Libri animati

The paper analyzes the Cosmographicus liber (1524) of the German mathematician and cosmographer Petrus Apianus: an innovative work in the astronomical, geographical and cartographic studies of the sixteenth century, also due to the presence of some mobile devices consisting of volvelles. In addition to reconstructing the context of mathematical studies in which Apianus operated, the essay describes the para-textual function and the functioning of the astronomical instruments incorporated in the book.

The text summarizes the conclusions of the exhibition «Before the pop-up: old mobile
books in the BNE», (National Library of Spain, June-September 2016), pioneer for the study of these books in Spain as a first approach in our country to their history, evolution and classification in
their earliest period, from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century, with the funds of a public institution. The selection of pieces, on the one hand, highlighted all the problems of the genre, from
the lack of definition of the terminology to the absence of a Spanish bibliography, to the difficulties
in locating them in libraries and catalogs; on the other, it allowed to identify their two most usual
techniques in the Modern age: the volvelles and the flaps, as well as the most common themes that
used each one. Both this text and the exhibition have the dual common objective of making known
the precursors of these amazing books and studying them underlining the contribution of Spanish
authors absent from the most important international repertoires