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Details
BRAHE, Tycho (1546-1601). Astronomiae instauratae mechanica. Wandsbek: Philipp von Ohr for the author, 1598.
Super-royal 4° (330 x 235mm). Title printed in red and black. 22 illustrations of Brahe's astronomical instruments (4 engraved and 18 woodcut), 9 woodcut plans and diagrams including a map of Hven, title and final verso with two different woodcut versions of the author's large allegorical device, woodcut head- and tailpieces and ornamental initials, type-ornament page borders throughout (including verso of title), ALL ILLUSTRATIONS, DIAGRAMS AND ORNAMENTS FINELY COLOURED AND ILLUMINATED BY A CONTEMPORARY HAND, the initials coloured in light red, page-borders all in green, head- and tailpieces in light red, blue and green. The imperfectly printed headline on G3r completed, as in most copies, in manuscript, possibly by the author; one word in line 29 on the opposite leaf G2v corrected seemingly in the same hand. EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH JACQUES DE GHEYN’S ENGRAVED PORTRAIT OF BRAHE MOUNTED ON VERSO OF TITLE, UNIFORMLY HAND-COLOURED WITH THE REST OF THE BOOK. (First two and final gatherings repaired at gutter, some minor marginal finger-soiling, heavier to title, occasional light offsetting.) Modern binding reusing old vellum and later endpapers, these latter with stamps ‘Leitzkau’ and engraved bookplate ‘Charles Thellusson’ (rebacked), green and gilt edges. Provenance: three stamps erased from title — first recto foliated ‘1’, verso of final leaf ‘42’ with illegible initials, considerable underlining and occasional ‘NB’s in margins, all seemingly matching in a 19th-century hand.
UNRECORDED COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION OF BRAHE'S DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF HIS ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS AND OBSERVATORY on the island of Hven in the Danish Sound. In 1576 King Frederick II of Denmark conferred upon Brahe the lifelong use of the island, and Brahe established there a well-equipped modern observatory. The complex was furnished with two dozen large astronomical instruments of Brahe's own design — all without magnification but precisely graduated to facilitate angular measurements on his famous brass-covered celestial globe. Thanks to his relatively simple — but surprisingly accurate — instruments, Brahe spent a decade carrying out the first systematic astronomical observations since the Alexandrian period. It was from Brahe's mass of data that Kepler would discover the laws of planetary motion and construct a theory of the universe.
Already in 1588 Brahe had mentioned to a correspondent his desire to publish a description of the instruments, and by 1596 the woodblocks used in the present edition were ready. However, following the death of his protector Frederick II in 1588, Brahe fell out of favour at court, and, unable to obtain from the young Christian IV the necessary funds for maintenance of the observatory, left Hven in the spring of 1597. By October of that year he had taken up residence, instruments and all, in the castle of his friend and patron Landgrave Heinrich Rantzau at Wandsbek near Hamburg. There, he devoted himself to observations and to the publication of this descriptive catalogue of his extraordinary instruments and observatories. Brahe hired the Hamburg printer Philipp von Ohr, who printed a small number of copies of the Mechanica on Brahe's press in Rantzau's castle, making it THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED AT WANDSBEK (and the last, for several decades). The book was printed on thick good-quality paper; to the original 18 woodcuts, four engravings were added, two reserved for the most famous instruments, the wall quadrant and the globe. Probably executed in Germany, these were THE FIRST COPPERPLATE ILLUSTRATIONS TO APPEAR IN A DANISH BOOK. The book also contains an autobiographical sketch and extracts of correspondence relating to Brahe's work at Hven. It was printed for private distribution in a small print-run, perhaps as small as 40, certainly not exceeding 100 copies, and dedicated to Rudolph II, whose patronage Brahe was actively seeking at the time.
Brahe presented copies of his work, often inscribing them on the front flyleaf, to a number of prominent scientists and patrons of the arts and sciences. Several presentation copies are known where contemporary engraved portraits of Brahe have been mounted on the verso of the title. Although the front fly-leaf of this copy has been lost, the presence of De Gheyn’s portrait — with plumed cap and wearing state clothes, seated beneath an arch decorated with Brahe’s 16 quarterings — suggests the possibility it was in fact used for presentation. The edges are green and gilt, which may also be indicative of a presentation copy.
Dreyer Tycho Brahe, p. 260, passim; Brunet I, 1200; Houzeau & Lancaster 2703; Nielsen Dansk Bibliografi 432; W. Norlind Tycho Brahe (1970), pp. 268-293; Rosenkilde and Balhausen Thesaurus Librorum Danicorum 258; Zinner 3758.
