Ignazio or Egnazio Danti - Trattato dell'uso et della fabbrica dell'astrolabio (Treatise on the Use and Manufacture) - 1569

1569 FIRST EDITION OF ASTRONOMY, MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, METEOROLOGY, GEOMETRY, ASTROLOGY, CARTOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY, SUNDIALS by Ignazio or Egnazio Danti (1536-1586), a mathematician, astronomer and cosmographer. This richly illustrated book contains the first complete description of the astrolabe printed in Italy and in Italian, and the earliest known picture of woman using a scientific instrument (page 124, fifth photo). Using the tools shown in this book, Danti created the gigantic globe visible in the Palazzo Vecchio in Firenze, which, with its 220 cm (7.2 feet) diameter, is the oldest large globe to have survived to the present day. Danti describes the functioning of his universal astrolabe and the method of its construction. For this purpose, he examines some of the most important models of his time, designed by Gemma Frisius, Juan de Rojas Sarmiento and Oronce Finé. This astrolabe designed by Danti and inspired by the Spanish mathematician Juan de Rojas offers many precise measurements from any geographical position, provides a two-dimensional representation of the sky, allowing the positions of the Sun, the Moon and the stars to be determined, and provides a shadow square, zodiacal circle, starry map (rete), alidade, degree scale, etc... and Galileo himself used it for his astronomical calculations. At that time, the goal of many Italian scientists was to popularize science, which is why it is one of the first books in Italian to deal with astronomy and astrolabes and the measurement of planets and stars for navigation, astronomy, and astrology. This treatise on the construction of astronomical instruments also cites and draws on the studies of Vitruvius and the mathematical analyses of Ptolemy. The book is in very good condition with its antique binding of the period, and dozens of detailed and intact illustrations. No copies for sale, only the second edition of 1578 available at US$ 5,500, references; World Cat OCLC n°8639664; USTC n°825459; Adams D-123; Riccardi I, 389.1; Houzeau and Lancaster 3288; IA 149.985; EDIT 16 CNCE 15995; Catálogo Colectivo del Patrimonio Bibliográfico Español n°CCPB000007138-2; Heilbron, John Lewis (1990). The Sun in the Church. Cathedrals as Solar Observatories. Harvard University Press. p. 62; T. Frangenberg, Egnatio Danti's optics. Cinquecento Aristotelianism and the medieval tradition, Nuncius Ann. Storia Sci. 3 (1) (1988). COMPLETE FIRST EDITION.

TITLE: Trattato dell'uso et della fabbrica dell'astrolabio...Con l'aggiunta del planisferio del Roias... (Treatise on the Use and Manufacture of the Astrolabe...With the Addition of the Planisphere of Roias…)
AUTHORS: Ignazio or Egnazio Danti (1536-1586), and Juan de Rojas y Sarmiento (active 16th century)
PUBLISHER: Giunti or Giunta family / heirs
DATE: MDLXVIIII (1569), Florence, first edition, text in Italian

This book covers stars, sizes of the planets and their distances from the Earth, temperatures, 5 climate zones, sundials, solar apogee, the calculation of meridians, longitudes, future positions and orbits of several planets, calculation of the obliquity of the ecliptic, or axial tilt of the earth at 23 degrees, 28 minutes (a mistake of just 2 minutes), measuring time and light according to the seasons, and a new universal astrolabe. The work deals primarily with arithmetic, geometry, and cosmography. Danti taught mathematics in Florence, Bologna and then moved to Roma where he became cosmographer and mathematician to the Pope. In 1574, using his various instruments, Danti detected the 11 day error in the calendar when he calculated the vernal equinox to have fallen on 11 March rather than on 22 March as it should for the calendar to be in step with the seasons. So in the Vatican, together with other scientists, he contributed to modifying the old incorrect calendar and updating it in 1582 with the Gregorian one currently in use. At the Pope's request, he directed the creation of the giant frescoed maps in the Vatican Museums, which can be visited today, where the Pope could "stroll around Italy without leaving the palace." Danti had designed numerous astronomical instruments which are still visible, for example; a quadrant and two equinoctial armillae were set up in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence to make accurate determinations of the vernal equinox so that he could determine the error in the calendar. In order to calibrate the astronomical year Danti had to calculate accurately the height of the noon sun, which he achieved by making a small hole in the round window of the church to act as a camera obscura. Later he made another hole higher up the south facing facade of the church and, to allow the light to strike this hole, he had to cut a slot in the vault of the church which can still be seen today. Danti served as cosmographer to Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574) in Tuscany, and drafted the big maps with Giorgio Vasari that, still today, decorate the cupboards of the Sala delle Carte [Map Room] of the Palazzo Vecchio.

DESCRIPTION: In 4to size, height 235 x width 167 mm (9.3 by 6.6 inches). Pages [8], 194 [i.e. 192], 38, [10]. Title page and printer's device on the verso of the third leaf depicting a globe with Africa and Asia, dozens of beautiful and detailed woodcuts in the text, occasional stains, a few old-fashioned annotations on about 12 pages in the white margins, text and illustrations intact and well-printed. Antique original and solid parchment binding with vertical manuscript title on the smooth spine and lower edge. One of the first astronomical treatises in Italian, later republished by Giunta in 1578. COMPLETE FIRST EDITION.

SECONDARY AUTHOR: Juan de Rojas y Sarmiento was a Spanish mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 16th century. In his written works, Rojas presents himself as a popularizer of science and rejects the idea of ​​being considered an inventor; however, he is one of the creators of orthographic projection, which he successfully applied in the construction of astrolabes. Juan de Rojas was the second son of the first Marquis of Poza. He studied arts and mathematics, and after completing his studies in Spain, he had the opportunity to travel to Flanders, possibly accompanying Emperor Charles V and his son, the future Philip II. During this journey, it is very likely that he perfected his astronomical and mathematical knowledge in Leuven, receiving lessons from Gemma Frisius himself, a teacher who later became a friend. In Leuven, he met Hugo Helt, with whom he subsequently maintained a long scientific and epistolary relationship. Juan de Rojas wrote a treatise that became internationally famous on the orthographic projection of the sphere, published in Paris in 1550 under the title "Commentariorum in Astrolabium, Quod Planisphaerium Vocant, Libri Sex". The work became very popular in European universities of the time, and within a few years of its publication, it was already being discussed in Italy, the Netherlands, and France.

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