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In the spring of 1716, the Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, built a pyre on Greenwich Hill near the Royal Observatory. From a safe vantage point, he watched with satisfaction as pages from a book he wrote went up in flames, calling them a good “sacrifice to TRUTH.” This was not done in a fit of frustration with his research, but rather to take back control of work that he felt had been stolen from him. The 1712 edition of Historiae Coelestis, though large, expensive, and beautifully printed, went to press prematurely against Flamsteed's wishes. The series of events that led to Flamsteed's furious burning of the copies of that edition involved some of the most powerful members of the early Royal Society, including Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley, all embroiled in professional jealousy, intellectual theft, and clandestine printing.

Join scholar Adrian Johns and the Library’s Vice President for Special Collections Jason W. Dean as they explore the scholarship, personality conflicts, and crime embodied in the Library's copy of the 1712 Historia Coelestis, one of approximately a dozen that still survives.