Life of the Famous Antonius Corvinus

Preface concerning the life of M. Anton Corvinus

„...given [occasion]. And what would be more pleasing
„and desirable to me than if I [could contribute] to Your
„Highly Noble’s original: Hochedelgeborene; a formal honorific for a person of high social or scholarly standing exquisite work
„concerning the excellent confessor and hero of our
„[faith] This refers to Anton Corvinus (1501–1553), a key reformer in Lower Saxony who was imprisoned for his beliefs.

desired approval was not received, presumably also for this reason: because the sun must be shining when using his machines; and added to this is the strong motion at sea Finding "longitude" (one's east-west position) was the greatest scientific challenge of the 1700s; most mechanical solutions failed because of the rocking of ships or reliance on clear skies.. Because now, in the year 1748, during the high presence of His Royal Majesty of Great Britain and Electoral Serenity of Brunswick and Lüneburg King George II, who ruled both Britain and the German territory of Hanover in Hanover, the local mathematician and learned Jew, Raphael Levi—who prides himself on being a pupil of the great Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), the world-renowned philosopher and mathematician—also had the high grace in this very matter in the month of July to present and demonstrate a new invention to His Royal Majesty in the presence of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Cumberland, etc. His Royal Majesty—which is remarkable—immediately recalled that Isaac Newton, the great English geometer mathematician, had told His Royal Majesty that this matter must be discovered from the very principles original: aus dem Grunde that the said Raphael Levi has now shown. Consequently, his invention has been submitted to the Admiralty and the Royal English Society of Sciences in London for investigation and approval; and it has already found so much acclaim that the Jew Raphael was ordered to London, with his travel expenses paid, in order to resolve the doubts still raised regarding it; he actually began the journey there on April 13th. According to his invention, at least on land, every...