Essential information
| Type | Talks and tours |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Date and times | Tuesday 17 February 2026 | Doors open at 6.30pm, event starts at 7.00pm |
| Prices | Flamsteed Members: FREE | Guests of Flamsteed Members: £15 | Royal Museums Greenwich Members: £12 |
| Flamsteed Member exclusive. Not a Member? Join now |
Charting the Heavens in Type: the Oldest Astronomical Printed Books in the Royal Astronomical Society Library
This lecture will focus on the first astronomical books to be published in print in the late fifteenth century. These books are known as 'incunables', from the Latin for swaddling clothes which alludes to the 'cradle' of the European printing press.
Using examples held in the library of the Royal Astronomical Society, we will consider the work of authors like Regiomontanus, whose books contained not only precise astronomical tables, but also instruments that readers could use for their own observations. We will look at multiple copies of Johannes de Sacrobosco's Sphaera Mundi (The Sphere of the world), which was widely used as a textbook in European universities. Published in multiple editions over centuries, it become one of the most popular astronomical books of all time.
The library's collection of over 50 books produced before 1501 provides evidence for the transmission of astronomical thought via Arabic scholars, and reveals how astronomy and cosmology were disseminated and taught in medieval Europe.
Meet the Speaker
Dr Sian Prosser manages the library and archives of the Royal Astronomical Society, making them accessible to researchers, working with colleagues to use them in outreach and education activities, and promoting the history of astronomy and of the people who created and used the RAS collections. After a PhD on medieval manuscripts, she qualified as a librarian and has completed the Certificate in Astronomy at UCL.
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Image Credit: Human Traces in the Cosmos © Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau - ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2025 People and Space