Regiomontanus, 1481

REGIOMONTANUS (1436–1476). Ephemerides, 1482–1506. – MARIENSÜSS, Bartholomaeus (d. 1504). Expositiones in Ephemerides et Tabula mansionum. Venice: Erhard Ratdolt, 1481.

Very rare incunable edition from Ratdolt’s press; Regiomontanus’s groundbreaking predictions of planetary positions. Regiomontanus, “the most important astronomer of the 1400s,” completed his tables of expected planetary positions in 1474 (Gingerich, The Book Nobody Read). It was the first work of its kind, computing the positions of the sun, moon and planets every day for the following 32 years, from 1475 to 1506. Many institutional copies of this edition printed in 1481 are fragmentary or imperfect comprising sometimes a single quire, often only the preface or the ephemerides for a single year. The present copy includes Ratdolt’s preface (a⁴), Mariensüss’ text (a¹⁰) and Regiomontanus’ ephemerides for the years 1499 and 1500 ([t–u¹⁴]).

Very rare, with no appearances at public auction (RBH). BMC XII 19; BSB-Ink R-61; Essling 278; GW M37488; Goff R-105; Klebs 839.4ISTC ir00105000.

Quarto (196 × 142mm). 42 leaves (of 364; first 2 leaves the preface (a⁴) preceding Mariensüss (a¹⁰), each ephemerides with its initial blank). Woodcut woodcut lunar eclipse for 1500 (occasional stains, small marginal tear at head of a1 (Mariensüss)). Modern calf (light scratches). Provenance: contemporary annotations in at least two hands (trimmed) – epistolary poem between two doctors dated 1499 on endpaper, possibly unique (ascenders of first line trimmed) – faint early ownership inscription – Owen Gingerich (bookplate).