- Collection ID
- PBK.006300
- Type
- Printed Book
- Date
- 1683
- Geography
- United States
- Language
- English
- Medium
- Printed on Paper
- Dimensions
- 5.9 × 3.7 × 0.6 in. (15 × 9.5 × 1.5 cm)
- Exhibit Location
- Not on View
From November 1680 through March 1681, the Great Comet of 1680 streaked across the night sky for all to see, eliciting widespread fascination and contributing to important scientific insights, including Isaac Newton’s development of the law of gravity. Increase Mather, a prominent Puritan minister and future president of Harvard College, preached several sermons about the comet and its religious implications. Like many in his day, Mather viewed comets as signs—often of impending judgment—from God. He soon released Kometographia, which dealt not only with the nature of comets but also presented a voluminous list of comets throughout history and the calamities that followed. Kometographia was bound with two of Mather’s earlier sermons on the Great Comet of 1680, but this copy lacks those additions.
From November 1680 through March 1681, the Great Comet of 1680 streaked across the night sky for all to see, eliciting widespread fascination and contributing to important scientific insights, including Isaac Newton’s development of the law of gravity. Increase Mather, a prominent Puritan minister and future president of Harvard College, preached several sermons about the comet and its religious implications. Like many in his day, Mather viewed comets as signs—often of impending judgment—from God. He soon released Kometographia, which dealt not only with the nature of comets but also presented a voluminous list of comets throughout history and the calamities that followed. Kometographia was bound with two of Mather’s earlier sermons on the Great Comet of 1680, but this copy lacks those additions.
Printed in 1683 by Samuel Green for Samuel Sewall, Boston, Massachusetts. Acquired by 2020 by Ted Steinbock, private collector, Louisville, Kentucky;[1] Privately purchased in 2020 by Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.
Notes: [1] A faint inscription from a prior owner reading “Leond [?] 10 475” appears on the back of a loose title page. The book contains both a loose original title page and a bound facsimile title page (in a modern binding). It seems most likely that the loose original title page with the inscription was added later, after the book had been rebound with the facsimile, so the inscription would not be original to this copy.
Printed in 1683 by Samuel Green for Samuel Sewall, Boston, Massachusetts. Acquired by 2020 by Ted Steinbock, private collector, Louisville, Kentucky;[1] Privately purchased in 2020 by Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.
Notes: [1] A faint inscription from a prior owner reading “Leond [?] 10 475” appears on the back of a loose title page. The book contains both a loose original title page and a bound facsimile title page (in a modern binding). It seems most likely that the loose original title page with the inscription was added later, after the book had been rebound with the facsimile, so the inscription would not be original to this copy.
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