1690 Hevelius Celestial Chart or Star Map of the Virgo Constellation

Virgo-hevelius-1690
$2,000.00
[Virgo.] - Main View
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1690 Hevelius Celestial Chart or Star Map of the Virgo Constellation

Virgo-hevelius-1690

Virgo.
$2,000.00

Title


[Virgo.]
  1690 (undated)     11.75 x 14.5 in (29.845 x 36.83 cm)

Description


This is a 1690 Johannes Hevelius celestial chart or star map of the Virgo constellation from his influential work Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia. Virgo dominates the sheet, which also includes adjacent Bootes, Mons Menalus, Libra, Scorpius, Centaurus, Hydra, Corvus, Crader, and Leo.
Publication History and Census
This map was created by Johannes Hevelius and published in 1690 in his Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia by his widow Elisabeth Hevelius.

Cartographer


Johannes Hevelius (January 28, 1611 - January 28, 1687) was a Polish politician, brewer, and astronomer. Hevelius was born into a prominent Danzig brewing family of Bohemian origins. Supported by Jopenbier fortunes Hevelius received an excellent education at the hands astronomer and polymath Peter Cruger. Following his primary education Hevelius moved to Leiden where he studied law and befriended such luminaries as Pierre Gassendi, Marin Marsenne, and Athanasius Kircher. On his return to Danzig he married his neighbor Katharine Rebeschke. Hevelius had a lifelong interest in politics, which, along with his family name, eventually earned him a number of important positions including councilor and mayor of Danzig. Nonetheless, his most significant achievements were in astronomy. Hevelius is considered 'the founder of lunar topography. His important book, Selenographia, sive Lunae descriptio laid the foundations for lunar cartography that are still in general use today. Hevelius established the conventions of naming lunar landforms after terrestrial features such as seas and political regions. He also formalized the idea of presenting the moon from a singular temporal perspective - in his case, the morning, though modern lunar maps tend to use evening light. In addition to his lunar work, Hevelius named a number of constellations that are still recognized today - including the sextant. Though known to have owned the world's largest tubular telescope, a monster of some 45 meters, Hevelius did most of his astronomical observations with a sextant and, as such, is considered one of the last astronomers to work without a telescope. His second wife, Elisabeth Koopmann, assisted in much of Hevelius' research and published two of Hevelius' astronomical texts after Hevelius' 1687 death. She is considered the world's first female astronomer. More by this mapmaker...

Source


Hevelius, J., Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia, (Dantzig / Gdánsk: Elisabeth Hevelius) 1690.     The Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia was published in 1690 by Elisabeth Hevelius, three years after the death of her husband Johannes Hevelius (1611 - 1687). Johannes Hevelius created the work himself, which corresponded to the catalog of 1,564 stars he compiled over his lifetime, which was published alongside the atlas. The atlas contained 56 sheets, including 11 new constellations, 7 of which are still in use today. The Firmamentum Sobiescianum was the first atlas to rival Uranometria by Johann Bayer in influence, utility, accuracy, and innovation. Hevelius' choice to depict the constellations as the would appear on a globe (outside looking in) rather from a geocentric perspective, also made this work unique. Also, Hevelius used Edmond Halley's data from his 1676 expedition to St. Helena, where he observed the position of 341 southern stars, making his southern map an improvement over Bayer's. The Firmamentum Sobiescianum directly influenced later celestial atlases, including Johann Doppelmayr's Atlas coelestis.

Condition


Very good. Light wear along original centerfold.