Super-royal 4° (330 x 235mm). Title printed in red and black. 22 illustrations of Brahe's astronomical instruments (4 engraved and 18 woodcut), 9 woodcut plans and diagrams including a map of Hven, title and final verso with two different woodcut versions of the author's large allegorical device, woodcut head- and tailpieces and ornamental initials, type-ornament page borders throughout (including verso of title), ALL ILLUSTRATIONS, DIAGRAMS AND ORNAMENTS FINELY COLOURED AND ILLUMINATED BY A CONTEMPORARY HAND, the initials coloured in light red, page-borders all in green, head- and tailpieces in light red, blue and green. The imperfectly printed headline on G3r completed, as in most copies, in manuscript, possibly by the author; one word in line 29 on the opposite leaf G2v corrected seemingly in the same hand. EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH JACQUES DE GHEYN’S ENGRAVED PORTRAIT OF BRAHE MOUNTED ON VERSO OF TITLE, UNIFORMLY HAND-COLOURED WITH THE REST OF THE BOOK. (First two and final gatherings repaired at gutter, some minor marginal finger-soiling, heavier to title, occasional light offsetting.) Modern binding reusing old vellum and later endpapers, these latter with stamps ‘Leitzkau’ and engraved bookplate ‘Charles Thellusson’ (rebacked), green and gilt edges. Provenance: three stamps erased from title — first recto foliated ‘1’, verso of final leaf ‘42’ with illegible initials, considerable underlining and occasional ‘NB’s in margins, all seemingly matching in a 19th-century hand.
UNRECORDED COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION OF BRAHE'S DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF HIS ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS AND OBSERVATORY on the island of Hven in the Danish Sound. In 1576 King Frederick II of Denmark conferred upon Brahe the lifelong use of the island, and Brahe established there a well-equipped modern observatory. The complex was furnished with two dozen large astronomical instruments of Brahe's own design — all without magnification but precisely graduated to facilitate angular measurements on his famous brass-covered celestial globe. Thanks to his relatively simple — but surprisingly accurate — instruments, Brahe spent a decade carrying out the first systematic astronomical observations since the Alexandrian period. It was from Brahe's mass of data that Kepler would discover the laws of planetary motion and construct a theory of the universe.
Already in 1588 Brahe had mentioned to a correspondent his desire to publish a description of the instruments, and by 1596 the woodblocks used in the present edition were ready. However, following the death of his protector Frederick II in 1588, Brahe fell out of favour at court, and, unable to obtain from the young Christian IV the necessary funds for maintenance of the observatory, left Hven in the spring of 1597. By October of that year he had taken up residence, instruments and all, in the castle of his friend and patron Landgrave Heinrich Rantzau at Wandsbek near Hamburg. There, he devoted himself to observations and to the publication of this descriptive catalogue of his extraordinary instruments and observatories. Brahe hired the Hamburg printer Philipp von Ohr, who printed a small number of copies of the Mechanica on Brahe's press in Rantzau's castle, making it THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED AT WANDSBEK (and the last, for several decades). The book was printed on thick good-quality paper; to the original 18 woodcuts, four engravings were added, two reserved for the most famous instruments, the wall quadrant and the globe. Probably executed in Germany, these were THE FIRST COPPERPLATE ILLUSTRATIONS TO APPEAR IN A DANISH BOOK. The book also contains an autobiographical sketch and extracts of correspondence relating to Brahe's work at Hven. It was printed for private distribution in a small print-run, perhaps as small as 40, certainly not exceeding 100 copies, and dedicated to Rudolph II, whose patronage Brahe was actively seeking at the time.
Brahe presented copies of his work, often inscribing them on the front flyleaf, to a number of prominent scientists and patrons of the arts and sciences. Several presentation copies are known where contemporary engraved portraits of Brahe have been mounted on the verso of the title. Although the front fly-leaf of this copy has been lost, the presence of De Gheyn’s portrait — with plumed cap and wearing state clothes, seated beneath an arch decorated with Brahe’s 16 quarterings — suggests the possibility it was in fact used for presentation. The edges are green and gilt, which may also be indicative of a presentation copy.
Dreyer Tycho Brahe, p. 260, passim; Brunet I, 1200; Houzeau & Lancaster 2703; Nielsen Dansk Bibliografi 432; W. Norlind Tycho Brahe (1970), pp. 268-293; Rosenkilde and Balhausen Thesaurus Librorum Danicorum 258; Zinner 3758.
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