Traum vom Mond (Somnium), German edition, 1898

What it is

This is a scanned 1898 German edition of Kepler's Somnium, published in Leipzig and edited by Ludwig Günther, with a portrait of Kepler, a facsimile of the original title page, and illustrations. The original Somnium was written by Johannes Kepler and later published in 1634. This digitized copy is a scan held online, not the original book in Kepler's hand.

Why it matters

Somnium is often described as an early work of science fiction, imagining a journey to the Moon as a way of exploring Copernican astronomy. The 1898 edition shows how later generations kept studying and republishing Kepler's ideas, dedicating this edition to his memory.

Look closer

• Why might Kepler have chosen to explain astronomy through a fictional story rather than a plain scientific treatise?
• What does the 1898 editor's dedication to Kepler's memory tell us about how he was still valued centuries later?
• Since this is a scanned later edition, how might the text differ from Kepler's original 1634 publication?