1603 / c. 1640 Bayer Celestial Chart of the Auriga Constellation

Auriga-bayer-1603
$1,200.00
[Auriga]. / Tabula Duodecima Auriga et Erichthonius [handwritten on verso]. - Main View
[Auriga]. / Tabula Duodecima Auriga et Erichthonius [handwritten on verso]. - Main View
[Auriga]. / Tabula Duodecima Auriga et Erichthonius [handwritten on verso]. - Alternate View 1
[Auriga]. / Tabula Duodecima Auriga et Erichthonius [handwritten on verso]. - Main View Thumbnail
[Auriga]. / Tabula Duodecima Auriga et Erichthonius [handwritten on verso]. - Alternate View 1 Thumbnail
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1603 / c. 1640 Bayer Celestial Chart of the Auriga Constellation

Auriga-bayer-1603

Auriga from the most important 17th century celestial atlas.
$1,200.00

Title

[Auriga]. / Tabula Duodecima Auriga et Erichthonius [handwritten on verso].
  1603 (undated)     11 x 14.75 in (27.94 x 37.465 cm)

Description

A charming c. 1640 example of Johannes Bayer's celestial chart of the zodiacal constellation Auriga ('the charioteer'), published in his seminal Uranometria, one of the most important celestial atlases of the early modern period. As the forerunner of all later celestial atlases, the significance and relevance of this work are emphasized by its continued publication throughout the mid-17th century.
A Groundbreaking Atlas of the Heavens
Bayer's Uranometria was built on the work of Tycho Brahe and Alessandro Piccolomini, but he added roughly a thousand additional stars. Bayer's breakthrough was, first, to fix all of these discovered stars to a reference grid (visible just inside the border) and, second, to provide a systematic format for their classification. Bayer's system - still in use - is known as the Bayer Designation. Bayer assigned Greek letters to each star of a given constellation in order of apparent size; thus, the brightest star of the Auriga constellation was classified as Alpha Aurigae (Capella, the sixth-brightest star in the night sky). Beta Aurigae (also known by its Arabic-derived name Menkalinan) appears near Auriga's left shoulder, Gamma Aurigae (considered by Bayer to be shared with the Taurus Constellation but now generally known only as Beta Tauri) sits at Auriga's left ankle, and so on. The river-like feature overlying the constellation is the Milky Way. The version contains extensive handwritten text on the verso, listing the largest stars in the constellation according to Bayer's system and describing the constellation in German.
Publication History and Census
A charming c. 1640 example of Johannes Bayer's celestial chart of the zodiacal constellation Auriga ('the charioteer'), published in his seminal Uranometria, one of the most important celestial atlases of the early modern period. As the forerunner of all later celestial atlases, the significance and relevance of this work are emphasized by its continued publication throughout the mid-17th century.

CartographerS

Johann Bayer (1572 - March 7, 1625) was a German lawyer and celestial cartographer. Bayer was born in Rain, Lower Bavaria. In 1592, he began studying philosophy and law at the University of Ingolstadt. Upon completing university, he began legal practice in Augsburg, becoming legal adviser to the city council in 1612. In addition to the law, he studied archaeology, mathematics, and especially astronomy. His work codifying the positions of stars and other celestial objects on the celestial sphere had remains in use today. His star atlas Uranometria Omnium Asterismorum, published in 1603 in Augsburg, was the first atlas to cover the entire celestial sphere. It drew upon the work of Tycho Brahe and Alessandro Piccolomini, but was far more encyclopedic: Bayer's catalog included a thousand more stars than its precursors. Uranometria also introduced a new system of star designation, now known as the Bayer Designation. In addition to the classical constellations of the northern hemisphere, Bayer included in his work a dozen further constellations, invented to fill the night sky of the Southern Hemisphere - which Ancient Greece and Rome had never seen. The crater Bayer on the Moon is named after him. More by this mapmaker...


Alexander Mair (1559 - 1617), also known as Mayr / Mayer, was a German engraver and painter active in Augsburg in the latter part of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth. Mair was born in Augsburg. His works include both copper engravings and woodcuts, although he is best known for copper. Among his more famous works are the frontispiece and celestial map plates for Johann Bayer's 1603 Uranometria, a portrait of Pope Leo X, vignettes such asDas Armbrustschiessen zu München 1599, the frontispiece of Marcus Welser's Dissertation sur les antiquités d'Augsbourg, and Welser's portrait. Mair is also credited with a wood-engraved map of Augsburg. He died in Augsburg in 1617. Learn More...


Johann Görlin (June 26, 1635 - February 2, 1663), also known as Gerlin, was a German printer and bookseller active in Ulm, Germany. Some suggest he is the son of a bookseller, also Johann Görlin, while others suggest he was born of a Steinenkirch pastor. He established himself with a private press on May 7, 1658, but published earlier works. He was briefly succeeded widow, who published until 1680, and by his son, also Johann Görlin. His shop printed theological and historical works for the most part, but also produced several editions of Johann Bayer's Uranometria. Learn More...

Source

Bayer, Johann, Ioannis Bayeri Rhainani I. C. Uranometria: Omnium Asterismorum Continens Schemata, Nova Methodo Delineata, Aereis Laminis Expressa, (Ulm: Görlin) 1639 - 1661.    

Condition

Very good. Manuscript writing on verso. Tab attached to left margin.

References

Rumsey 12181.014 (1655 ed.). OCLC 435639611.