107

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Dissertatio cum Nuncio Sidereo nuper ad Mortales Misso a Galilaeo Galilaeo.

Frankfurt: Apud D. Zachariam Palthenium, 1609.
Third edition, octavo, pirated from the earlier 1610 editions printed first in Prague and Florence; woodcut device to title page, some toning to contents; bound in later mottled paper boards; 6 x 3 1/2 in.

"Thus, while the poets were celebrating Galileo's discoveries which had become the talk of the world, the scholars in his own country were, with very few exceptions, hostile or skeptical. The first, and for some time the only scholarly voice raised in public defense of Galileo, was Johannes Kepler's. It was also the weightiest voice, for Kepler's authority as the first astronomer of Europe was uncontested. [...] In the first days of April [1610], the Emperor received a copy of the Star Messenger [Sidereus Nuncius] which had just been published in Venice, and Kepler was graciously permitted 'to have a look and rapidly glance through it.' On 8 April, at last, he received a copy of his own from Galileo, accompanied by a request for his opinion. [...] He did it enthusiastically and without hesitation, publicly offering to serve in the battle as Galileo's 'squire' or 'shield bearer.'" (Quoted from Arthur Koestler's The Sleepwalkers, 1964.)

  • Notes: Ex libris Professor, Astronomer, Historian & Bibliophile Owen Gingerich.
  • Condition: A-C8, D3, lacking final blank D4.

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