Quaestiones novae in libellum de sphaera Ioannis de Sacro Busto

Francoforti: Ex officina Petri Brubachii, 1549 An extremely rare work. Johannes Sacrobosco’s Tractatus de Sphaera, first written around 1230 and first printed around 1472, set the framework for European understanding of astronomy for 400 years. Based on the work of Ptolemy Alfraganus, and using more recent Arabic sources, he presented a vision of the heavens as a series of enveloping spheres. The tables in his work are an almanac relating the 'rising' and 'setting' of celestial spheres with respect to the calendar. As this work presented the stars in terms of constellations, it also became of value to astrologers. In this setting the Earth is also a sphere, at the centre of the universe, around which the spheres of the heavens rotate. It was copied many times in the 15th and 16th centuries - sometimes as a whole text, and sometimes in the form of 'Quaestiones'. This version by Hartmann Beyer is in the latter form. Beyer (1516-1577) was a mathematician, theologian and reformer - much influenced by Martin Luther. This copy is in a recent plain full leather binding with raised bands. The endpapers are new with no signs of previous ownership. Internally with decorative title page (small loss to bottom edge and top corner); Note on the edition with decorative initial capital 11pp; Index 3pp; Questiones with large decorative initial capital - pp1-125 with 'finis'; 3 further pages; errata; repeat of title page motif with some scholarly notes in ink on the reverse. There are 2 diagrams in the text and numerous tables. There are two sets of scholarly annotations - one in red and one in black ink (at one stage doing calculations). The pages are browned and, towards the end, have some nibbled edges but the text is clear and complete. A rare survival. Please enquire if you would like additional images to assess content and condition.