Sign In

Separately Published Map of the Heavens

James Wyld, a renowned geographer and cartographer, created this celestial map depicting the northern and southern hemispheres of the night sky.

The map was sold independently in London through Wyld’s printing workshop. Wyld was a member of the Royal Geographical Society and held the prestigious titles of Geographer to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His prominence in cartographic history is also tied to his innovative construction of the Wyld's Great Globe, a massive and immersive geographical model displayed in Leicester Square from 1851 to 1862. 

The celestial map employs a concave stereographic polar equatorial projection, with the hemispheres tangentially aligned at the vernal equinoctial point. This design stretches outward from the projection’s polar equatorial center to the encompassing equatorial circle, which serves as the map's perimeter. The equatorial grid structure is meticulously detailed, comprising the Arctic and Antarctic polar circles, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the celestial equator (marked as Aequinoctialis), and the colures. Declination circles are marked at 15° intervals, while lines of Right Ascension radiate every 15° from the poles, dividing the equator into hour-long arcs. The equatorial circle also features a finely graduated scale for measuring Right Ascension in one-degree increments, though no scale for declination is provided.

The ecliptic grid includes the poles of the ecliptic and the ecliptic plane itself, complete with a graduated scale measuring longitude in 5° intervals. The names of the months through which the Sun transits the ecliptic are prominently displayed, linking celestial phenomena to terrestrial timekeeping. 

The map reflects the state of celestial cartography during the early 19th century. Constellations are labeled in Latin and delineated by lines connecting peripheral stars rather than the brightest ones, avoiding any direct reference to the mythological figures traditionally associated with these star patterns. This includes classical constellations such as Gemini, Taurus, Canis Major (featuring Sirius), and the now-defunct Musca Borealis.

Stars are classified into six magnitudes, following Bayer’s nomenclature and Flamsteed’s ordering from the British Catalogue. Many stars are identified by their proper names, reflecting the map's reliance on established astronomical conventions of the time. An explanatory guide provides further detail on the magnitudes of the stars, while the boundaries of the Milky Way are subtly outlined, its background delicately shaded to evoke its diffuse nature.  

Rarity

The map is quite scarce on the market.

This is the first example we have offered for sale (1992-2024).