Difference between revisions of "November 13, 2004"

From LPOD
Jump to: navigation, search
 
(8 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
__NOTOC__
 
__NOTOC__
 
=A 1689 Swedish Book on the Moon=
 
=A 1689 Swedish Book on the Moon=
 +
<!-- Start of content -->
 
<table width="85%"  border="0" align="center" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="2">
 
<table width="85%"  border="0" align="center" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="2">
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
<td width="50%"><h2><nobr>A 1689 Swedish Book on the Moon</nobr></h2></td>
 
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
</table>
 
</table>
Line 13: Line 13:
 
</table>
 
</table>
 
<table width="80%"  border="0" align="center" cellpadding="8">
 
<table width="80%"  border="0" align="center" cellpadding="8">
<tr><td><div align="center" class="main_sm">Image Credit: [mailto:tychocrater@yahoo.com Chuck Wood]</p>
+
<tr><td><div align="center" class="main_sm"><p>Image Credit: [mailto:tychocrater@yahoo.com Chuck Wood]</p>
 
</div></td>
 
</div></td>
 
</tr>   
 
</tr>   
Line 21: Line 21:
 
<p align="center"><b>A 1689 Swedish Book on the Moon</b></p>
 
<p align="center"><b>A 1689 Swedish Book on the Moon</b></p>
 
<p align="left">This previously unknown ancient book on the Moon turned up on Ebay recently. I say previously unknown because neither Ewen Whitaker nor I had ever heard of it - perhaps an LPOD reader can tell us more about it. The book was published in Uppsala, Sweden in 1689 and is in Latin, as was common then, and has the title, <i>Disputation on the Moon Selenography</i>. Apparently the author is Andraeae Spole, but I am not sure why the name Samuel A. Krokius appears on the title page. This is a very early lunar book, coming 42 years after Hevelius' masterpiece <i>Selenographia,</i> the first book devoted to the Moon. Take a close look at the full Moon map above - do you notice anything odd? The map is printed backwards, it is a mirror image of the correct orientation. The map is a clear copy of Hevelius' map. Another plate in the book shows maps of first and last quarter - but instead of using maps made from actual observations that show shadows along the terminator, the author has simply cut the full Moon view into two halves! It would be fascinating to have the Latin translated to see if the text is as confused as the maps. Googling the name Spole I discovered that he was the first Swedish astronomer and was a professor and text-book author. Perhaps this was the first text book about the Moon! I wonder what was on the final exam!</p>
 
<p align="left">This previously unknown ancient book on the Moon turned up on Ebay recently. I say previously unknown because neither Ewen Whitaker nor I had ever heard of it - perhaps an LPOD reader can tell us more about it. The book was published in Uppsala, Sweden in 1689 and is in Latin, as was common then, and has the title, <i>Disputation on the Moon Selenography</i>. Apparently the author is Andraeae Spole, but I am not sure why the name Samuel A. Krokius appears on the title page. This is a very early lunar book, coming 42 years after Hevelius' masterpiece <i>Selenographia,</i> the first book devoted to the Moon. Take a close look at the full Moon map above - do you notice anything odd? The map is printed backwards, it is a mirror image of the correct orientation. The map is a clear copy of Hevelius' map. Another plate in the book shows maps of first and last quarter - but instead of using maps made from actual observations that show shadows along the terminator, the author has simply cut the full Moon view into two halves! It would be fascinating to have the Latin translated to see if the text is as confused as the maps. Googling the name Spole I discovered that he was the first Swedish astronomer and was a professor and text-book author. Perhaps this was the first text book about the Moon! I wonder what was on the final exam!</p>
<blockquote><p align="right">&#8212; [mailto:tychocrater@yahoo.com Chuck Wood]</blockquote>
+
<blockquote>
<p align="left"><p><b>Technical Details:</b><br>
+
<p align="right">&#8212; [mailto:tychocrater@yahoo.com Chuck Wood]</p></blockquote>
 +
<p align="left"><b>Technical Details:</b><br>
 
The book is small, about the size of the palm of my hand, and only about 50 pages long. No one else bid on it so it sold for the starting price of 299 euros - about $390.</p>
 
The book is small, about the size of the palm of my hand, and only about 50 pages long. No one else bid on it so it sold for the starting price of 299 euros - about $390.</p>
 
