Search Results | Caltech Archives

Title: Galileo, title page from Istoria e Dimostrazioni intorno alle Macchie Solari (History and Demonstration concerning Sunspots), Rome,1613
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1613
Description: With this book, the author proudly announces himself for the first time as “Galileo Galilei Linceo” --a member of the Lincean Academy, to which he had been elected in 1611. The Lincei was one of the first scientific academies and was founded in Rome in 1603 by Duke Federico Cesi. The lynx for which the academy was named was famous for its sharp eyesight and symbolized the ability of the new science to see more deeply into the secrets of nature. It appears on the title page surrounded by a wreath, probably of laurel, and surmounted by a crown, probably that of the Cesi family.

Title: Galileo, the moon from Sidereus Nuncius (The Sidereal Messenger), Venice, 1610
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1610
Description: An engraved illustration of features of the moon’s surface, as seen by Galileo with his telescope. He was able to describe the roughness of the moon’s surface and the position of spots and prominences on the light and dark sides.

Title: frontispiece: Oculus Enoch et Eliae, sive Radius Sideromysticus pars Prima
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1645
Description: Anton Maria Schyrleus (1597-1660) was a Capuchin priest and professor, who worked in Bohemia, Trier and Ravenna. His astronomical work was completed in the low countries in the 1640s, and resulted in this rather unusual work -- a richly illustrated example of baroque natural philosophy. The Oculus might be considered a mystical work, reflecting the harmonies of an earth-centered, Tychonic cosmos in scriptural terms. The illustrations give a vivid impression of its combination of technical astronomy and mechanics with rich symbolism.

Title: Galileo, title page from Dialogo...sopra i due Massimi Sistemi del Mondo, Tolemaico, e Copernicano (Dialogue concerning the Two Chief World Systems, the Ptolemaic and the Copernican), Florence, 1632
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1632
Description: Galileo’s intent with this book was to present the two world systems, the Ptolemaic and the Copernican, in easy to understand, dialogue form. His optimism concerning the acceptance of the Copernican system was misplaced; one year later he was brought to trial and forced to abjure his ideas.

Title: Somerset House, Strand
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1809
Description: Ackermann, R., The Microcosm of London, Vol. III, London 1809-1810 Plate no. 73

Title: Oculus Enoch et Eliae, sive Radius Sideromysticus pars Prima
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1645
Description: Anton Maria Schyrleus (1597-1660) was a Capuchin priest and professor, who worked in Bohemia, Trier and Ravenna. His astronomical work was completed in the low countries in the 1640s, and resulted in this rather unusual work -- a richly illustrated example of baroque natural philosophy. The Oculus might be considered a mystical work, reflecting the harmonies of an earth-centered, Tychonic cosmos in scriptural terms. The illustrations give a vivid impression of its combination of technical astronomy and mechanics with rich symbolism.

Title: The Mint
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1809
Description: Ackermann, R., The Microcosm of London, Vol. II, London 1809 Plate no. 55

Title: Hamilton, Sir William, “Campi Phlegraei: Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies”, plate 37.
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1779
Description: One of 54 plates by Peter Fabris illustrating volcanis activity in the region of Naples. Sir William Hamilton was at this time royal envoy to the Count of Naples and pubished his investigations of volcanos for the Royal Society.

Title: Chelsea Hospital
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1810
Description: Ackermann, R., The Microcosm of London, Vol. III, London 1809-1810 Plate no. 98

Title: Fire in London
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1808
Description: Ackermann, R., The Microcosm of London, Vol. II, London 1809 Plate no. 35

Title: Hand-painted illustration from the autograph album of Johann Jakob Frisch
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1624
Description: Frisch was a nephew of Johannes Kepler. The album was kept by Frisch while a law student at the University of Tubingen (from 1624 to 1631), where Kepler himself also had studied. Autograph entries are typicaly in Latin, and range from a few lines of verse or prose to elaborate miniature illustrations, comic and serious. Kepler’s autograph is included in the book within a Latin inscription dated 1625.

Title: St. Stephen’s, Walbrook
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1809
Description: Ackermann, R., The Microcosm of London, Vol. III, London 1809-1810 Plate no. 90

Title: Galileo, the Pleiades from Sidereus Nuncius (The Sidereal Messenger), Venice, 1610
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1610
Description: The observation of the Pleiades and of the previously invisible stars nearby was made possible by Galileo’s new telescope, presented to the scholars of Venice during the summer of 1609. In his published illustration of 1610 he outlined the stars that were already known and represented the others by single lines. He also tried to preserve the distinction in size.

Title: Common Council Chamber, Guild Hall
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1808
Description: Ackermann, R., The Microcosm of London, Vol. II, London 1809 Plate no. 42

Title: Kepler - Model of the Universe
Format: photograph: negative
Date: 1621
Description: Model of the universe (the outermost sphere is Saturn’s) from Johannes Kepler’ s “Mysterium Cosmographicum” (1597, edition of 1621) Count Rocco Collection.

Title: Portrait of Giovanni Domenico Cassini
Format: photograph: print
Date: 1695
Description: Portrait of Cassini from his account of his heliometer in Bologna, published 40 years after its installation in La Meridiana del tempio di S. Petronio..., 1695.

Title: Galileo, illustration from the Sidereus Nuncius (the Sidereal Messenger), Frankfurt, 1610
Format: photograph: print
Date: 1610
Description: Cincvll et Ensis Orionis Asterismvs.