Sales catalogue 496: Maggs Bros

Date:
1927
Reference:
WA/HMM/CM/Sal/13/53
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sales catalogue 496: Maggs Bros. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    92/344 page 78
    A BOOK ON NAVIGATION BY A LIFE-LONG FRIEND OF MAGELLAN. 1138 FALEIRO (Francisco). Tratado del Esphera y del arte del marear: con el regimiento de las alturas: con algunas reglas nuevamente escritas muy necessarias. Title in Gothic letter within ornamental woodcut border, be- neath woodcut astronomical sphere; other astronomical illustra- tions in the text; text in Gothic letter. First Eprrion. Small gto, full levant morocco by Riviere, g.e. Seville, Juan Cromberger, 1535. (See Illustration, Plate No. IV). £250 Medina, No. 99: “Es libro rarisimo.’”’ Picatoste, p. 92. Escudero, Hispalense, No. 362. Fernandez de Navarrete, Bibl. Maritima, Vol. 1, p. 459. Unknown to Sabin, Leclerc, and Salva. Not in John Carter Brown Library. This extraordinarily rare book in divided into two parts: the first, dealing with the globe, meridians, zones, eclipses, climate, the zodiac, etc. ‘“‘ and refutes many popular beliefs, such as that the sun suffers during an eclipse; when in reality all that might suffer would be that which is temporarily deprived of the sun’s rays.”’ The second part deals with latitudes, winds, the declinations of the sun, the compass, the horizon, etc. Little is known of the life of Falero or Faleiro. Espasa’s Enciclopedia only mentions him in connection with the biography of his brother Ruy, who was a life- long friend and associate of Magellan. The two brothers, natives of Portugal, were astronomers and geographers; and left Lisbon together with Magellan in 1517, as Ruy had in some way forfeited the favour of Dom Manuel I. Arrived in Spain, however, they managed to obtain the patronage of the Emperor Charles V, who granted them an allowance. Francisco (who, according to Navarrete, was also sometimes spoken of as “‘ Fernando’”’) was to have accompanied his brother and Magellan on an expedition in search of spices, but abandoned the project; turning his attention to the compilation of this work on the art of navigation, which was submitted to the university of Salamanca before publication. | Medina publishes the text of some documents relating to Francisco Faleiro in his Fernando de Magellanes, his recent historical study of Magellan, No. 206 of Catalogue. WE HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO TRACE ANY OTHER COPY OF THIS BOOK.
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