3715887 De revolutionibus orbium coelestium by Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) with De libris revolutionum Nicolai Copernici Narratio prima by Georg Johann Rheticus (1514-74), Basel: Heinrich Petri, 1566 (leather-bound volume) by Swiss School, (16th century); 29.8x19.6 cm; Private Collection; (add.info.: Second (authorised) edition of the most significant scientific publication of the sixteenth century, the first edition to contain Rheticus\' Narratio prima. First published at Gdansk in 1540, and addressed to the astronomer and globe-maker Johann Schöner, who is thought to have first informed the young Rheticus of Copernicus\' radical new cosmological theories, the Narratio contains a summary of the Copernican heliocentric hypothesis and an account of Rheticus\' efforts to persuade Copernicus to publish his work.); Photo © Christie\'s Images; Swiss, out of copyright.