A Perfit Description of the Celestiall Orbes - photo 1

A Perfit Description of the Celestiall Orbes

Lot 79
28.01.2025 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 23 940
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1360795
Lot 79 | A Perfit Description of the Celestiall Orbes
Estimate value
$ 20 000 – 30 000
DIGGES, Leonard (c.1515-c.1559) and DIGGES, Thomas (1546-1595), editor. A Prognostication everlasting of ryght good effecte. [London: Thomas Orwin, 1592.]

One of the earliest representations of the Copernican system in English: "A Perfit Description of the Celestiall Orbes" (caption title of the appendix). The Horblit copy. Thomas Digges, the son of the mathematician Leonard Digges, was a student of John Dee and the first to publish the heliocentric system in English. This honor had long been attributed to the Italian polymath Giordano Bruno when he visited England between 1583 and 1585. However, Thomas Digges published this 19-page paraphrase and woodcut illustration from De revolutionibus in his 1576 edition of the Prognostication as an appendix to his father's work which still offered the Ptolemaic view. Owen Gingerich traced Digges's copy of the second edition Copernicus to Geneva (II.207), in which Digges wrote: "Vulgo opinio error" (the common opinion is an error). Gingerich also identifies the translated portions as book one, chapters 7 to 10. All 16th-century editions are incredibly rare. See Seymour Chapin, Nicolaus Copernicus, 1473-1973. His Revolutions and His Revolution. Lehigh University, 1973, no. 28 (1576 edition; the woodcut used as the cover illustration).

Quarto (176 x 131mm). Woodcut of zodiacal man on title, woodcut folding illustration of the Copernican system following f.44, other woodcuts and diagrams in text including the Ptolemaic system and some folding (lacking quire H in Leonard's text, a few leaves trimmed with small losses at outer edge or lower edge). Disbound (still sewn, but with a quire detached); custom chemise and quarter morocco case. Provenance: Harrison D. Horblit (bookplate on chemise; his sale, Sotheby's New York, 9 April 1980, lot 123).
Place of origin:England
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
14.01.2025 – 28.01.2025
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.