Odontius published this treatise describing his observations in Nuremberg, Germany, of the November and December comets of 1618. This title page engraving shows the comets blazing from Ursa Major, the bear, through the constellation Boötes, also known as the bear’s keeper.

Beinecke Call Number: 2008 2096

Mario Guiducci. Discorso delle comete di mario Guiducci fatto da lui nell’Accademia fiorentina. Florence: Pietro Cecconcelli, 1619.

Three comets appeared in 1618, occasioning much debate over their meaning and the nature of comets as heavenly bodies. Forbidden by the Inquisition to publish on matters relating to Copernicanism, Galileo used his much younger student and friend Guiducci as the “front” for his work on comets. This lecture was delivered by Guiducci at the Florentine Academy before its publication.

Beinecke Call Number: 1983 58

Augustin Rademan. Gründliche vnd warhafftige Beschreibung des grossen vnd erschrecklichen Cometen, der mit gewisser Muthmassung in dem Monat Octobris, dieses 1618. Jahrs, seine Entzündung empfangen. Erfurt: Mechlers Erben, [1619].

The author of this pamphlet on the “great and terrifying” comet of October 1618, names it an omen of those great changes to come in the entire Holy Roman Empire. The comet is shown here, on its journey through the conjunction of Mars and Saturn.

Beinecke Call Number: 2008 2027

Johannes Kepler. De cometis libelli tres. Augsburg: Andreus Aperger, at the premises of Sebastian Mylius, 1619 [i.e. 1620].

Kepler began his investigations into comets following the comet of 1607. As can be seen in this work, research into the motions or composition of comets in no way precluded a belief in comets as portents.

Beinecke Call Number: 1975 377

Elias Ehinger. Von dem newen Cometa welcher den 1. Decemb. 1618 am Morgen vor vnd nach 6 Uhren zu Augspurg von vilen Personen gesehen worden. Augsburg: Johann Schultes, [1621].

This volume includes a plate showing the citizens of Augsburg watching the comet of November 1618.

Beinecke Call Number: 2009 89

Frances Godwin. The man in the moone, or, A discourse of a voyage thither by Domingo Gonsales the speedy messenger. London: John Norton, to be sold by Ioshua Kirton and Thomas Warren, 1638.

Godwin’s hapless fictional hero is shown here on his travels to the moon.

Beinecke Call Number: Ih G549 638

Gabriel Thibauld. Summa philosophica quattor in partes distributa. France, 1639-1641.

Gabriel Thibauld, a seventeenth-century French theologian, can be seen here illustrating several competing visions of the solar system, including those of Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Eustachius a Sancto Paolo, and the “true system” [“verum systema”] of Aquinas.

Beinecke Call Number: Gen MSS Vol 479

Johannes Hevelius. Selenographia; sive, Lunae descriptio. Danzig: Hünefeld, 1647.

For this exquisite first atlas of lunar cartography, the Polish astronomer Hevelius made his observations from his household observatory in Danzig, engraving all the plates for his Selenographia himself. The resulting work, a survey of astronomical practice from the construction of lenses and telescopes through the observation of sunspots and the satellites of Jupiter, established the authority of the visual in astronomical discussion.

Beinecke Call Number: QB581 H48+ Oversize