Finé, Oronce | "De mundi sphaera" — beautifully illustrated with woodcuts

Finé, Oronce

De mundi sphaera, sive Cosmographia, primave Astronomiæ parte, libri V. Paris: Simon de Colines, 1542

Folio (282 x 193 mm). collation: *⁶ A–O⁸: 118 foliated leaves. Title printed within an ornamental woodcut border designed by Finé composed of intertwined dolphins enclosing allegorical figures of Geometry, Astronomy, Music, and Arithmetic in the corners, full-page allegorical woodcut on *6v of Urania and the author beneath Sphaera Mundi suspended against a criblé background and attached to the border on either side by rings containing Finé's initials, 89 additional woodcut illustrations and diagrams, tables; L7 folded over at fore-edge to accommodate a very large diagram which is nevertheless slightly cropped, washed. Red morocco gilt by Bernasconi, marbled endpapers, gilt edges.

First edition of the revised version of the "De cosmographia, sive mundi sphaera," which formed the third part of Finé's Protomathesis (Paris, 1532). Finé was essentially a popularizer, not an innovator, which may be one reason why illustration plays such a large rile in his publications. Mortimer notes that "Of the eighty-nine additional woodcuts, sixty-four are the original blocks designed by Finé for the 'Cosmographia' section of the Protomathesis, the original version of this text. Sixteen of the Protomathesis blocks were dropped or replaced. Among the additions is the large armillary sphere on leaf K3r, which is a revision, possibly by cutting out parts of the original block, of the cut on leaf h2v of Finé's 1528 La theorique des cielz (Paris, 1528). Both the Protomathesis and the Theorique des cielz are the work of different printers, so it seems evident that the blocks for these illustrations were retained by Finé when printing was completed."

REFERENCES:

Adams F468; Fairfax Murray, French 651; French Vernacular Books 70629; Mortimer, French 226