In-8°; 1) cc. (104) e 2 tavole ripiegate; nel testo legni e tabelle. 2) pp. 269, (1) 1 cb., pp. (16), 229, (1), il testo è in latino e in greco. Legatura in piena pergamena con titolo in oro al dorso e tagli in azzurro. 1) Edizione originale, rara, della prima opera di Johannes Garcaeus/Gartze (1530-75) che testimonia in modo chiaro dell’influenza delle teorie copernicane nella letteratura del XVI secolo. Siamo nel pieno Cinquecento, quando il termine astrologia indica genericamente lo studio delle stelle. Garcaeus nella definizione dei cieli per gli oroscopi insiste particolarmente sulle basi matematiche e astronomiche per i calcoli delle posizioni dei pianeti. Nel testo vengono diffusamente citati Copernico e Tolomeo, e costantemente messe a confronto le tavole Pruteniche – copernicane, con quelle astronomiche dette Alfonsine redatte alla metà del Duecento sulla scorta dei calcoli di Tolomeo. Tra gli scienziati citati anche Schoener, Regiomontano e Alchabitius (astrologo arabo del X sec., la cui opera a stampa apparve con il commento di John of Saxony): una figura illustra lo schema del cielo secondo quest’ultimo. In fine anche il metodo per calcolare le eclissi di luna e di sole secondo le tavole Pruteniche. Sono evidenti in questa opera i debiti che Garcaeus deve agli insegnamenti di Melantone, che attorno agli anni 40 teneva lezioni proprio sul Tetrabiblos di Tolomeo all’Univeristà di Wittenberg. Gartze fu dottore in teologia all’Università di Wittenberg, astrologo allievo di Erasmus Reinholt (nel testo “mei praeceptoris… Astronomiae peritissimae artificis”) e di Caspar Peucer, menzionato nell’Epilogo, professore di matematica e astronomia all’Università di Wittenberg, epigono di Melantone, seguace della Riforma. Deve la sua fama alla più tarda Astrologiae methodus del 1576. L’opera è dedicata a Giovanni Federico di Pomerania. Robert S. Westman, the Copernican Question, 2011: Prognostication, Skepticism and Celestial Order, p. 166 e ss. “The need for a work that would show how to use the Prutenics for casting nativities must have been more urgent after Reinhold’s death in 1553. Peucer himself was busy writing astronomical textbooks and a work on divination. The task of adding the final link in the rebuilding of a reformed heavenly science fell to Johannes Garcaeus, a valued student of Peucer and Reinhold… The Brief and Useful Treatise illustrates the range of kinds af works that constituted the science of the stars. It is a handbook for calculating nativities… It apparead in 1556 from a major Wittenberg publishing house, the heirs of Georg Rhau, with a dedicatory poem from Caspar Peucer. The epilogue says that “the true foundations of astronomy” and “astrology, as it is now called”, lie the basis of this work… This little work took place in this pedagogical reformation of science of the stars. In the second half of the sixteenth century, these Wittenberg astronomical-astrological textbooks became the most influential models for instrucion in safe predictive knowledge based on natural causes”. 2) Prima edizione della traduzione dal greco di Melantone. Nella Lettera di dedica Melantone ricorda la traduzione del suo amico Joachim Camerarius (1500-74), ma solo dei primi due libri (1533), da lui rivista e ricorretta. Il Tetrabiblos, o Quadripartitum, è il libro delle predizioni astrologiche in cui Tolomeo nel II secolo getta le basi dell’astrologia classica e più in generale occidentale. E’ considerato la Bibbia dell’astrologia poiché rappresenta la tradizione astrologica antica. Affronta per la prima volta l’argomento dell’influenza dei movimenti degli astri sulla vita umana in maniera assolutamente scientifica, servendosi della geometria e dei calcoli numerici per studiare gli influssi dei pianeti in base alla loro posizione nello zodiaco. Herbst, già editore di Andrea Vesalio, propone in questa edizione tutti e quattro I libri: il testo originale in greco, la traduzione latina di Filippo Melantone e il Centiloquium nella traduzione di Gioviano Pontano. Melantone (Philip Schwarzerd 1497-1560), umanista, assai vicino a Martin Lutero fu la colonna portante del pensiero e della teologia della Riforma. Da teologo, non vedeva conflitti tra la religione e l’astrologia. Cantamessa, 6436. Robert S. Westman, The Copernican Question: Prognostication, Skepticism, and Celestial Order, California, 2011. In-8 °; 1) cc. (104) and 2 folded plates; in the text woodcuts and charts. 