APIANUS, Petrus.

by Petrus Apianus

£64,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

The scarce first edition of this lavishly illustrated work on cosmography, astronomy, cartography and navigation a most famous Americanum and a ground-breaking landmark in the history of scientific illustration. One of the first European books to depict and discuss North America, [equipped with] movable volvelles allowing the readers to interact with and use some of the charts and instrument layouts presented .(MAA). A pioneer in the popularization of astronomy and cartography, Apianus (1495-1552) studied mathematics at Leipzig and Vienna. His first printed work was a world map (1520), based on Waldseem.ü.ller. s famous gores the second in print to use the name America . Cosmographicus Liber , which earned Apianus a professorship, was a very successful textbook, translated into most European languages throughout the C16 and later expanded by the mathematician Gemma Frisius. Largely based on Ptolemy, it begins with the definition of cosmography a broad science of the Renaissance which set out to explain everything in the universe within a mathematical framework (Barentine, p.147). In fact, cosmography was fundamentally concerned with using projective geometry to connect the heavens and the Earth, and, frequently, to relate solar motion, terrestrial location and time (Whipple, p.58). Part I discusses the movements of the spheres, the 5 climatic zones, the elevation of the poles, how to calculate latitude and longitude, as well as the distance between places, using instruments,

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.