English
A masterpiece from the Golden Age of celestial cartography
Andreas Cellarius. Harmonia Macrocosmica of 1660
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Although planned over two volumes, only the first volume of the Harmonia Macrocosmica was actually published. It describes the heavens and the most important world systems, above all that of Claudius Ptolemy. In the second volume, the world systems of Nicolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe were to be handled in more detail, along with a discussion of solar and lunar eclipses and a description of new discoveries made since the invention of the telescope. The work is prefaced by a poem in praise of Cellarius by Johannes Christenius (1599/ 1600-c. 1672), professor of law at the Athenaeum Illustre in Amsterdam. The text consists of a long Praeloquium or foreword in which the history of astronomy is presented, followed by the actual text, in which the 29 folio plates contained in the work are discussed in detail. The majority of the plates represent the Ptolemaic, geocentric world system. Just one plate (8) reflects to the alternative geocentric system proposed by the Roman author Martianus Capella (5th century AD). This plate is derived from an illustration in the Leiden Aratea and for this reason wrongly attributed to Aratus. The Copernican system is dealt with in two plates, while the worldview of Tycho Brahe is depicted in three plates. A detailed description of these last two world systems was intended for the projected second volume. The position circles of the celestial and terrestrial spheres are presented in three plates, followed by five plates illustrating various astrological concepts and the motion and phases of the moon. The final eight plates are devoted to the constellations and the fixed stars. Two plates depict the constellations of the northern and southern celestial hemispheres in the traditional forms assigned to them by the Greeks, while another two depict the stars in the "Christian" constellations following the Coelum stellatum christianum by Julius Schiller.
The most spectacular plates, however, are those that show the Earth from four different perspectives, seen as if through a translucent sphere on which the constellations are drawn.
Page [1] [2] [3]
Page [1] [2] [3]
Although planned over two volumes, only the first volume of the Harmonia Macrocosmica was actually published. It describes the heavens and the most important world systems, above all that of Claudius Ptolemy. In the second volume, the world systems of Nicolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe were to be handled in more detail, along with a discussion of solar and lunar eclipses and a description of new discoveries made since the invention of the telescope. The work is prefaced by a poem in praise of Cellarius by Johannes Christenius (1599/ 1600-c. 1672), professor of law at the Athenaeum Illustre in Amsterdam. The text consists of a long Praeloquium or foreword in which the history of astronomy is presented, followed by the actual text, in which the 29 folio plates contained in the work are discussed in detail. The majority of the plates represent the Ptolemaic, geocentric world system. Just one plate (8) reflects to the alternative geocentric system proposed by the Roman author Martianus Capella (5th century AD). This plate is derived from an illustration in the Leiden Aratea and for this reason wrongly attributed to Aratus. The Copernican system is dealt with in two plates, while the worldview of Tycho Brahe is depicted in three plates. A detailed description of these last two world systems was intended for the projected second volume. The position circles of the celestial and terrestrial spheres are presented in three plates, followed by five plates illustrating various astrological concepts and the motion and phases of the moon. The final eight plates are devoted to the constellations and the fixed stars. Two plates depict the constellations of the northern and southern celestial hemispheres in the traditional forms assigned to them by the Greeks, while another two depict the stars in the "Christian" constellations following the Coelum stellatum christianum by Julius Schiller.
The most spectacular plates, however, are those that show the Earth from four different perspectives, seen as if through a translucent sphere on which the constellations are drawn.
Page [1] [2] [3]
Andreas Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica
Hardcover 12.6 x 20.9 in., 240 pages
$ 150.00
$ 150.00
The divine sky: history`s most beautiful celestial atlas
The northern stella hemisphere with the terrestial hemisphere lying between