Tratado da Esfera e Regimento da Declinação do Sol (Guia Náutico de Évora)

The “Nautical Guides of Munich and Evora” (Guias Náuticos de Munique e Évora, in the original Portuguese) are two extraordinary little printed books from the first decades of the 16th century. This joint designation of “Guias Náuticos”, based on the location of the key extant copies, was aptly given by Luís de Albuquerque in a memorable 1965 publication, but their full titles are respectively, Regimento do Astrolábio e do quadrante e Tratado da Esfera do Mundo, and Tratado da Esfera e Regimento da Declinação do Sol, that is, “Regiment of the Astrolabe and the Quadrant and Treatise of the World Sphere”, and “Treatise of the Sphere and Regiment of the Sun's Declination”. The Munich Guide is slightly older and counts sixty-three pages, while the Évora Guide runs to seventy-one pages. Both were printed in Lisbon, that of Munich by Hermão de Campos and that of Évora by Germão Galharde, who at the time were typographers of renown in Portugal.