16 - Natural Sciences - Cosmology

Natural Sciences - Cosmology Macrobius, Ambrosius Theodosius In *Somnium Scipionis*, Book II, and *Saturnaliorum*, Book VII. With a woodcut title vignette, 6 schematic woodcut illustrations, and 1 world map as a woodcut illustration. Lyon, Pganus, 1560. 567 pp., 35 leaves. Contemporary leather binding with a coat-of-arms supralibros (battered, spine restored and re-bound). Later edition, collation-identical to the 1550 edition by Gryphius. - Adams M 69 - Baudrier IV, 281 - Ebert 12716 - Includes the world map first published in 1483 (p. 144, approx. 8 x 8 cm), depicting the antipodal world—a so-called zone or climate map showing a continent in the south of the Old World (Shirley 13). - This volume brings together the only two surviving works by the late-antique Neoplatonist Macrobius (c. 400 CE): the two-volume commentary on Cicero’s *Somnium Scipionis*, the famous dream vision of Scipio at the end of his *De re publica*, as well as the *Saturnalia* in seven books, a fictional table talk among learned men at the house of Vettius Praetextatus during the Saturnalia, which brings together a wealth of antiquarian, mythological, and grammatical knowledge. The commentary on the “Somnium Scipionis” ranks among the most influential cosmological texts of the Middle Ages and the early modern period and contains Macrobius’s theory of climate zones as well as his famous worldview featuring the hypothetical counter-earth (Antichthon or Antipodes), which was intended to serve as a counterweight to the known northern landmass. This edition illustrates this with the characteristic six schematic diagrams on the theory of the spheres and climate zones, as well as the small circular world map that divides the Earth into the five zones —the habitable “Temperata Nostra,” the uninhabitable cold zones “Frigida” at the poles, and the “sun-scorched” equatorial zone “Perusta”—and thus draws on the visual formula handed down since the 1483 editio princeps in Brescia, which contributed significantly to the spread of the antipode theory during the Renaissance. Partly slightly browned; the first 2 leaves have small marginal stains; the blank title page and the first text page have red crackling; otherwise a fine copy. Later edition, matching the collation of the 1550 Gryphius edition. Adams M 69. Baudrier IV, 281. Ebert 12716. With the world map first published in 1483 (p. 144, approx. 8 x 8 cm), depicting the Antipodean world—a so-called zone or climate map showing a continent in the southern part of the Old World (Shirley 13). This volume brings together the only two surviving works by the late-antique Neoplatonist Macrobius (c. 400 AD): the two-book commentary on Cicero’s “Somnium Scipionis”—the famous dream vision of Scipio at the end of his “De re publica”— along with the “Saturnalia” in seven books, a fictional dinner-table conversation among learned men at the home of Vettius Praetextatus during the Saturnalia, which brings together a wealth of antiquarian, mythological, and grammatical knowledge. The commentary on the “Somnium Scipionis” ranks among the most influential cosmological texts of the Middle Ages and the early modern period. It contains Macrobius’s theory of the climate zones as well as his celebrated view of the world featuring the hypothetical counter-earth (Antichthon, or Antipodes), conceived as a counterweight to the known northern landmass. This edition illustrates this with the characteristic six schematic diagrams on the theory of the spheres and the climate zones, along with the small circular world map dividing the earth into five zones—the habitable “Temperata Nostra,” the uninhabitable frigid zones “Frigida” at the poles, and the equatorial zone “Perusta,” scorched by the sun. In doing so, it draws on the pictorial formula transmitted since the editio princeps of Brescia in 1483, which played a decisive role in spreading the theory of the Antipodes during the Renaissance. Partly somewhat browned; the first two leaves have small marginal defects; the blank title verso and first text page have red scribbles; otherwise, a good copy.