Beschreibung:

Sphaera mundi; Johannes Regiomontanus. Disputationes contra Cremonensia deliramenta; George Peurbach. Theoricae novae planetarum, [probably edited by Johannes Lucilius Santritter], Venice: Erhard Ratdolt [before 4 November 1485], 58 leaves, roman letter, 33 lines, full-page woodcut of an armillary sphere (tiny hole), woodcut initials and astronomical illustrations, 9 diagrams partly colour printed in black, red, yellow, bistre and brown, all with some acidic offsetting/staining and some resultant cracking of paper to leaf 3[5], small hole to centre of final two leaves affecting one line of text on penultimate leaf and three lines of text on final leaf, recto and verso, neat old ink Latin marginalia throughout (trimmed at foremargins), bookplate of Ken Tomkinson to front pastedown, all edges gilt, 19th-century red straight grain morocco gilt, rubbed, small 4to (205 x 147mm) Sphaera mundi was a cornerstone of medieval astronomy that enjoyed wide circulation from its origin in the 13th century. It was taught in all the schools of Europe and went through 35 editions in the incunable period alone, this being the second Ratdolt edition. Divided into four chapters it first defines a sphere, then its cycles, the rising and settings of the signs and finally movements of the sun and other planets. The later works by Peurbach and his pupil Regiomontanus signalled a new understanding of astronomy and marked the end of the dominance of classical Greek Ptolemaic astronomy. Goff J406; Hain *14111. (1)