W. P. Watson Antiquarian Books


CASSANI, José Tratado de la naturaleza, origen, y causas de los cometas. Con la historia de todos los que se tiene noticia haverse visto... Y con el methodo de observar astronomicamente sus lugares aparentes, y hallar los verdaderos en elcielo, su curso, su magnitud, distancia de la tierra, y de formar las ephemerides, conlo demas que a la astronomia toca... Madrid, Manuel Fernandez, 1737

8vo (148 x 100 mm), pp [xvi] 256, with one folding engraved plate; a very nice copy in contemporary vellum. £1250

First edition, a rare treatise on comets by a Jesuit Inquisitor and professor of astronomy and mathematics at the Royal College. Cassani (1673-1750), was one of the eight founder members of the Spanish Royal Academy established in 1713. He was an accomplished astronomer as well as theologian and historian of the Jesuit missions in New Grenada.

Sommervogel II 814.9; NUC: MB; OCLC adds Wisconsin, Linda Hall, and University of California, San Diego

£1250

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