Consideratio & observatio cometae aetherei astronomica qui anno MDLXXX mensibus octobri, novembri et decembri in alto aethere apparvit

TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND LORD, D. LUDWIG
Duke of Württemberg and Teck, Count of Montbéliard, etc., his most clement lord.

Large ornamental drop cap 'M' featuring floral and scrollwork patterns.
IT IS MEMORABLE what Plato said about the arts: That the pleasing fame of God is heard in the arts. By this he wished to admonish all men, and especially those who are devoted to the study of letters, to remember that they were not created by God for torpor and idle leisure, nor to be occupied only with earthly things, for digging and wallowing in the mud, which is the way of swine, but rather that they should reflect that just as all things are for the sake of man, so men are born for the sake of God, as the Stoics said. Therefore, it is part of their duty to seek, investigate, and render those things which belong to the Creator, namely to celebrate and praise His name in His works, for this is the only thing they can render unto God. And although the Divine Majesty, omnipotence, and goodness shine forth in all arts and in all works of nature, and are found even in the most minute things, yet in many respects the celestial body which is above us, and the science of the stars, excel all other things in this regard. For if the illustrious and great proofs and traces of divinity are seen anywhere, they are certainly demonstrated most clearly and grandly in these. Therefore, Plato’s saying must be referred here most especially, that if the fame of God is pleasing elsewhere, it is certainly most pleasing in the science of the stars; and for that reason, the consideration of the stars should not be so alien to man that he cannot neglect it without sin, since he received eyes for the purpose of contemplating the stars. Sacred Scripture testifies that this does not depart from the truth, for the Apostle agrees with them, saying: that from these visible things, they recognized the invisible things of God Rom. 1. The Psalmist also agrees: The heavens declare thy glory Psalm 19.