REGIOMONTANUS (Johannes MULLER, 1436-1476). Calendarium. Augsburg: Erhard Ratdolt, 1496.

4to (189 x 140 mm). 25 (of 30) leaves. Printed in red and black, woodcut illustrations of eclipses of the sun and moon printed in red and black. Gothic type. (Lacking the final 5 leaves: c8 [blank] and quire d). Late 19th-century morocco.

An Augsburg edition of the Calendarium of Regiomontanus (Johannes Müller from Königsberg in Prussia, 1436-1475) which was printed for the first time at his own press in Nuremberg, in 1474 and then, after his death, by Ratdolt first in Venice in 1476 and later in Augsburg. This copy lacking a blank and the final four leaves containing woodcut diagrams, one with volvelles and another with a brass pointer.

Regiomontanus, a pupil of Georg Peurbach, is one of the great figures in the history of mathematics and astronomy. His Calendarium is apparently the first application of modern scientific methods of astronomical calculation and observation to the problems of the calendar (Easter, etc.) and the accurate prediction of eclipses. It is known that Christopher Columbus carried with him on his fourth voyage either a manuscript copy or an actual 15th-century edition of this Calendarium.

Goff -99; H 13782*; Klebs 836.9; Schreiber 4379; IBP 5946; Pr 1908; BMC II ,389; BSB-Ink R-75; GW M37448; ISTC ir00099000.