<p><b>Related Links:</b><br>
 
<p><b>Related Links:</b><br>
 
[http://www.astro.uu.se/history/spole.html Anders Spole]
 
[http://www.astro.uu.se/history/spole.html Anders Spole]
<p align="left"><b>Tomorrow's LPOD: </b> Longo and Far Away</p>
+
</p>
 +
<p><b>Yesterday's LPOD:</b> [[November 12, 2004|A Giant Messier]] </p>
 +
<p><b>Tomorrow's LPOD:</b> [[November 14, 2004|Longo and Far Away]] </p>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
</table>
 
</table>
Line 37: Line 40:
 
<p align="center" class="main_titles"><b>Author &amp; Editor:</b><br>  
 
<p align="center" class="main_titles"><b>Author &amp; Editor:</b><br>  
 
[mailto:tychocrater@yahoo.com Charles A. Wood]</p>
 
[mailto:tychocrater@yahoo.com Charles A. Wood]</p>
<p align="center" class="main_titles"><b>Technical Consultant:</b><br>
+
<!-- Cleanup of credits -->
[mailto:anthony@perseus.gr Anthony Ayiomamitis]</p>
+
<!-- Cleanup of credits -->
<p align="center" class="main_titles"><b>Contact Translator:</b><br>
+
<!-- Cleanup of credits -->
[mailto:pablolonnie@yahoo.com.mx Pablo Lonnie Pacheco Railey]  (Es)<br>
+
<!-- Cleanup of credits -->
[mailto:chlegrand@free.fr Christian Legrand] (Fr)</p>
+
<!-- Cleanup of credits -->
<p align="center" class="main_titles"><b>[mailto:webuser@observingthesky.org Contact Webmaster]</b></p>
+
<!-- Cleanup of credits -->
<p align="center" class="main_titles"><b>A service of:</b><br>
+
<!-- Cleanup of credits -->
[http://www.observingthesky.org/ ObservingTheSky.Org]</p>
+
<!-- Cleanup of credits -->
<p align="center" class="main_titles"><b>Visit these other PODs:</b> <br>
+
<!-- Cleanup of credits -->
[http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html Astronomy] | [http://www.msss.com/ Mars] | [http://epod.usra.edu/ Earth]</p>
+
<!-- Cleanup of credits -->
 
</td></tr>
 
</td></tr>
 
</table>  
 
</table>  
 
<p>&nbsp;</p>
 
<p>&nbsp;</p>
----
+
<!-- End of content -->
===COMMENTS?===
+
{{wiki/ArticleFooter}}
Register, and click on the <b>Discussion</b> tab at the top of the page.
 

Latest revision as of 15:03, 15 March 2015

A 1689 Swedish Book on the Moon

LPOD-2004-11-13.jpeg

Image Credit: Chuck Wood


A 1689 Swedish Book on the Moon

This previously unknown ancient book on the Moon turned up on Ebay recently. I say previously unknown because neither Ewen Whitaker nor I had ever heard of it - perhaps an LPOD reader can tell us more about it. The book was published in Uppsala, Sweden in 1689 and is in Latin, as was common then, and has the title, Disputation on the Moon Selenography. Apparently the author is Andraeae Spole, but I am not sure why the name Samuel A. Krokius appears on the title page. This is a very early lunar book, coming 42 years after Hevelius' masterpiece Selenographia, the first book devoted to the Moon. Take a close look at the full Moon map above - do you notice anything odd? The map is printed backwards, it is a mirror image of the correct orientation. The map is a clear copy of Hevelius' map. Another plate in the book shows maps of first and last quarter - but instead of using maps made from actual observations that show shadows along the terminator, the author has simply cut the full Moon view into two halves! It would be fascinating to have the Latin translated to see if the text is as confused as the maps. Googling the name Spole I discovered that he was the first Swedish astronomer and was a professor and text-book author. Perhaps this was the first text book about the Moon! I wonder what was on the final exam!

Chuck Wood

Technical Details:
The book is small, about the size of the palm of my hand, and only about 50 pages long. No one else bid on it so it sold for the starting price of 299 euros - about $390.

Related Links:
Anders Spole

Yesterday's LPOD: A Giant Messier

Tomorrow's LPOD: Longo and Far Away



Author & Editor:
Charles A. Wood

 


COMMENTS?

Register, Log in, and join in the comments.