KEPLER, Johannes. Joannis Kepleri aliorumque epistolae mutuae: Epistolae ad Joannem Kepplerum Mathematicum Caesareum Scriptae; insertis ad easdem Responssionibus Kepplerianis ... Opus Novum, quo recondita Kepplerianae Doctrinae Capita dilucide explicantur ... ex manusscripta editum.
Frankfurt & Leipzig: 1718. First edition.

An exceptional copy, in the original publisher’s interim boards, of the first printing of Kepler’s scientific correspondence, edited by Michael Gottlieb Hansch, which also contains the first biography of Kepler. “The thousands of MS sheets left at Kepler’s death went to his son Ludwig, who promised publication but lacked both the time and the scientific knowledge for the undertaking. After Ludwig’s death the Danzig astronomer Johannes Hevelius acquired the collection and published a brief inventory in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1674. In 1707 Michael Gottlieb Hansch obtained the material with the intention of publishing it, and in 1718 he produced [with the assistance of Leibniz, ref. Caspar: Kepler, p.366] ‘Joannis Kepleri aliorumque epistolae mutuae’, a large folio vol. containing 77 letters by Kepler and 407 to him.” (D.S.B. vol. VII, p.309). Among those with whom Kepler corresponded were Tycho Brahe, Galileo, Scheiner, Bayer, Scaliger, Harriot, etc. Many of the letters are lengthy scientific treatises. The work is divided into the following parts: an introduction to the history of mathematics and astronomy leading up to Kepler’s time; “the earliest presentation of Kepler’s life” (Caspar: Kepler, p.13); an index to the 16th and 17th century scientists mentioned in the letters; and an extensive bibliography of Kepler’s writings; and the letters. (Brewster: The Martyrs of Science, pp. 252-254:) Kepler “left behind him twenty-two volumes of manuscripts, seven of which contain his epistolary correspondence. The celebrated astronomer Hevelius, who was a contemporary of Louis Kepler, purchased all these manuscripts from Kepler’s representatives. At the death of Hevelius they were bought by M. Gottlieb Hansch, a zealous mathematician, who was desirous of giving them to the world. For this purpose he issued a prospectus in 1714 for publishing them by subscription, in 22 volumes folio; but his plan having failed, he was introduced to Charles VI., who liberally obtained for him 1000 ducats to defray the expense of the publication, and an annual pension of 300 florins. With such encouragement, Hansch published in 1718, in one volume folio, the correspondaence of Kepler, entitled ‘Epistolæ ad Joannem Kepplerum’. The expenses of this volume unfortunately exhausted the 1000 ducats which had been granted by the emperor, and, instead of being able to publish the rest of the MSS., Hansch was under the necessity of pledging them for 828 florins”. (D.S.B. vol. VII, p.309:) “Hansch had the MSS bound in vellum in 22 vols., which he cataloged briefly in Acta eruditorum, no, 57 (1714), 242-246; in 1721 financial difficulties forced him to pawn 18 of the vols. The other four— VII, VIII, and XII, which had formed the basis for his Epistolae, and VI, which was used for De calendario Gregoriano (Frankfurt, 1726)—eventually found their way to the Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna, where VI is codex 10704 and the three original vols. of letters have apparently been rebound into codices 10702 and 10703. Not until about 1765 were the 18 vols. rediscovered, and in 1773 Catherine II purchased them for the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. They are still preserved in Leningrad. Details of this odyssey are chronicled by Martha List: ‘Der handschriftliche Nachlasz der Astronomen Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brach’, 1961”. Caspar: Bibliographia Kepleriani, 102; Honeyman 1805. Scarce.

Large folio: 402 x 270 mm. Entirely uncut in the original publisher's interim boards. Old circular woodcut stamp to the title page. Pp. [16], XXXVIII, [9], 704, [4] and 8 engraved plates. Some scattered browning throughout, offset and spotting to the plates (which is most likely usual for this work; other copies that we have been able to locate have been described as ‘dampstained, soiled, spotted, and browned.’ Quite scarce on the market, and even more so in such original and unrestored condition.