Lot number 3994 - Auction
'AD VITELLIONEM PARALIPOMENA QUIBUS ASTRONOMIAE PARS OPTICA TRADITUR (...)'

JOHANNES KEPLER 1571 Weil der Stadt - 1630 Regensburg 'AD VITELLIONEM PARALIPOMENA QUIBUS ASTRONOMIAE PARS OPTICA TRADITUR (...)' German, Frankfurt, C. Marnius & heirs of J. Aubrius, 1604 Leather binding, floral gold embossing on the spine, Latin text, 449 pages numbered in Arabic, index and appendix and 2 folding tables. 21x17.5x3.5 cm. Damaged, rest., stained, browned, part. full of holes. Woodcut detail on the title, an engraved plate showing various anatomical sections of the eye, numerous woodcut diagrams in the text, and two fold-out printed tables. First edition of Kepler's first important optical work and an extremely important book in the history of ophthalmology, in which he fundamentally changed earlier ideas about the propagation and action of light rays. The first part looks at human vision and the functions of the eye, the crucial role of the retina, the process of refraction and the first scientifically correct explanation of myopia. The second part is divided into six sections. Provenance: Antiquiariat Theodor Ackermann, Munich; private collection.