Copernicus first edition up for sale

Tokyo (ANTARA News) - A bookseller is offering a rare first edition of Nicolaus Copernicus' revolutionary book on the solar system at a Tokyo fair.

Price: 1.5 million dollars. Credit cards accepted.

The book, published in 1543 and entitled in Latin "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, Libri VI," carries a diagram that shows the Earth and other planets revolving around the sun, countering the prevailing geocentric theory.

There only are a little more than 300 copies of the first edition around the world and most are in libraries, according to Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller Inc. of New York, which is selling the book.

The first edition is on offer at the Tokyo International Antiquarian Bookfair, which opened Wednesday for a three-day run.

Jonathan Hill, the owner of the store, said he was "very optimistic" about finding a buyer but that the price could be negotiated.

"If someone makes a good offer, then we can talk," he told AFP.

The copy, originally owned by a cardinal despite the Roman Catholic Church's ban, has an errata leaf bound in before the title page, which is found in only 20 percent of all known copies of the book, he said. (*)