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1071 - PICCOLOMINI, Alessandro *On the Sphere of the World* [...]. Divided into four books [...]. On the Fixed Stars, Book One, with its illustrations and tables, where, with marvelous ease, anyone can identify any of the 48 stars of the starry sky and learn their stories in full [...]. Venice, “Al segno del pozzo” (N. de Bascarini), 1552, Sm. 4to: 58-122-[4] ff. (washed, marginal tear without loss on f. 46, light water stains on a few leaves, occasional light browning or spotting, some faint old manuscript annotations in the margins). Modern Bradel old-style half-vellum, brown Balacron on boards. Third edition (1st 1540). Woodcut illustrations: printer’s mark on both title pages, 47 full-page star maps (numbered I–XLVIII, n. XXIV omitted), numerous astronomical diagrams, and historiated initials. The first part presents a traditional Ptolemaic-Aristotelian geocentric cosmography; the appended “De le stelle fisse” constitutes the first printed star atlas and introduced the now-standard practice of identifying individual stars by letter—a convention that would prove to have a lasting influence. Piccolomini was also the first to represent the relative brightness of stars in an atlas, grading them by size within each map. Unlike his predecessors, he depicted the constellations as seen from Earth rather than projected onto a globe, making the charts considerably more practical for direct observation. Strikingly, none of the maps includes the traditional mythological figures associated with the constellations—a deliberate choice reflecting Piccolomini’s commitment to empirical representation over decorative convention. Ref. Adams P-1108. - EDIT16. - Houzeau & Lancaster 2491. From the collection of Giancarlo Beltrame (P.A. Christie’s, April 26, 2017, Library of Scientific Books, Pt. III:219).
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€1,000 - 1,500Sale fees
PICCOLOMINI, Alessandro *On the Sphere of the World* [...]. Divided into four books [...]. On the Fixed Stars, Book One, with its illustrations and tables, where, with marvelous ease, anyone can identify any of the 48 stars of the starry sky and learn their stories in full [...]. Venice, “Al segno del pozzo” (N. de Bascarini), 1552, Sm. 4to: 58-122-[4] ff. (washed, marginal tear without loss on f. 46, light water stains on a few leaves, occasional light browning or spotting, some faint old manuscript annotations in the margins). Modern Bradel old-style half-vellum, brown Balacron on boards. Third edition (1st 1540). Woodcut illustrations: printer’s mark on both title pages, 47 full-page star maps (numbered I–XLVIII, n. XXIV omitted), numerous astronomical diagrams, and historiated initials. The first part presents a traditional Ptolemaic-Aristotelian geocentric cosmography; the appended “De le stelle fisse” constitutes the first printed star atlas and introduced the now-standard practice of identifying individual stars by letter—a convention that would prove to have a lasting influence. Piccolomini was also the first to represent the relative brightness of stars in an atlas, grading them by size within each map. Unlike his predecessors, he depicted the constellations as seen from Earth rather than projected onto a globe, making the charts considerably more practical for direct observation. Strikingly, none of the maps includes the traditional mythological figures associated with the constellations—a deliberate choice reflecting Piccolomini’s commitment to empirical representation over decorative convention. Ref. Adams P-1108. - EDIT16. - Houzeau & Lancaster 2491. From the collection of Giancarlo Beltrame (P.A. Christie’s, April 26, 2017, Library of Scientific Books, Pt. III:219).
Auction details
Cartography, atlases, old manuscripts, old and rare booksAuction house
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