Nicolaus COPERNIK. On the revolutions of the celestial spheres. Book One. Warsaw 1953; PWN. 118, [1] pp; dimensions: 22 x 31 cm. Canvas binding with wrappers.

Nicolaus COPERNIK. On the revolutions of the celestial spheres. Book One. Warsaw 1953; PWN. 118, [1] pp; dimensions: 22 x 31 cm. Canvas binding with wrapper.

Polish translation of the first book of De revolutionibus... together with a critical edition of the Latin original (subsequent books did not appear). The authors of the publication, created under the auspices of the Polish Academy of Sciences, were three prominent Polish philologists and historians: A. Birkenmajer (introduction, explanations), R. Gansiniec (determination of the Latin text) and M. Brozek (translation). This is the second translation of Copernicus' work in the history of Polish writing after J. Baranowski's 1854 translation. A harbinger of the turbulent history of the Polish astronomer's groundbreaking work can be found in the very first sentence of the preface he addressed to Pope Paul III: "I am sufficiently aware, Holy Father, that there will be people who, as soon as they hear that in these my books on the revolutions of the spheres of the universe I attribute some movements to the globe, will immediately raise an outcry that I should be condemned along with such a conviction." - Wrapper worn (tears, losses), otherwise bdb condition of the piece.