Narratio Prima - History

History

Copernicus, born in 1473 and already well over 60 years old, had never published any astronomical work, as his only publication had been his translation of poems of Theophylact Simocatta, printed in 1509 by Johann Haller. At the same time, he had distributed his ideas among friends, with manuscripts called Commentariolus. In the 1530s, he was urged to publish by many, yet still hesitated when in 1539, Rheticus arrived in Frauenburg (Frombork) to become Copernicus' first and only pupil. Philipp Melanchthon had arranged for Rheticus to visit several astronomers and study with them.

In September 1539 Rheticus went to Danzig (Gdańsk) to visit the mayor who gave Rheticus some financial assistance to publish the Narratio Prima. This Narratio Prima, published by Franz Rhode in Danzig in 1540, is still considered to be the best introduction to Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. As the full titlestates, the Narratio was published as an open letter to Johannes Schöner of Nuremberg (Nürnberg). It was bundled together with the Encomium Prussiae which praised the spirit of humanism in Prussia.

During his two year stay in Prussia, Rheticus published works of his own, and in cooperation with Copernicus, in 1542 a treatise on trigonometry which was a preview to the second book of De revolutionibus. Under strong pressure from Rheticus, and having seen the favorable first general reception of the Narratio Prima, Copernicus finally agreed to give the book to his close friend, bishop Tiedemann Giese, to be delivered to Nuremberg for printing by Johannes Petreius under Rheticus's supervision.

Later editions of Narratio Prima were printed in Basel, in 1541 by Robert Winter, and in 1566 by Henricus Petrus in connection with the second edition of De revolutionibus.