Early modern European · c. 1508–1514 (manuscript)
Commentariolus
'Little Commentary': Nicolai Copernici de hypothesibus motuum caelestium a se constitutis commentariolus
A short sketch of Copernicus's system, circulated only in manuscript before May 1514. Its seventh postulate states that 'the retrograde and direct motion that appears in the planets belongs not to them but to the [motion] of the earth', and that the Earth's motion alone accounts for many apparent irregularities in the heavens (Swerdlow's translation). It is the earliest statement of the heliocentric explanation of retrogradation.
- Author
- Nicolaus Copernicus
- Date
- c. 1508–1514 (manuscript)
- Original language
- Latin
- Key term
- retrocessio ac progressus (retrograde and direct motion (seventh postulate))
- Kind
- Theory / model
- Planets
- Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Editions
2 editions.
| Year | Edition | © |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | N. M. Swerdlow, 'The Derivation and First Draft of Copernicus's Planetary Theory: A Translation of the Commentariolus with Commentary', Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 117.6 (1973): 423–512 | © |
| 1939 | Edward Rosen (trans.), Three Copernican Treatises: The Commentariolus of Copernicus, The Letter against Werner, The Narratio Prima of Rheticus (New York: Columbia University Press, 1939; 2nd ed. Dover 1959) | ? |
Read it
No digitised copy known.
No digitised copy known. The editions above are the way in.
References
Also on the Early modern and modern shelf
| Date | Source | Planets | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1543 (manuscript c. 1520–1541) | De revolutionibus orbium coelestiumNicolaus CopernicusMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| c. 1580–1600 | Tycho Brahe's Mars observationsTycho BraheObservation | Ma | Observation |
| 1609 | Astronomia novaJohannes KeplerTheory / model | Ma | Theory / model |
| 28 December 1612 – 28 January 1613 | Galileo's notes recording Neptune as a 'fixed star'Galileo GalileiObservation | Ne | Observation |
| 1632 | Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondoGalileo GalileiTheory / model | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Theory / model |
| 1647 | Christian AstrologyWilliam LillyAstrological | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Astrological |