Item #5910 Planisphaerium Copernicanum sive systema universi totius create ex hypothesi copernicana in plano exhibitum. Andreas CELLARIUS.
One of the Finest Celestial Maps Ever Produced
[Astronomy].
Amsterdam, Janssonius, 1660.

Planisphaerium Copernicanum sive systema universi totius create ex hypothesi copernicana in plano exhibitum.

Folio [58.7 x 51.2 cm the sheet; 51.8 x 43.3 cm the platemark], (1) engraved sheet numbered 4 in the plate, with rich original color, heightened with gold. Minor toning to edge of sheet, otherwise excellent.

A splendid example – in sharp, radiant, original handcolor with gold highlights – of the first edition of one of the most sought-after celestial maps by the Dutch-German cartographer Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596-1665). At the time of its publication in 1660, this magnificent rendering of the Copernican solar system was arguably the most powerful and unambiguous visual statement of a heliocentric solar system yet produced. The engraving’s striking design, which emphasizes the rays of the centrally positioned sun emanating to the edges of the solar system, makes its point with dramatic force.

Prominence is also given to Jupiter’s four moons, whose discovery by Galileo Galilei in 1610 upended the principle of Aristotelian cosmology, which held that all heavenly bodies should circle the Earth. Seated at the lower right, surrounded with astronomical instruments and books, is Copernicus, while the figure at the bottom left is perhaps Aristarchus of Samos (f. 250 BC), who is believed to have been the first to propose a heliocentric solar system. 

 

Although Cellarius produced this engraving more than a century after Copernicus introduced his momentous theory, in many parts of the world heliocentrism remained controversial, even heretical. Only 30 years before this print was published, for example, Galileo was placed under house arrest by the Inquisition for his support of Copernicus’s ideas, and the great beauty of Cellarius’ work certainly belies its radical content.

 * I. C. Koeman, Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. 4, p. 3, no. 4; Van Gent, R. H. Andreas Cellarius, p. 47; Stott, pp. 46-7.

 

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