On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres - Nicolaus Copernicus

We present you facsimiles of the most valuable manuscript in Poland, that is the work of Nicolaus Copernicus' life, containing a lecture on heliocentric theory. Written by Copernicus himself in Greek and Latin, the manuscript is called humanistic italics by specialists. The original was inscribed on the UNESCO "Memory of the World" list in 1999 and is kept in the Jagiellonian Library.

500 years ago Nicolaus Copernicus began work on the most valuable Polish book, the famous "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" or "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres". Copernicus was an eminent mathematician and astronomer who did not miss a single detail of sky observation. However, at the basis of his system, more than calculations, lay a meditation on the harmony of the cosmos. Reflections on geocentric astronomy led him to the conclusion that it is a collection of random hypotheses.

Copernicus' proving that it is the Earth that orbits the Sun was a huge breakthrough in human history. Although the view that the Earth is not at the centre of the universe and circulates around the Sun was expressed long before Copernicus, it was he who proved it in a scientific and indisputable way. By adopting the principle, the astronomer revolutionised the perception of the world from a historical point of view. This had a direct impact on politics, science, religion and philosophy of modernity.

The manuscript of Copernicus' work consists of 21 notebooks (so-called contributions), each of eight, ten and twelve cards. Each of the contributions is signed in small letters of the Latin alphabet from a to x, which Copernicus placed at the bottom right of each first card. 

The facsimile of the work was created for many months. In addition to the priceless content, the richly ornamented minting binding is also worth attention. It contains a number of finishing techniques:

- 24-carat gold plating
- hand-painted ruby leather
- aged oil painting (portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus)
- stones decorating the frame (13 malachites, 41 corals, 8 Swarovski crystals, 8 turquoise, 1 sun stone, 1 lapis lazuli)
- the cover frame is decorated with Vesica Piscis - a recurring medieval decorative motif
- the cover of each copy contains a fragment of a real meteorite.