Letters, scholars and books. Johannes Hevelius’ Machinae coelestis pars posterior from the private library of Andreas Müller Greiffenhagius

Abstract

The Pomeranian Library (Książnica Pomorska) holds a number of ancient surviving editions of the works by the Gdańsk-based astronomer Johannes Hevelius (Jan Heweliusz) (1611–1687). One of the works, the Machina coelestis, is composed of two volumes and was published in the years 1673 and 1679, respectively. This article examines the second part of the Machina coelestis in more detail. As early as the eighteenth century, the volume was already considered by bibliographers to be extremely rare. Today, it is considered to be even more unique. The reason for this is due to the tragic fire that broke out in September 1679 and destroyed Hevelius’ house, his observatory with instruments, and his studio and the printing shop, where almost the entire printed editions of the work stored there perished in the flames. The value of the copy held at the Książnica Pomorska is additionally enhanced by the fact that the book had belonged in the past to the private library of the renowned seventeenth century orientalist, Andreas Müller Greiffenhagius (1630–1694), who died in Szczecin and left his book collection there. The author of the article also managed to examine the surviving correspondence between Müller and Hevelius, in which both writers discuss this particular book. In this way, the history of this interesting copy is thus complemented by contemporary commentaries from the epoch.