Scientist of the Day - Johannes Stöffler

Using an astrolabe to measure the depth of a well, woodcut in Elucidatio fabricae vsusq[ue] astrolabii, by Johannes Stöffler, 1513 (Linda Hall Library)

Johannes Stöffler, a German mathematician and astronomer, was born Dec. 10, 1452, in the town of Justingen in southern Germany. He attended the University of Ingolstadt, which had just been founded in 1472, and distinguished himself well enough as astronomer and astrologer that he was appointed professor at Tübingen in 1507, filling the new chair of math and astronomy. He taught there until he was fatally felled by the plague in 1531.

Portrait of Johannes Stöffler, engraved by Theodor de Bry, in Icones quinquaginta virorum illustrium, by Jean Jacques Boissard, vol. 2, p. 274, 1598 (Linda Hall Library)

We wrote our first post on Stöffler four years ago, when we celebrated a book that he published in 1518, called Calendarium Romanum magnum. If you look at the images we included in that post, you will see that our copy of the Calendarium is a truly gorgeous book, printed in red and black and still in its original board binding. The book was printed by Jacob Köbel in Oppenheim, near Frankfurt, about 140 miles north of Tübingen. 

Limp vellum front cover with pasted-on title-slip, Elucidatio fabricae vsusq[ue] astrolabii, by Johannes Stöffler, 1513 (Linda Hall Library)

Title page, Elucidatio fabricae vsusq[ue] astrolabii, by Johannes Stöffler, 1513 (Linda Hall Library)

This past spring, we acquired another Stöffler book, his Elucidatio, a guide to making and using an astrolabe, published by the very same Oppenheimer printer, Köbel, in 1513. Our new Stöffler volume, which we purchased from Sophia Rare Books in Copenhagen, is just as attractive as the Calendarium, but in a different way – it is smaller and thinner, with a later but still early limp vellum binding with a paper label, and it is filled with woodcuts, some illustrating the various plates of an astrolabe, some showing how to use an astrolabe as a sighting device.

Astrolabe plate with edge scales, tropic circles, and celestial houses, woodcut, Elucidatio fabricae vsusq[ue] astrolabii, by Johannes Stöffler, 1513 (Linda Hall Library)

The book is most impressive in the way some of its plates are pasted up, with long strips of paper that fold out. It is amazing that it is all still together after 500 years. I like the fact that Stöffler took the time to explain how to fashion the little peg – which he calls an alichot – that holds the alidad or sight in place (seventh image). 

A complex pasted-up astrolabe plate that intrudes on the facing page, with folding scale, woodcut in Elucidatio fabricae vsusq[ue] astrolabii, by Johannes Stöffler, 1513 (Linda Hall Library)

Our copy also comes with a full provenance, which means we know who owned it first, and next, and on down the line for quite an extended period. One of the early owners affixed his bookplate to the inside front cover. This is the most outlandish oversized personal bookplate I have ever seen, completely covering the front pastedown, and engraved by the noted artist Lucas Kilian. But it is much less attractive than the other images we show here, so I decided not to include it. If you really must see it, we have scanned the book, and it is the second image, right after the front cover, at this link.

Instructions on making the pin that holds the alidad or sight on an astrolabe, text woodcut in Elucidatio fabricae vsusq[ue] astrolabii, by Johannes Stöffler, 1513 (Linda Hall Library)

One thing you notice when you leaf through either of Stöffler’s books printed by Köbel is that they are beautifully laid out, with the font for the captions and labels blending beautifully with the text and the woodcuts. The colophon at the end of the Elucidatio, with a small criblé printer’s vignette, is just wonderful (last image). I could not find out much about Oppenheim as a printing town. I do know that Johann Theodor de Bry later moved his press there from Frankfurt, and his son-in-law Matthias Merian, father of Maria Merian, worked there as well. So Köbel may have established a tradition of fine printing in Oppenheim.

Colophon of the printer, Jacob Köbel of Oppenheim, criblé woodcut, dated 1512, Elucidatio fabricae vsusq[ue] astrolabii, by Johannes Stöffler, 1513 (Linda Hall Library)

Stöffler's book on the astrolabe turned out to be definitive, and it was reprinted and reissued some 20 times during the course of the century. We have one other edition in our collections.

In our first post on Stöffler, we showed a woodcut portrait from our collections. This time, we use an engraving made from the same drawing, by Theodor de Bry, from another portrait book that we have. I like it much better.

William B. Ashworth, Jr., Consultant for the History of Science, Linda Hall Library and Associate Professor emeritus, Department of History, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Comments or corrections are welcome; please direct to ashworthw@umkc.edu.