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Description

The Christian Night Sky.

Striking first edition, first state, of this celestial map by Andreas Cellarius.

This edition can be differentiated from the later printings by its lack of a plate number in the lower right corner, and the absence of Valk & Schenk's imprint in the title blocks.

This spectacular celestial chart presents the constellations according to Christian symbolism. The view of the constellations is based on the work of the early 17th-century astronomer, Julius Schiller, who sought to replace the traditional pagan symbols with ones derived from Judeo-Christian sources. Schiller replaced the zodiacal constellations with the twelve apostles, the constellations north of the zodiac by figures from the New Testament and the constellations south of the zodiac by figures from the Old Testament.

Instead of being projected from the pole, the map is centered on the vernal equinox and the ecliptic bisects the map instead of encircling it. The following major constellations are shown as follows:

  • Gemini = James (Jacobus), son of Zebedee
  • Cancer = St. John
  • Leo = St. Thomas
  • Virgo = St. James (Jacobus) the Less
  • Libra = St. Phillip
  • Scorpio = St. Bartholomew
  • Centauri = Abraham and Isaa
  • The Argonaut = Noah's Ark
  • Canis Minor = King David

The Harmonia Macrocosmica of Andreas Celarius is widely regarded as the most beautiful and finely executed celestial atlas ever published. The atlas appeared in two early editions of 1660 and 1661, and was also intended as part of Jansson's Atlas Maior. Schenk & Valk re-issued the atlas in 1708, using the original Cellarius plates, without alteration, except for the addition of their names in the title cartouche.

Andreas Cellarius Biography

Andreas Cellarius was born in 1596 in Neuhausen and educated in Heidelberg. He emigrated to Holland in the early 17th century, and in 1637 moved to Hoorn, where he became the rector of the Latin School. Cellarius' best-known work is his Harmonia Macrocosmica, first issued in 1660 by Jan Jansson, as a supplement to Jansson's Atlas Novus. The work consists of a series of Celestial Charts begun by Cellarius in 1647 and intended as part of a two-volume treatise on cosmography, which was never issued.