Folio, (300 x 196 mm). 108 pp., lower margins of H6 and I2 folded up to fit text block. Vellum backed marbled boards, probably 19th century. Overall a very large example, one of the oversized leafs not trimmed as often the case, the other with last line in fine pen facsimile, some margin a little worn, stamp erased on title, some minor toning and foxing as always, else very good.

This edition is illustrated with a large, engraved portrait of the author standing beneath an arch containing the arms of the families of Brahe and Bille, 6 large engravings (5 full-page of astronomical instruments, one half-page of the observatory at Hven, Uraniborg), 19 full-page woodcuts (mostly of instruments), and several smaller woodcuts (including a map of the island of Hven); the illustrations were sold by the author´s heirs to publisher Levinus Hulsius.

The Mechanica contains as well as a summary of the findings of Brahe´s observation and a short autobiography, as well as an appendix showing the construction of the observatories. The two observatories and principal instruments, including the great globe, now preserved in Copenhagen, are illustrated and fully described in the present catalogue, which also contains a short autobiography and a summary of the principal results of Brahe's observations.

'On this globe, over the years, Tycho marked the exact positions, referred to the year 1600, of the fixed stars that he observed... In the southwest room on the ground floor at Uraniborg... was Tycho's most famous instrument, the mural quadrant, with a radius of about six feet... Inside the quadrant's arc, for ornamental purposes, was painted a life-size portrait of Tycho seated at a table, with arm outstretched as though pointing to a cylinder...' (DSB).

Houzeau and Lancaster 2703; Norman 320; Sparrow Milestones 29.