Catalog Archive
Auction 144, Lot 23

"Astronomy. Plate LXXXVI", Bell, Andrew

Subject: Celestial

Period: 1778 (circa)

Publication: Encylopaedia Britannica

Color: Hand Color

Size:
7.5 x 9.5 inches
19.1 x 24.1 cm
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Very attractive celestial chart engraved by Andrew Bell for the "Encylopaedia Britannica," which was first published by Bell and Colin Macfarquhar in 1768. The Encylopaedia Britannica is credited as the oldest English-language general encyclopedia, and was divided into "treatises" on the arts and sciences in alphabetical order. This celestial chart of the southern hemisphere appeared in the treatise on Astronomy, and shows the figures of the constellations drawn in their mythological human and animal forms. At the top of the chart are five small spheres depicting planet Earth and its rotational movement as it orbits the Sun.

References:

Condition: A

Attractive color on a full sheet with archival repairs to binding holes at far left.

Estimate: $240 - $300

Sold for: $180

Closed on 4/3/2013

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