Astronomy.- Gassendi (Pierre) Tychonis Brahei, equitis Dani, astronomorum coryphaei, vita. Accessit Nicolai Copernici, Georgii Peurbachii, & Joannis Regiomontani, astronomorum celebrium, 2 parts in 1, engraved crown device to title and portraits of Brahe and Copernicus, woodcut diagrams of the solar system, woodcut head- and tail-pieces and decorative initials, outer margin of title repaired, with little loss to lower blank corner, some spotting and light staining, modern vellum, red morocco label to spine, [Houzeau and Lancaster 6190], small 4to, Paris, Widow of M. Dupuis, 1654.

⁂ First edition of these biographies of celebrated astronomers. Includes descriptions of the duel following a mathematical dispute in which Tycho Brahe famously lost his nose, and of the story of the same's pet elk, which, after drinking beer at a banquet fell down some stairs and died.