1837 Mädler Map of the Moon

A groundbreaking lunar map of considerable rarity and great significance. Sharply detailed, separately-issued map of the moon, produced in 1837 by the German astronomer Johann Heinrich Mädler. It is a reduced version of his 1834-6 four-sheet map of the moon, and represents just the second accurate, printed map of the lunar surface visible from Earth. It is abundantly detailed, naming 351 individual mountains and craters and using a number key to mark their locations on the map. The tables are broken into quarters, corresponding to the four parts of the original map. Where Mädler has been able to calculate them, the tables also provide the height and depth of the noted features.

Publication History

Mädler and his patron, Wilhelm Beer, had produced the first accurate map of the moon, Mappa Selenographica. In 1837, Mädler and Beer produced a book, Der Mond nach seinen kosmischen und individuellen Verhältnissen, presenting the results of their lunar studies. The book contained five wood-engraved plates, but no general map. The present map appears to have been published separately as a supplement to the book, though we see no example of the book in institutional collections accompanied with the map. We know of no other states or editions of this particular map.