First Edition of "Selenography" by Johannes Hevelius

The first edition of the ground-breaking work by the Danzig astronomer John Hevelius (1611–1687), founder of the modern science of the Moon. This member of the prestigious Royal Society in London created a professional astronomical observatory on the roof of his house in Danzig in the early 1640s. It was there that he performed unusually detailed, for those times, research on the Moon’s surface, the results of which were published in 1647 in the book discussed here. It included not only descriptions of the Earth’s satellite, but also descriptions of the construction and use of astronomical instruments, as well as numerous comments on the movement of the planets, sunspots and moons of Jupiter. This edition was illustrated with copper illustrations showing both detailed maps of the Moon’s surface and diagrams of research instruments perfected by the author. Hevelius’ precision and innovation made this oeuvre a staple work on selenography until the end of the 18th century. The author’s discussions on Galileo's observations, his description of the phenomenon of Lunar libration and the names of some formations on the silver globe which are still used today, have become firmly established in the canon of research.