Doppelmayr | Novus atlas coelestis, Nuremberg, 1742

Gabriel Doppelmayr

Atlas novus coelestis in quo mundus spectabilis, et in eodem tam errantium quam inerrantium stellarum phoenomena notabilia, crica ipsarum lumen. Nuremberg: Homann Heirs, 1742

Folio (540 x 340mm.), additional engraved allegorical title-page by J.C. Reinsperger after J.J. Preisler, vignette title-page printed in red and black, letterpress list of charts laid down on verso, 30 double-page, fully hand-coloured engraved charts, all mounted on guards, eighteenth-century half calf over marbled paper boards

Doppelmayr, an acclaimed astronomer, was born in Nuremberg in 1671. He was a member of the Royal Society of London and the Academies of Berlin, Vienna and St Petersburg. It is unsurprising that Doppelmayr collaborated with Germany's leading map publisher Johann Baptist Homann on both the terrestrial and celestial maps included in this atlas. He visited astronomers in many countries and hence in addition to the star charts and selenographic map, the atlas includes "diagrams illustrating the planetary systems of Copernicus, Tycho, and Riccilio; the ecliptic theories of Kepler, Boulliau, Seth Ward and Mercator; the lunar theories of Tycho, Horrocks and Newton, and Halley's cometary theory'' (DSB IV, p.166).

PROVENANCE:

Thomas Edward Amyot, bookplate to upper pastedown and inscription to verso of vignette title-page, dated 8 August 1862