Astronomical Images : First page of Euclid's Elements

Euclid

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This is the first printed edition of Euclid's <i>Elements</i> that contains geometric diagrams. The preface, translated below, was addressed to Giovanni Mocenigo (b. 1409), who was the Doge of Venice from 1478 to his death in 1485. In it, the printer Erhard Ratdolt extolls the importance of mathematics as a foundation of all knowledge, and blames the technical difficulty of printing diagrams (<i>schemata geometrica</i>) for hindering the advancement of that discipline. In several surviving copies, the preface has been printed in gold ink, and the decorative frame on the first page has been coloured. Ratdolt's other publications include the works of Sacrobosco, Ptolemy and Regiomontanus, as well as breviaries, almanacs and indulgences.</p>