bavarikon4UDescription
The unaltered reprint of the edition of Andreas Cellarius' Atlas of the Skies, first published in 1660, comes from the Cistercian monastery of Waldsassen. It was published by the Flemish printer Johannes Janssonius as a supplement to his 'Atlas Novus', which had already been started by the famous cartographer Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594). In addition to a detailed text section, this edition contains 29 elaborately designed and coloured copperplates. The author Andreas Cellarius was born near Worms, studied in Heidelberg and settled in Hoorn in 1637 as rector of the Latin School. He worked on his celestial atlas for more than a decade, planning to produce the work in two parts, but the second volume was never published. The 'Harmonia Macrocosmica' shows the development of the astronomical world view. Claudius Ptolemäus, Nikolaus Kopernikus and Tycho Brahe's systems are represented by 21 copperplate engravings. The panels with images of the Earth from four perspectives, as if seen through a transparent celestial sphere on which the constellations are drawn, are particularly charming and colourful. The Christian constellations that have been forgotten today are also shown in addition to the ancient ones. The binding made in the Netherlands with rich gilding shows the central plate with an armillary sphere in the centre surrounded by scrollwork and leaf tendrils and four corner plates with very similar ornamentation. // Author: Siglinde Kurz // Date: 2018