2) pp. 269, (1) 1 cb., Pp. (16), 229, (1), the text is in Latin and Greek. Full vellum binding with gilt title on the spine and blue edges. 1) Original edition, rare, of the first work by Johannes Garcaeus / Gartze (1530-75) which clearly testifies the influence of Copernican theories in the literature of the sixteenth century. We are in the middle of the sixteenth century, when the term astrology generically indicates the study of the stars. Garcaeus in defining the heavens for horoscopes particularly insists on the mathematical and astronomical basis for the calculations of the positions of the planets. In the text Copernicus and Ptolemy are widely cited, and the Prutenic - Copernican tables are constantly compared with the astronomical ones called Alfonsine drawn up in the mid-thirteenth century on the basis of Ptolemy's calculations. Among the scientists mentioned also Schoener, Regiomontano and Alchabitius (Arab astrologer of the 10th century, whose printed work appeared with the comment of John of Saxony): a figure illustrates the pattern of the sky according to the latter. Finally, also the method for calculating the eclipses of the moon and the sun according to the Prutenic tables. In this work, the debts that Garcaeus owes to the teachings of Melanchthon are evident, who around the 40s gave lectures precisely on Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos at the University of Wittenberg. Gartze was a doctor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg, an astrologer student of Erasmus Reinholt (in the text "mei praeceptoris ... Astronomiae peritissimae artificis") and Caspar Peucer, mentioned in the Epilogue, professor of Mathematics and Astronomy at the University of Wittenberg, epigone of Melanchthon, follower of the Reformation. It owes its fame to the later Astrologiae methodus of 1576. The work is dedicated to John Frederick of Pomerania. Robert S. Westman, the Copernican Question, 2011: Prognostication, Skepticism and Celestial Order, p. 166 e ss. “The need for a work that would show how to use the Prutenics for casting nativities must have been more urgent after Reinhold’s death in 1553. Peucer himself was busy writing astronomical textbooks and a work on divination. The task of adding the final link in the rebuilding of a reformed heavenly science fell to Johannes Garcaeus, a valued student of Peucer and Reinhold… The Brief and Useful Treatise illustrates the range of kinds af works that constituted the science of the stars. It is a handbook for calculating nativities… It apparead in 1556 from a major Wittenberg publishing house, the heirs of Georg Rhau, with a dedicatory poem from Caspar Peucer. The epilogue says that “the true foundations of astronomy” and “astrology, as it is now called”, lie the basis of this work… This little work took place in this pedagogical reformation of science of the stars. In the second half of the sixteenth century, these Wittenberg astrnomical-astrological textbooks became the most influential models for instrucion in safe predictive knowledge based on natural causes”. 2) First edition of the Latin translation from the Greek of Melanchthon. In the letter of dedication, Melanchthon recalls the translation of his friend Joachim Camerarius (1500-74), but only of the first two books (1533), which he revised and repeated. Tetrabiblos, or Quadripartitum, is the book of astrological predictions in which Ptolemy in the second century laid the foundations of classical and more generally Western astrology. It is considered the Bible of astrology since it represents the ancient astrological tradition. It tackles for the first time the topic of the influence of the movements of the stars on human life in an absolutely scientific way, using geometry and numerical calculations to study the influences of the planets based on their position in the zodiac. Herbst, former editor of Andrea Vesalio, proposes all four books in this edition: the original text in Greek, the Latin translation by Filippo Melanchthon and the Centiloquium in the translation by Gioviano Pontano. Melanchthon (Philip Schwarzerd 1497-1560), humanist, very close to Martin Luther was the pillar of the thought and theology of the Reformation. As a theologian, he saw no conflict between religion and astrology. Cantamessa, 6436. Robert S. Westman, The Copernican Question: Prognostication, Skepticism, and Celestial Order, California, 2011.
