Priceless old prints and manuscripts from the collections of the Jagiellonian Library, including an extremely rarely displayed autograph manuscript of Nicolaus Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, can be viewed at an exhibition organised to celebrate the 550th anniversary of the birth of the astronomer and Jagiellonian University (UJ) student. 

According to the UJ, the exhibition is divided into three parts. The first one tells the story of the origins of Polish astronomy, starting from the 14th century, when the first scientific works on this knowledge were written, through the 15th century, when the chair of mathematics and astronomy began to develop very dynamically at the Krakow University. 

The central section is dedicated to Nicolaus Copernicus. Here visitors can see the autograph of “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium”, as well as the first three editions of this work (Nuremberg 1543, Basel 1566 and Amsterdam 1617).

The third part of the exhibition presents objects that show the reception of Copernican theory at a time when heliocentrism had not yet been recognised as a valid scientific truth.