Catalog Archive
Auction 153, Lot 47

Matched Pair of Celestial Charts Centered on the Equatorial Poles

"[Lot of 2] Hemisphaerium Coeli Boreale, in quo Loca Stellarum Fixarum Secundum Aequatorem... [and] Hemisphaerium Coeli Australe, in quo Loca Stellarum Fixarum Secundum Aequatorem...", Doppelmayr/Homann

Subject: Celestial

Period: 1742 (published)

Publication: Atlas Coelestis

Color: Hand Color

Size:
22.8 x 19 inches
57.9 x 48.3 cm
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This magnificent pair of celestial charts illustrates the northern and southern skies centered on the equatorial poles. The constellations are shown as figures from classical mythology per the catalogue of Johannes Hevelius and include Leo, Orion, Ursa Major, Aries, Taurus, Hercules, Pisces, Sagittarius, Centarus, Aquarius, Capricorn, and many more. At both sides of the charts are tables of the constellations with their magnitudes and the locations of their main stars. The charts are decorated with putti holding various instruments, including a pendulum clock, an azimuth circle, a telescope, and a sextant. Size varies slightly.

Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr was a professor of mathematics at the Aegidien Gymnasium in Nuremberg. Doppelmayr and Johann Baptist Homann were frequent collaborators in producing celestial and astronomical charts for atlases. This chart was engraved between 1735 and 1742 and appeared in the two major compilations of Dopplemayr’s works published by Homann Heirs; Atlas Coelestis in quo Mundus Spectabilis... in 1742, and the revised edition Atlas Novus Coelestis... in 1748. Read more about Doppelmayr's life and accomplishments here.

References: Kanas #7.8.3; Warner p. 64, 1A & 1B.

Condition: B+

Excellent impressions and color with minor soiling, a printer's crease at bottom left, and a pair of tiny worm holes on each sheet.

Estimate: $2,200 - $2,500

Sold for: $1,400

Closed on 5/20/2015

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