Emendation I
- Paragraph erased according to Decree XXI, pag. iiiiv.
- Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik) (1473-1543).
- Nicolai Copernici Torinensis de Revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri sex.
- Basel: Heinrich Petri, 1566.
- Courtesy of the University of Rochester (The Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation).
Essentially, each of these ten corrections are aimed to expurgate certain çontroversial passages, adding very specific “clarifications” to the text. Here are two of these suggested emendations as they were applied to this copy of the second edition. To illustrate these corrections, we have included the relevant Latin text from Decree XXI, followed by the English translation.
In praefatione circa finem. Ibi (si fortasse) dele omnia usque ad verba: hi nostri labores, et sic accomoda, coeterum hi nostri labores. In the preface near the end: From “perhaps” (si fortasse) delete everything up to the words “my work” (hi nostri labores), and adjust it thus: “my work and those of others” (coeterum & hi nostri labores).
Indeed, this paragraph at the end of Copernicus’ dedication to Pope Paul III must have angered the theologians of the Church. In brief, Copernicus argued that theologians should not deal with matters that they do not understand, such as mathematics.