Second title page of 'The Discovery of a World in the Moone' (1638) by English natural philosopher and Anglican clergyman John Wilkins (1614-1672). Wi

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Second title page of 'The Discovery of a World in the Moone' (1638) by English natural philosopher and Anglican clergyman John Wilkins (1614-1672). Wilkins compared the Earth and the Moon and proposed that it was 'probable there may be another habitable world in that planet'. He would later suggest that the Moon was inhabited by beings he called Selenites. The Latin quote at centre is from 'Naturales Questiones' by the Roman stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger. Wilkins was one of the founders of the Royal Society in 1660, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death. For the first title page of this book, see image C028/9454.

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