Uncovering Copernicus: A rare book's restoration breathes new life into history

To the untrained eye, watching Julie Sommerfeldt open the 450-year-old book in front of her and leaf through the pages - with her bare hands - may seem shocking. But the notion of a dusty tome being handled with white gloves is something of a ‘fallacy’, according to the University Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections Manager.

“These books are here to be used,” she says, detailing how the restoration process just completed on this book also rejuvenated the materials, leaving them stronger than before. Paper from the early modern period was made of recycled textiles like hemp, linen and cotton, which makes it much hardier than modern wood-pulp paper. Moreover, the loose fabric of a cotton glove is more likely to damage a fragile manuscript or book than clean, dry hands.

This book, ponderously titled De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres), was the seminal text on heliocentricity by Nicolaus Copernicus, a renowned Renaissance mathematician and astronomer. At the time, the accepted knowledge was that the universe was geocentric – or revolved around the Earth. Copernicus’ work provided a mathematical model of the universe which instead revolved around the sun, a theory which would eventually lead scientists to another unthinkable leap forward: that the universe does not revolve around any object in our solar system.

A second edition, the book was made by printer Heinrich Petri in Basel, Switzerland in 1566. In 2024, expert conservator Gillian McElroy was brought in to carefully take apart the binding, remove dirt and damage, wash the pages and brush them in a gelatine solution, before carefully realigning and binding the pages into the original cover.

“We have a duty of care for these objects,” Julie explains. “This book will outlive us, it will be here for hundreds of years to come. One way I like to think about these collections is the number of hands each book has passed through to reach us here at the Library.”

De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is no different in that respect. In 1566, in candlelit workshops in Basel, a printer arranged the printing press’s movable type by hand, applied the ink and paper, and sent the printed sheets to the binder to fold, sew and bind the pages with the vellum cover to create the finished book.

One owner bought it, then another and another – one even leaving their mark with handwritten annotations, notes made as they pored over the Latin text and diagrams. By the 20th century, it had found its way to the collection of eminent astrophysicist Owen Gingerich, who applied a bookplate to mark his ownership. Finally, thanks to a donation by William Houison Deane (BSc ’29), it was purchased by the University of Sydney in 1983.

In the four decades since, countless students, academics, and visitors have come to the Library and engaged with this piece of history. In 2024, conservator Gillian carefully handled each individual page to bring the book back from its brittle, stained, and unusable state. And now, sitting at Julie’s fingertips, it is ready to be read and studied in earnest once more.

According to Julie, the scholarly potential of the restored text is enormous. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium not only represents an early copy of Copernicus’ revolutionary ideas, but its physical form contains bountiful avenues for research. As an object, the book tells us the story of papermakers, printmakers, binders and booksellers, and of trade routes and philosophical exchanges of the 16^th century. How were Copernicus’ ideas received at the time of publication and in subsequent years? Who was the mysterious scribbler and what notes have they hidden in the margins? What can its bookplates and stamps tell us about provenance, family histories, and the book’s movements across the centuries? These stories of groundbreaking scientific discovery and everyday lives are tantalisingly close as Julie turns the pages to show each hidden detail.

And this is just one of over 300,000 items in the Rare Books and Special Collections catalogue. Caring for this vast trove, and ensuring its treasures remain accessible, is a costly endeavour – which is what makes donations like that made by W H Deane all the more important.

An eccentric and intellectual man, Deane came from a legal family of considerable means, and did not need to work for a living, instead pursuing his many and varied interests. He was a passionate collector of works on sexology, demonology, witchcraft, archaeology, sociology, as well as the foundational works in the history of science.

In the 1950s, Deane offered more than 5,000 books from his personal library to the University of Sydney, along with two endowed funds to ensure the growth and maintenance of the collection. Deane wrote in a letter, “let us hope that in time it will help our Library to obtain some of those rarer items of the kind one finds only in those great old libraries of Europe.” Both funds were started with small sums which Deane added to over the years as his circumstances permitted, living very frugally and saving every dollar to add to the funds. He told then Vice-Chancellor, Sir Stephen Henry Roberts CMG, that his intention was “until my death to keep paying into this account everything I can”.

According to former University Librarian Dr Neil Radford (BEc ’64), “Deane’s generosity to the Library is matched only by that of Thomas Fisher, for whom the Library is named. [Deane] was a modest man and sought no thanks or gratitude from the University, and that it was he who should thank the University and the Library for making it possible for him to derive such satisfaction from helping to build up its research collections.”

Though his initial gift is older than the current Fisher Library building, the two funds started by W H Deane continue to expand the Library’s large and unique collections, and to fund their ongoing care to this day. Advances in technology since his death have also allowed for the digitisation of key items in the Library, allowing more people than ever to access these important historical works, both in Australia and around the world.

Asked about the significance of donors like W H Deane to the University Library, Julie replies with awed sincerity. “It’s incredible. Rare Books depends almost entirely on bequest funds for the purchase, restoration, and digitisation of our collections. Without these donations, none of this,” she gestures around at the expansive walls of Fisher, “would be possible.”

A high-resolution digitised copy can now be viewed by the public in full on the Library’s Digital Collections website: Copernicus, Nicolaus - De revolutionibus orbium coelestium

To see more details of the conservation process, including videos, you can also visit an online exhibition on Google Arts & Culture, along with over 200 other Library collection highlights and featured collections from cultural organisations around the world. 

The 2024 Sydney Rare Book Fair will run from 24-26 October in Maclaurin Hall. Find out more.

Written by Chloe Pryce for the donor publication. Photography by Vanessa Low.