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Signature of Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus

The autograph signature of Nicolaus Copernicus, a direct personal trace of his own hand.

His own handwritten signature, a direct personal trace of Copernicus himself.

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Black handwritten signature in bold, brush-like strokes reading 'Mikołaj Copernicus' in cursive. The capital M-like letter and the C with looping strokes are visible on a white background.
Autograph of Nicolaus Copernicus, reproduced in Samuel Orgelbrand's Universal Encyclopedia, 1898-1904.

About this source

What it is

This is the handwritten signature of Nicolaus Copernicus, reproduced from a nineteenth-century encyclopedia. It shows his name written in his own hand in a bold, cursive style.

Why it matters

A signature is one of the most direct physical traces a historical figure can leave behind. For a man known mostly through his published astronomical work, this autograph is a reminder that Copernicus was a real person who signed documents, wrote letters, and lived an ordinary daily life alongside his scientific thinking.

Look closer

  • What can handwriting tell us about a person that a printed book cannot?
  • Why do archives and historians value signatures so highly when confirming authorship of old documents?
  • What does it mean that this image comes from a later encyclopedia rather than directly from Copernicus's own papers?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Nicolaus Copernicus on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, printed 1543 in Nuremberg by Johann Petreius. Large capitals read NICOLAI COPERNICI TORINENSIS, followed by the book title and an address to the reader in Latin. Handwritten ink marks read Bibliotheca and Univers, and a Greek motto appears below the text.Book

Primary source

De revolutionibus orbium coelestium

Nicolaus Copernicus · 1543

Engraved portrait print of Nicolaus Copernicus in an octagonal frame with stippled background. A man with wavy shoulder-length hair wears a fur-trimmed garment and holds a small armillary-style sphere. Caption reads NICOLAUS COPERNICUS, with publisher line Zwickau, bei Gebr. Schumann below.Painting

Secondary source

Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus (Schumann print)

Gebrüder Schumann

Scanned page from a 1543 printed book titled Nicolai Copernici, showing a diagram of concentric circles with the Sun at the center, labeled planetary orbits including Mercury, Venus, Earth (terra) with the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the outer sphere of fixed stars. Latin text surrounds the diagram.Artifact

Primary source

Copernicus's Diagram of the Planetary System

Nicolaus Copernicus · 1543

Engraved oval portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, a man with wavy shoulder-length hair and a fur-collared garment, inside a decorative border with Latin inscriptions and dates, on a book page photographed on a dark background with a gray scale.Painting

Secondary source

Engraved Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus (Herzog August Library)

Unbekannt

Engraved portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus in an oval frame, shown on a book page with a page number 52 in the corner. The man has curly hair and wears a fur-trimmed garment. Latin inscription 'NICOLAUS COPERNICUS' appears at the bottom, with a verse text block below and a catalogue number beneath the page.Painting

Secondary source

Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus (Albertina Museum)

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