Description:
Augsburg: [J. Sittich], January 1514. Quarto (210 x 155mm). Title within four-part woodcut border, 87 woodcuts, 10 of these large including 1 full page lunar figure, numerous initials, all in bright contemporary hand-colour, with working volvelles. Contemporary quarter pigskin over wooden boards.A rare, richly illustrated calendar from the Augsburg Renaissance.
Printed calendars and almanacs became extremely popular in the fifteenth century and provided ordinary people with the basic knowledge required to plan their daily routines. The market for calendars was first tapped by Gutenburg, who published a calendar which calculated the times of new and full moons and planetary positions, with readings every two to three days. All earlier calendars, however, were superseded by those of Regiomontanus (1436-1476) whose calculations were far more accurate; he recorded several eclipses of the moon and his interest led him to make the important observation that longitude at sea could be determined by… Read More
