Crüger to Müller, 20/30 September 1634
Peter Crüger, “Crüger to Müller, 20/30 September 1634,” Nova Kepleriana 4, September 30, 1634, 111, transcribed in Plain Old Text, https://sources.vjbe.net/stable/sdscn.
Nova Kepleriana 4 30 Sep, 1634, p. 111 Summary
Part of Die Keplerbriefe auf der Nationalbibliothek und auf der Sternwarte in Paris
Crüger cannot afford to buy the posthumous papers of Kepler and Bartsch from their widows himself, and the Danzig council is taken up with the Swedish truce.
Source: Peter Crüger's letter to Philipp Müller written at Danzig on 20/30 September 1634, on Müller's suggestion that he buy the posthumous papers of Kepler and Bartsch from their widows for the city of Danzig. The original is in the Bibliothèque de l'Observatoire, Paris (B, 1, 9; 89, 9. Aa. 47). Printed in extracts in Nova Kepleriana 4, ed. Walther von Dyck and Max Caspar, Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Math.-naturw. Abteilung 31, no. 1 (Munich, 1927), 111.
Transcribed from: the page images of the 1927 printing.
Only the Latin is given; the editors’ German commentary and notes are left out. The 1927 edition prints only extracts. Each paragraph below is one of its extracts, and the omission marks (…) are the editors’. Spaced type, which the editors used for emphasis, is given in italics.
English translation of the Latin extracts printed in Nova Kepleriana 4 (1927), made for Plain Old Text. Each paragraph translates the corresponding extract of the original; the omission marks (…) are the 1927 editors’. Italics follow the editors’ emphasis.
Suadet Exc. T. ut posthuma Keppleri et Bartschii scripta comparem a viduis. Mihi, clarissime Vir, tantae facultates non suppetunt, ut iis sim solvendo. Ad Magistratum rem referre non est hujus temporis, quo omnia intenta sunt tractatibus de bello vel pace Suecica, induciis jam ad finem vergentibus. Dies actioni inchoandae dictus Calend. Nov. Quod si Deus largiatur pacem, non dubium quin a Senatu quid obtinuero; si pacificatio degeneret in bellum, frustra sollicitem. Sed et nescio qua ratione mihi ignota ad Viduas sit scribendum; nec quemquam ibi locorum habeo, qui rem explorare possit, quaenam scilicet ibi scripta sint, quanta copia et an etiam scripta et Observationes Tychonicae; quanto denique precio, si emenda sint.
Your Excellency advises me to buy the posthumous writings of Kepler and Bartsch from the widows. I do not have such means, most famous Sir, as to be able to pay for them. To put the matter to the Council is not for this time, when everything is bent on negotiations about war or peace with Sweden, as the truce is now drawing to its end.The truce of Altmark (1629) between Sweden and Poland, due to expire in 1635; it was renewed at Stuhmsdorf in September 1635. The day set for opening the talks is the Calends of November. If God grants peace, I have no doubt I shall obtain something from the Senate; if the peacemaking turns into war, I should ask in vain. Besides, I do not know on what footing I should write to the widows, who are unknown to me; nor have I anyone in those parts who could look into the matter: what writings there are, how many, and whether Tycho’s writings and observations are among them too; and, finally, at what price, if they are to be bought.