With entries by Celsius and Doppelmayr
Album amicorum of the Nuremberg classical scholar Nikolaus Weber, with 51 entries by scholars, scientists, and artists of the time, including Andreas Celsius, Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr, and Christoph Jacob Trew.
Oblong 8vo. 179 ff. with 51 entries and Weber's holograph note of ownership on fol. 2r. Contemporary brown calf with richly gilt spine and covers. Brocade endpapers. All edges gilt.
€ 25,000.00
Unique scholars' album of the philologist Nikolaus Weber (1699-1751), headmaster of the Nuremberg Holy Ghost school, with entries by scholars mainly based at the Universities of Nuremberg and Altdorf. One of the most important among the contributors to this volume, almost all of which are biographically recorded, is the Swedish astronomer Andreas Celsius (1701-44), who on 22 July 1733 penned these lines: "Problema: Unam eandemq[ue] theologiam et religionem per universum terrarum orbem propagare.
Resolutio: Doceatur ubiq[ue] gentium Philosophia certa et solida" (Problem: How to spread the same theology and religion throughout the entire world? - Solution: Teach all peoples a certain and solid philosophy). On behalf of the Swedish king, Celsius had visited the principal observatories of Europe in 1732/33 to form an opinion of the current developments in astronomy. His scientific "Grand Tour" had also led him to Nuremberg, where he had spent three months at the home of the astronomer Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (see below) and had regularly participated in the specialist discussions hosted by the physician Christoph Jacob Trew (see below). 1733 is also the year of Celsius's "316 Observationes de Lumine Boreali", the first comprehensive treatise on the Northern Lights, published by Endter in Nuremberg. That year, Celsius also performed the first exact geographical measurement of the town's dimensions.
Celsius's host Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (1677-1750), known for his 1750 "Atlas coelestis", contributed his entry many years before Celsius: on 17 July 1717, he dedicated a quotation from Seneca ("Animum sursum vocant initia sua", Epist. 79). The two opposite pages by Celsius and Doppelmayr are connected by a caption (by one of the two scientists): "Sic pagina jungit amicos" (thus a page links friends).
Another important entry is that of the physician and botanist Christoph Jakob Trew (1695-1769), who had studied medicine in Altdorf and then undertook a three-year tour through Germany, Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands. In 1720 he settled in Nuremberg as a general practicioner and became a member of the most important scientific academies; his library, encompassing more than 34,000 volumes, was considered the greatest collection of naturalist literature of its time. No less important was Trew's autograph and correspondence collection with its natural-scientific focus, containing more than 19,000 letters by polymaths from the early Renaissance to Enlightenment (including Albrecht von Haller, Conrad Gesner, and Lorenz Heister). Today, Trew is frequently associated with his principal botanical work, "Plantae selectae" (1750-73).
For many entries, Weber later added the date of the contributor's death (if he outlived them), which in several cases offers a more precise date than hitherto available.
Other contributors include Siegmund Jakob Apin (writer, pedagogue, and classical scholar, 1693-1732), Andreas Christian Eschenbach (theologian and classical scholar, 1663-1722), Johann Wilhelm Feuerlein (theologian, 1689-1766), Christoph Fürer von Haimendorf (poet, 1663-1732), Gottfried Engelhart Geiger (pedagogue, 1681-1748), Johann Jakob Hartmann (theologian, 1671-1728), Georg Jeremias Hofmann (teacher of oriental languages and theologian, 1670-1732), Johann David Köhler (historian, 1684-1755), Michael Friedrich Lochner von Hummelstein (physician and polymath, 1662-1720), Bernhard Walther Marperger (theologian and Lutheran poet, 1682-1746), Jonas Meldercreutz (mathematician and bibliophile, 1713-85), Gustav Philipp Mörl (theologian and librarian, 1673-1750), Johann Heinrich Müller (physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, 1671-1731), Joachim Negelein (theologian and classical scholar, 1675-1749), Johann Heinrich Schulze (physician and classical scholar, 1687-1744), Christian Gottlieb Schwarz (classical scholar and historian, 1675-1751), Gottfried Thomasius (polymath and physician, 1660-1746), Johann Siegmund Wernberger von Wernberg (jurist, 1678-1737), Justin Wetzel (preacher and professor of history and politics, 1667-1727), Georg Karl Wölker (jurist, 1660-1723), and Johann Wülfer (classical scholar and professor of church history, 1651-1724).
Decorative binding insignificantly rubbed, otherwise splendidly preserved autograph album of enormous value for the history of science. Autographs by Celsius, Trew, and Doppelmayr are of the utmost rarity.
Detailed list available upon request.
