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Description

This celestial map, by Anthony Finley, features the constellations Draco, Ursa Minor, and Cepheus in stunning detail. Rendered on a polar projection, the stars are plotted with clear magnitudes and accurate placement against the celestial grid. The constellations are depicted with mythological figures: Draco, the serpent, winds its way between Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, and Cepheus, the king. The artistic depiction is complemented by the hand-colored illustrations of the figures, which reflect a blend of astronomical accuracy and the artistic tradition of celestial atlases.

This map comes from Finley’s Astronomical Recreations (1824), the first celestial atlas published in the United States, which combined scientific data with accessible, beautiful visuals for a wider audience.

Condition Description
Original hand-color, somewhat faded. Engraving on 19th-century wove paper.
Anthony Finley Biography

Anthony Finley (1784-1836) was an American map publisher. Little is known about his life. He is presumed to have been born in Philadelphia, where he also died. A publisher, Finley was also involved in several Philadelphia civic and professional societies such as the Philadelphia Apprentices’ Library. He may have been in business as early as 1809 and his first publication dates from ca. 1811.

His first maps also date from this year, with two maps in Daniel Edward Clarke’s Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The first atlas published by Finley appeared in 1818, the Atlas classica, or, Select maps of ancient geography, both sacred and profane, for the use of colleges and schools in the United States. He is best known for his A New General Atlas Comprising a Complete Set of Maps (1824), which was a bestseller. There were two editions in 1824, with annual editions until 1834.

Finley was part of the first generation of American publishers who produced high quality, precise maps on American soil. He was in competition with other Philadelphia publishers, for example Henry S. Tanner. Finley’s A New American Atlas Designed Principally to Illustrate the Geography of the United States of America (1826) closely mirrors Tanner’s A New American Atlas Containing Maps of the Several States of the North American Union, with similar groupings of maps; the main difference is the smaller scale of Finley’s maps. Finley printed two editions of this atlas.