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    Melikian Collection > Collections > Artworks > Collector's Favorites > Latin American Astronomy Book


MATERIAL: Woodblock Printed
TYPE: Book
COMPONENTS: Woodcut illustrations in the text. 4to, contemporary vellum, occasional marginal notes; early owner's inscription on title page.
CONDITION: Moderate wear, lacking ties; text block coming detached from binding, lacking half-title, 2 preliminary leaves, leaf N3, and final leaf, 3 other leaves detached, parts of lower margin excised on 6 other leaves, minor dampstaining; lacking half title, preliminary leaves 1 and 3. Includes title page (detached), preliminary leaves 2 (detached) and 4-10. Also lacking final leaf Aa2; leaf aa is detached. Part of lower margin of B4, I2, K4, T2, T3, X4 cut out. Slight loss to T2, X4
NOTES: Scarce. I know of only 2 other copies at auction since 1981.
LANGUAGE
Spanish
ITEM ID: 2815
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Latin American Astronomy Book

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DATE
Year: 1690
Decade: 1690s
Century: 17th (1601-1700)

“One of the first scientific books written by a native Latin American to be published in the New World” –Haskell F. Norman Library 1944. Sigüenza was a native of Mexico City, and became a professor of mathematics at the Universidad de México. When a comet appeared in 1680, he issued a broadside which used scientific arguments to assure the public that it was not an omen of doom. This brought a harsh response from Jesuit Eusebio Kino. In 1690, Sigüenza had the last word with the present work, Libra Astronomica. “A book of great importance for its sound mathematical background, anti-Aristotelian outlook, and familiarity with modern authors: Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Kepler, and Tycho Brahe”—DSB XII, 431. Medina, Mexico 1484; Palau 312974; Sabin 80976. See also More’s article on the Sigüenza-Kino battle, “Cosmopolitanism and Scientific Reason in New Spain,” in Science in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires, pages 115-131.Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora. Libra Astronomica, y Philosophica. Mexico: Herederos de la Viuda de Bernardo Calderon,

ARTISTS
Name: Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
Type: Author
Artist Information: Sigüenza was a native of Mexico City, and became a professor of mathematics at the Universidad de México. When a comet appeared in 1680, he issued a broadside which used scientific arguments to assure the public that it was not an omen of doom. This brought a harsh response from Jesuit Eusebio Kino. In 1690, Sigüenza had the last word with the present work, Libra Astronomica.