Speculum Uranicum - photo 1

Speculum Uranicum

Lot 82
28.01.2025 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
To bid, go to the website
CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1360798
Lot 82 | Speculum Uranicum
Estimate value
$ 6 000 – 9 000
GALLUCCI, Giovanni Paolo (1538-1621). Speculum Uranicum. Venice: Damiano Zenaro, 1593.

First edition of a scientific instrument in book form. With the eight-page user's manual that Houzeau & Lancaster note is usually lost. Named after Urania, muse of astronomy, and introduced by a magnificent allegorical engraved frontispiece, Gallucci’s book, with the help numerous volvelles, charts the movements of the heavenly bodies by the methods of Regiomontanus. Publishing his work soon after the papal bull of 1586 forbidding astrology, Gallucci, a mathematician who tutored the Venetian nobility and a founder of the Second Venetian Academy, asserts the importance of the rational, scientific investigation of the heavens—ushering in the Galilean era of observation-based knowledge. Houzeau & Lancaster 12742.

Folio (412 x 275mm). Title with engraved border by Giacomo Franco incorporating Zenarus’s dragon device, 16 large volvelles, pasted correction slip on A4v, 8 pp. "De Harum Paginarum" bound at rear (margin of title extended at gutter, the moving parts of the volvelles renewed in expert facsimile, light stain to upper corner through second half of volume, repaired wormholes at gutter of last few gatherings). Early vellum (rebacked with portions of original spine laid down, endpapers preserved). Provenance: deleted inscription on title-page – some early marginalia.
Place of origin:Italy
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
14.01.2025 – 28.01.2025
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

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.