The libraries marked the four-millionth volume in 2003 with Urania Propitia, QB11.C837 1650 oversize (Excudebat typographus Olsnensis J. Seyffertus, 1650) by Maria Cunitz (1610-1664). The book examines the theory and art of astronomy, as well as presents her calculations, and a guide to astronomy for nonscientists. According to Cunitz, there were four components to astronomy: carefully recorded observations, the construction of astronomical instruments, theory, and the calculations or tables of predictions.           

Cunitz was the first modern female astronomer. The book is very rare — one of nine copies in existence — and is an important addition to the libraries because it celebrates the university’s commitments to women’s studies, history of science, astronomy, and the printed word as the prime means of communication for more than five hundred years.

Funding was provided by the University Athletic Association to purchase this four-millionth volume.

Milestone volumes are always significant to an academic institution in that they help keep alive the history of an institution’s evolution and development. To measure how ‘great’ a library might be is not only to note the number of holdings contained in the collections, but also — perhaps more important than sheer size — to esteem the value of the collections for their intrinsic worth and potential use for research. The University of Florida’s milestone volumes range among broad disciplines, and our latest millionth most appropriately represents where the university is currently directing its strategic energies in the sciences and humanities.

The work has been fully digitized, and is available at http://ufdc.ufl.edu/l/UF00101111/00001