This exhibition situates the scientific discussion of early modern astronomical observation within a broad popular sphere, hinting at the many simultaneous contexts in which astronomical literature was read, written, and considered. Four chronological periods frame the exhibit, roughly organized around the sixteenth-century precursors to the publication, in 1610, of Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius; the energetic discussions in the wake of the Starry Messenger, particularly around the comet of 1618; the mid-seventeenth century discussions of astronomical observation, in the wake of the Thirty Years War; and the persistence, well through the mid-eighteenth century, of many themes of these earlier popular and scientific discussions.
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Joannes Regiomontanus. De cometæ magnitudine, longitudine ac de loco eius uero, problemata XVI. Nuremberg: Fridericus Peypus, 1531. In this early work on comets, the German astronomer Regiomontanus argues that comets are recurrent, measurable astronomical phenomena. In this opening, he can be seen engaging with one of the knotty questions posed by comets: how far are they from the Earth? Comets were central to Aristotelian astronomy, in which celestial bodies were viewed as unchanging and perfect. Comets were therefore believed to belong to the "sub-lunary" sphere, between the earth and the moon, where all changing or transient heavenly bodies were found. Using parallax-or the differences in a comet's or object's appearance when viewed from two different locations-Regiomontanus began to investigate the distance of comets from the earth. Although his observations actually confirmed the Aristotelian theory, his method raised the possibility of a new engagement with questions on the nature and movement of celestial bodies. Beinecke Call Number: QB724 M83 1531 |
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Johannes Carion. Vom Cometen den man newlich jm MDXXXII Jar gesehen hat. Wittemberg: [Georg Rhaw, 1533]. "Comets are not stars," argues the German astronomer Carion, in this work on the comet of 1532, "but stars far beneath the stars, and are a great burning vapor high in the heavens. [Cometen sind nicht sternen/sondern sind fern unter den sternen/und sind ein grosser brennender dampff hohe in der lufft.]" The title page, depicting the comet in a mathematical horoscope, illustrates Carion's definition of comets as both astronomical and astrological phenomena. Beinecke Call Number: 2008 2354 |
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Nicolaus Copernicus. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium [On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres]. Nuremberg: Ioh. Petreius, 1543. This copy of Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelesitum is particularly interesting because it was annotated by two sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century German astronomers, Johann Hommel and Johannes Praetorius. This was the first published statement of Copernicus's theory that the sun, rather than the earth, lay at the center of the solar system. Beinecke Call Number: QB41 C663+ Oversize |
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Galileo Galilei. Siderevs nvncivs magna, longeqve admirabilia spectacula pandens. Venice: Thomas Baglioni, 1610. Galileo rushed to press with his observations of the satellites of Jupiter, the "cosmica sydera" with which the Sidereus nuncius begins. He had begun his observations in late November 1609, but it was only in early January 1610, that he began to observe the surprising presence and movement of several stars around the planet Jupiter. Galileo was immediately aware of the significance of his observations, and within weeks had brought the first section of the manuscript of the Starry Messenger to his printer, Thomas Baglioni. Even as the printer was finishing the work, Galileo was still adding text on the moon and the satellites of Jupiter. Beinecke Call Number: QB41 +G33 1610B copy 1 |
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Galileo Galilei. Siderevs nvncivs magna, longeqve admirabilia spectacula pandens. Venice: Thomas Baglioni, 1610. Galileo named the satellites of Jupiter after his patron, Cosimo de'Medici. As the dedication page of the first edition reveals, he initially called these moons the "Cosmica sidera." One week after having written to the Duke's secretary to inquire whether this gesture would be appreciated, Galileo received a response stating that the new satellites should not be called "Cosmica," because readers would think that the term referred to the cosmos rather than to Cosimo de'Medici. As the sheet had already been printed, however, all 550 copies of the first edition had to have "Cosmica" cancelled with a label reading "Medicea." Beinecke Call Number: QB41 +G33 1610B copy 2 |
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Galileo Galilei. Siderevs nvncivs, magna, longeqve admirabilia spectacula pandens. Frankfurt: Palthenianus, 1610. As these early pirated copies reveal, Galileo's Starry Messenger drew an immediate and fascinated audience. The illustrations were of particular interest, often issued in copies far inferior to the original. Galileo himself recognized the importance of illustrations to the work: just over a week after he had begun his observations of Jupiter's moons, Galileo can be found describing his plans for the woodblock prints of his drawings. Beinecke Call Number: QB41 G33 1610 copy 1 Beinecke Call Number: QB41 G33 1610 copy 2 |