In opus revolutionum Nicolai Copernici Torunnaei dialogus
| Author | Kepler, Johannes, Camerarius, Joachim |
|---|---|
| Full title | In opus revolutionum Nicolai Copernici Torunnaei dialogus inter hospitem et doctum quempiam |
| In | Nicolaus Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium caelestium, Nuremberg 1543 |
| Year | 1598 |
| Place | |
| Publisher/Printer | |
| Era | 16th century |
| Form/Genre | Dialogue, Translation, Panegyric poem |
| Discipline/Content | Astronomy/Astrology/Cosmography |
| Digital copies | |
| Original | In opus revolutionum (UB Leipzig) |
| Digital sourcebook | not available |
| Description | This intriguing manuscript poem was written by Johannes Kepler in his copy of Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium on the flyleaf. Dated as of 22nd December 1598, Kepler’s poem is more than 50 years younger than the printed book into which it is inserted. As the subscription I. K. vertit indicates, the poem is, in fact, a translation. The original is a Greek manuscript poem by Joachim Camerarius, which had been copied into at least two copies of Copernicus’ revolutionary book, extant in Parma and Vicenza. Kepler's poem contains a few corrections by the author himself, mostly of a stylistic nature (e.g. v. 28: dedit instead of refert).
The panegyric poem is written in the standard metre of elegiac couplets, but chooses the unusal form of a dialogue to advertise Copernicus' book and to address the radical idea of heliocentrism it put forward. The dialogue takes place between the curious hospes/ξένος ("guest" or "host"), who has not yet read the book, and the doctus/φιλόσοφος ("learned man"), who has already studied it. One has to imagine that the learned man has brought a copy of Copernicus with him, which prompts his friend to ask questions about the book (v. 1–2): H. Quid libri video? D. Novus est. H. Et quae nova profert? H. “What book is this?” D. “A new one.” H. “And what new things does it put forward?” Next, the hospes seems to flick through the book and notices a lot of geometric figures and numbers, to which the doctus responds that geometry is necessary to understand the treasures of wisdom encompassed in the book (v. 3–7a; here, the poem references the motto of Plato's Academy, which is also printed in Greek on the title page of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium). After this rather general introduction, the hospes directs the conversation to the crucial topic of heliocentrism (v. 7b–18; notably, the hospes is well aware that this is the subject of the book that they are talking about). When the hospes has expressed his incredulity in a series of questions and exclamations, the doctus reacts by admonishing him to study Copernicus's book in depth: in his short speech at the end of the poem (l. 19–32), he also recommends the study of Euclid, Archimedes and Ptolemy (rendered learnedly as Megarensis, Syracusius senex, and Pelusiacus) as a basis. The speech ends with two standard topoi: to challenge the reader to produce something better if he does not agree with the book, and to promise that the author will be famous among the learned men. Kepler's copy of Copernicus' De revolutionibus, which is now held by the University Library of Leipzig, is a telling example of how an early modern scientiest could engage with a scientific text: not only did Kepler annotate the text on the margins, but he also added a poetic paratext that promoted Copernicus' book and the heliocentric world it proposed. In addition, the example also highlights how a manuscript poem praising a new scientific idea like Camerarius' poem circulated in addition to and in combination with printed texts and generated and influenced new pieces of promotion of science in turn. |
| References | Müller 1965 (facsimile of Kepler's copy); Gingerich 2002, 355–61 (including Greek text with facsimile, Latin and English translation); Seck; Balzert 2018 (edition, translation, and commentary) |
| Library and Signature | Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, Libri.sep.577-r |
| Cited in |
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| How to cite this entry | Kepler, Johannes; Camerarius, Joachim: In opus revolutionum Nicolai Copernici Torunnaei dialogus, in: Noscemus Wiki, URL: http://wiki.uibk.ac.at/noscemus/In_opus_revolutionum_Nicolai_Copernici_Torunnaei_dialogus (last revision: 07.11.2021). |
| Internal notes | |
| Internal notes | |
| Of interest to | JL, IT |
| Transkribus text available | |
| Written by | IT |
