Woodcut printer’s device on title. 4 p.l., 400 pp. Small thick 8vo, cont. richly blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, one of the stamps with “H M” with the date “160[?]”, two catches & one (of two) clasps. Hanau: G. Antonius, 1607.

[bound with]:

THEODORICUS, Sebastianus. Novae Quaestiones Sphaericae, hoc est, de Circulis Coelestibus & primo mobili, in gratiam studiosae juventutis scriptae. Woodcut on title, numerous astronomical woodcuts in the text, three folding printed tables, & one large woodcut plate. 8 p.l. (the last a blank), 320 pp. Small 8vo. Wittenberg: L. Seuberlich for S. Selfisch, 1605. More

Lithographed frontispiece of Lenoir by Lasteyrie in Vol. I. Vol. I: 1–99 leaves; Vol. II: 98–279 leaves; Vol. III: 278bis–328 leaves; Vol. IV: 1–168 leaves; Vol. V: 169–253 leaves. Five vols. Small folio (ca. 335 x 220 mm.), Vols. I-IV disbound, Vol. V in cont. cloth-backed paste-paper boards (extremities worn). Paris: ca. 1830.

A remarkable discovery: the unpublished working manuscript, with numerous corrections and additions, of Alexandre Lenoir (1761-1839), the controversial director of the revolutionary Musée des Monuments Français, antiquary, and critic. This manuscript remains unstudied in its entirety. While the manuscript was evidently prepared to be sent to the printer, Lenoir clearly could not let it... More

Fine engraved port. of the author holding a telescope. xiv (i.e. xvi), 158 (i.e. 160) pp. 4to, cont. limp boards (boards slightly soiled, minor spotting), uncut. Venice: F. Nicolini, 1685.

First edition and a lovely copy in original state. This book, a summary of Montanari’s battles against astrology, aroused great interest and brought about the banning of astrology from the universities. In this work, Montanari “instead of merely fulminating against astrology or repeating old arguments, attempted to show its falsity by experiments as well. His book is furthermore written in a sober, dispassionate and impartial manner which accords well with experimental... More

Large engraved vignette on title. 16 unnumbered leaves. Small 4to, attractive modern marbled boards. Leipzig: C. Kirchner, n.d [1664 or 1665].

First edition of this most uncommon account of the 1664 comet, visually the most impressive of the 17th century. It was observed by many of the greatest scientists of the period including Cassini and Borelli in Italy, Auzout and Petit in France, Hooke in England, and Samuel Danforth in North America.

In this work, Praetorius uses the pseudonym of Johannes Richter, “astrophilo.” Praetorius (1630-80), “had an open eye and a sharp ear for all wonder stories, witch tales, and accounts of ghosts... More

18 leaves. Small 4to, attractive modern marbled boards, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Wittenberg: C. Heyden, 1619.

First edition of this rare book which is considered by A.D.B. to be the author’s most important scientific work; it is a careful record of the third of the three bright comets of 1618-19. Schmidt (1570-1637), was “one of the last of the scholars of Germany who taught the language and literature of Greece in the spirit of Melanchthon. [Schmidt] was professor, first of Greek, and next of Mathematics, at Wittenberg. His principal work was an edition of Pindar, with a Latin translation and... More

One large woodcut diagram in the text. 24 unnumbered leaves. Small 4to, modern boards. Nuremberg: G. Schenck, 21 September 1502.

First edition; this is the first of only two books known to have been printed by Georg Schenck and the author’s only book. “In 1502 there was printed at Nürnberg a defense of astrology by Jakob Schonheintz, a doctor of arts and medicine and a Franconian. He signs his preface at Würzburg. The immediate occasion of this defense was ‘the impudence of a certain man who wishes himself to be considered a theologian, although he is anything else than one, who had attacked... More