Catalog Archive
Auction 177, Lot 32

"Motus Planetarum Superiorum qui Secundum Tychonis Hypothesin Singulis...", Doppelmayr/Homann

Subject: Solar System

Period: 1742 (circa)

Publication: Atlas Coelestis

Color: Hand Color

Size:
22.8 x 19 inches
57.9 x 48.3 cm
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This large, copper engraved chart of the solar system details the spiral motions of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn as observed from earth, and the geocentric motion of the inner planets Mercury and Venus according to the Tychonic hypothesis in the early 1700s. The path of the Sun in the sky is also shown. Smaller hemispheres at the upper edges explain the regressive movements of the planets with long explanations in the two lower hemispheres. The sheet is embellished with cherubs, representing the planets, prancing through the heavens.

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 & Fig. 3.18.

Condition: B+

A nice impression with full contemporary color on a sheet with a heart watermark with the initials "SHD." There is a short centerfold separation at bottom that has been archivally repaired. The bottom and right margins were trimmed by the bookbinder with minor loss of the neatline, with the bottom margin extended a bit to accommodate framing.

Estimate: $350 - $425

Sold for: $200

Closed on 4/29/2020

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