1661/1708 Solis Circa Orbem Terrarum Spiralis Revolutio

Description

By
: Andreas Cellarius – pub. by Valk & Schenk
Date:
1661 / 1708 (published) Amsterdam
Original Size:
16 x 18 inches (40.5 x 47.2 cm)
Beautiful fine print reproduction of a celestial chart by Andreas Cellarius, showing the ancient theory that the sun moved around the earth in a spiraling path, as derived by classical astronomy. Its pattern was believed to repeat each year, causing the seasons to change according to its movement. As well as the detailed depiction of the sun’s course, a band with signs of the zodiac circles the planet, and putti and clouds surround the chart.
Andreas Cellarius was a well-known celestial cartographer of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His attractive, beautifully engraved charts depicted theories and evolution in the field of astronomy, from the theories of Ptolemy and Copernicus through the Age of Exploration and its period of scientific development in Europe. This chart originally appeared in Cellarius’ landmark celestial atlas, ‘Atlas Coelestius seu Harmonia Macrocosmica,’ which is known as the finest and most ambitious work of its kind. Cellarius’ original plates for this atlas were reprinted in 1708 by the firm of Valk & Schenk.
Inventory #10947