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Sphaera Mundi

1485
Not on view
The publisher and printer Erhard Ratdolt left his native Augsburg in 1475 and by the following year was at work in Venice, where his publications were among the most inventive . In his Kalendarium of 1476, with its striking woodcut border, Ratdolt introduced the first decorative title page in a printed book. At a time when most publishers left blank spaces for initial letters to be added by hand, he introduced a series of ornament woodcut initials, examples of which can be seen on the pages shown here.
Ratdolt had a particular interest in astronomy and mathematical science, using printed images to further elucidate these subjects. The Kalendarium, based on the studies of the astronomer Johannes Müller of Königsberg (known as Regiomontanus), included ten pages of eclipses, with the illuminated portion handcolored in yellow. His Euclid of 1482 included geometrical diagrams ingeniously set into the margins of the text. The astronomical treatise shown here was the first book to include an illustration printed in three colors of ink. The first part of this publication deals with the treatise on the sphere by the thirteenth-century British astronomer John Holybush (Sacrobosco in Italian).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Sphaera Mundi
  • Author: Johannes de Sacrobosco (John Holybush) (British (?), active Paris ca. 1220–ca. 1256)
  • Author: George von Peuerbach (Austrian, Peuerbach 1423–1461 Vienna)
  • Author: Johann Regiomontanus (German, Königsberg 1436–1476 Rome)
  • Publisher: Erhard Ratdolt (German, Augsburg ca. 1447–ca. 1528 Augsburg)
  • Published in: Venice
  • Date: 1485
  • Medium: Printed book with woodcut illustrations printed or colored with stencils in one, two, and three colors. Many marginal notes and sketches in brown ink.
  • Dimensions: 7 5/8 x 5 3/8 x 1/2 in. (19.4 x 13.6 x 1.2 cm)
  • Classification: Books
  • Credit Line: Gift of Paul J. Sachs, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.45
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Sphaera Mundi
Johannes de Sacrobosco (John Holybush)
Bonetus Locatellus
October 4, 1490
Textus de Sphaera
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1538
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Francesco Colonna Italian, Printed book with woodcut illustrations
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
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Hercules chasing Avarice from the Temple of the Muses, Ugo da Carpi Italian, Chiaroscuro woodcut from two blocks in green
Hercules chasing Avarice from the Temple of the Muses
Ugo da Carpi
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ca. 1520–27
Samson and the Lion, from "The Story of Samson", Anonymous, French, 16th century French, Woodcut with pochoir (stencil) and hand coloring
Samson and the Lion, from "The Story of Samson"
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