HEVELIUS, Johannes.

Machinae Coelestis Pars Prior; Organographiam, sive Instrumentorum Astronomicorum omnium, quibus Auctor hactenus Sidera rimatus, ac dimensus est...

Finely engraved frontis., engraved headpiece & initial, engraved coat-of-arms, & 30 engraved plates(several double-page). 7 p.l. (incl. frontis.), 464 pp. Folio, cont. vellum over boards (a little bowed). Danzig: "Auctoris Typis, & Sumptibus," 1673. First edition, privately printed, of the description of Hevelius' observatory and catalogue of its instruments, at that time Europe's best observatory; it is the most lavish description of astronomical instruments ever published. The splendidly engraved plates depict various instruments. "The extensive introduction to this splendid volume contains the author's autobiographical account of his scientific education. The balance of the work contains a detailed description of Hevelius's observatory, 'Stellaburgum,' and his astronomical instruments. The account is enhanced by thirty most exquisite plates depicting in painstaking detail the scientific apparatus assembled by Hevelius. Several plates show instruments that were still in planning stages. Essentially, the work was to demonstrate the accuracy of Hevelius's measurements and the high degree of mechanical perfection of his instruments against certain critics of the French astronomical school."­B.Y.U., Johannes Hevelius (1971), 12. "Hevelius undoubtedly owed the success of his observations to his skill in designing, making, and engraving instruments: and the work [the present book] was of very great interest to his contemporaries."­D.S.B., VI, p. 362­(& see pp. 362-63 for a detailed description of the instruments). This is today a rare book. In 1679, a fire destroyed Hevelius' house and observatory in Danzig; his instruments, the workshop for their manufacture, most of his books and papers, his printing press, and stock of his publications were destroyed. The second part of this work, published a few months prior to the fire, contained only observational data. Most copies of this second part were consumed by the fire. Fine copy preserved in a box.

• USD 85,000.00 > autres monnaies
• Commande nro.: HillBibl-155

• libraire: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (USA)