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SCHÖNER, Johannes (1477-1547). Aequatorium Astronomicum. Ad lectorem: Sydera gyrato passim currentia coelo Volvat ut aequato pondere cuncta polus Orbibus aspectus varios hinc inde rotatis Lector sydereum hoc visere spondet opus. Bamberg: J. Schöner, 1521.
2° (490 x 331mm). Collation: A-B6, last leaf blank. 9 full-page woodcut astronomical diagrams, ALL COLOURED BY A CONTEMPORARY HAND, comprising: 1. Aequatorium Octavae Sphaerae - lacking volvelles, but with string; 2. Aequatorium Solis - lacking correct volvelles, but with three discs, one movable, all of which are duplicates of the Jupiter discs incorrectly placed here; 3. Aequatorium Lunae - four discs, two movable; 4. Aequatorium Saturni - four discs, two movable; 5. Aequatorium Iovis - four discs, two moveable; 6. Aequatorium Martis - six discs, two movable, all of which are the Mercury discs incorrectly placed here; 7. Aequatorium Veneris - four discs, two movable; 8. Aequatorium Mercurii - four discs (the outermost coming loose on thread), two movable, all of which are duplicates of the Jupiter discs incorrectly placed here; 9. Aequatorium coniuntionum oppositionum atque aspectuum lune ad solem. Title-page with hand-coloured coats-of-arms, text ruled in red throughout. (Title with 8 small wormholes, one affecting one letter, one tiny wormhole extending throughout in the lower margin, light marginal staining throughout, heavier to title.) Contemporary boards, reinforced with old vellum manuscript leaves on pastedowns, some overlapping on exterior of covers (sometime rebacked with black leather backstrip and vellum at hinges, extremities rubbed, in places heavily). Provenance: Waldburg-Wolfegg (library stamps on recto and verso of title, library classmark on title, printed library label at base of spine).
FINE COPY OF THE FIRST BOOK WITH PRINTED EQUATORIA, THE FIRST PRINTED INSTRUMENT TO PREDICT THE POSITION OF THE PLANETS. Born in Karlstadt near Würzburg, Schöner established himself as a priest in Bamberg, and set up a printing press in the town. He was highly interested in mathematics and astronomy and his cosmographic productions, particularly his globes, were highly regarded. His influence was such that it was Schöner who persuaded Georg Joachim Rheticus to make his famous journey north to Frauenberg, to meet Nicolaus Copernicus. Schöner was also responsible for producing the first pair of globes of the same size to represent the Earth and the heavens, thereby establishing the standard practice of pairing terrestrial and celestial globes. His impact was such that a Schöner celestial globe appears in Hans Holbein's famous painting, The Ambassadors (1533), now hanging in the National Gallery in London. The Aequatorium Astronomicum, produced on Schöner's printing press in Bamberg in 1521, employs movable paper discs to represent the movement of the planets, so that planetary positions could be calculated in accordance with Ptolemaic cosmology. It is intriguing that in this copy, duplicate Jupiter and Mercury discs have been used in place of the correct Sun, Mars and Mercury volvelles, but all of these 'duplicate' discs are coloured differently from one another. Neither of the two extant copies we have collated have all the correct discs in their correct positions.
EXTREMELY RARE — NO COPY HAS EVER SOLD AT AUCTION (ABPC/RBH), AND ONLY 5 OTHER COPIES APPARENTLY SURVIVE (British Library, Munich, Bamberg, Reutlingen and Vienna). No copy is recorded in North America. Sold with 6 graduated discs printed on 5 loose sheets, one of which vellum, probably 16th-17th century, apparently not connected with the Schoener publication.
2° (490 x 331mm). Collation: A-B6, last leaf blank. 9 full-page woodcut astronomical diagrams, ALL COLOURED BY A CONTEMPORARY HAND, comprising: 1. Aequatorium Octavae Sphaerae - lacking volvelles, but with string; 2. Aequatorium Solis - lacking correct volvelles, but with three discs, one movable, all of which are duplicates of the Jupiter discs incorrectly placed here; 3. Aequatorium Lunae - four discs, two movable; 4. Aequatorium Saturni - four discs, two movable; 5. Aequatorium Iovis - four discs, two moveable; 6. Aequatorium Martis - six discs, two movable, all of which are the Mercury discs incorrectly placed here; 7. Aequatorium Veneris - four discs, two movable; 8. Aequatorium Mercurii - four discs (the outermost coming loose on thread), two movable, all of which are duplicates of the Jupiter discs incorrectly placed here; 9. Aequatorium coniuntionum oppositionum atque aspectuum lune ad solem. Title-page with hand-coloured coats-of-arms, text ruled in red throughout. (Title with 8 small wormholes, one affecting one letter, one tiny wormhole extending throughout in the lower margin, light marginal staining throughout, heavier to title.) Contemporary boards, reinforced with old vellum manuscript leaves on pastedowns, some overlapping on exterior of covers (sometime rebacked with black leather backstrip and vellum at hinges, extremities rubbed, in places heavily). Provenance: Waldburg-Wolfegg (library stamps on recto and verso of title, library classmark on title, printed library label at base of spine).
FINE COPY OF THE FIRST BOOK WITH PRINTED EQUATORIA, THE FIRST PRINTED INSTRUMENT TO PREDICT THE POSITION OF THE PLANETS. Born in Karlstadt near Würzburg, Schöner established himself as a priest in Bamberg, and set up a printing press in the town. He was highly interested in mathematics and astronomy and his cosmographic productions, particularly his globes, were highly regarded. His influence was such that it was Schöner who persuaded Georg Joachim Rheticus to make his famous journey north to Frauenberg, to meet Nicolaus Copernicus. Schöner was also responsible for producing the first pair of globes of the same size to represent the Earth and the heavens, thereby establishing the standard practice of pairing terrestrial and celestial globes. His impact was such that a Schöner celestial globe appears in Hans Holbein's famous painting, The Ambassadors (1533), now hanging in the National Gallery in London. The Aequatorium Astronomicum, produced on Schöner's printing press in Bamberg in 1521, employs movable paper discs to represent the movement of the planets, so that planetary positions could be calculated in accordance with Ptolemaic cosmology. It is intriguing that in this copy, duplicate Jupiter and Mercury discs have been used in place of the correct Sun, Mars and Mercury volvelles, but all of these 'duplicate' discs are coloured differently from one another. Neither of the two extant copies we have collated have all the correct discs in their correct positions.
EXTREMELY RARE — NO COPY HAS EVER SOLD AT AUCTION (ABPC/RBH), AND ONLY 5 OTHER COPIES APPARENTLY SURVIVE (British Library, Munich, Bamberg, Reutlingen and Vienna). No copy is recorded in North America. Sold with 6 graduated discs printed on 5 loose sheets, one of which vellum, probably 16th-17th century, apparently not connected with the Schoener publication.
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