Historical Celestial Atlases on the World Wide Web

Introduction

Man has always been fascinated with the solemn and mysterious parade of the celestial luminaries across the night sky. As the earliest-known texts of various ancient cultures attest, the stars were commonly grouped into constellation figures which were believed to represent divine persons, sacred animals and other objects of religious importance.

Each of the major cultures stemming from the Near East, the Far East and the New World developed an indigenous system of constellation figures and associated legends which were recorded in written texts or depicted on maps or on globes.

Of these various constellation systems, the Sumerian/Babylonian system of constellation figures would prove to be the most influential as it was their system of constellation figures which through successive adoptions, modifications and additions by Greek/Roman, Islamic and European astronomers evolved into the mathematically defined system of 88 constellations which is currently employed in the international astronomical community.

Traditionally, astronomers plot the positions of the stars and the constellation figures in two ways:

• Internal view: the constellation figures are depicted on an imaginary celestial sphere as seen from an observer placed in the centre. This is the method commonly adopted in celestial atlases and is most suited for astronomical observations.
• External view: the constellation figures are depicted on an imaginary celestial sphere as viewed from the outside. This is the method commonly adopted in celestial globes and is more suited for artistic or tutorial purposes.

Up to the middle of the 19th century, celestial atlases and globes were considered to be both works of precision and art and in many cases they resulted from the collaboration of skilled astronomers and artisans.

Celestial Atlases and Globes on the Web

• Atlas Coelestis: Comprehensive website by Felice Stoppa with digital editions of various celestial atlases and maps from the middle of the 15th century to the early 20th century.
• The Mercator Globes at Harvard Map Collection: On this website one can view the globes of Gerard Mercator (terrestrial globe of 1541, celestial globe of 1551) of the Harvard Map Collection in great detail.
• Tycho Brahe (1546 – 1601): The Astronomiæ instauratæ mechanica (1602) is not a celestial atlas but the digital version of the copy in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries includes the plates depicting the astronomical instruments used by Tycho Brahe for his celestial observations on which many later celestial globes and atlases were based. With an introduction by Ronald Brashear.
• Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596 – 1665): Harmonia Macrocosmica (1660, 1661, 1708).
• Coronelli, Vincenzo (1650 – 1718): Printed segments of Coronelli’s 110-cm celestial globe (1693) in the 1782 reprint by Desnos (Paris).
• Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (1677 – 1750): Atlas Coelestis (1742).
• John Flamsteed (1646 – 1719): Atlas céleste de Flamstéed (Jean Fortin, Paris, 1776). Although the title page of this French edition gives the year of printing as 1776, the inclusion of the constellation Taurus Poniatovii (Poniatowski’s Bull) on plate 10 indicates that this copy was published in 1778 or later.
• Johann Elert Bode (1747 – 1826): Vorstellung der Gestirne auf XXXIV Tafeln (1782).
• Franz Niklaus König (1765 – 1832): The diaphanous Atlas Céleste (1826) [30 plates; nrs. 28 & 29 are missing] (Municipal and University Library of Berne) [In English, French & German].

Virtual Exhibitions and Websites on Celestial Cartography

• The Earth & the Heavens: The Art of the Mapmaker: Based on the collection of the British Library (London).
• Out of this World: The Golden Age of the Celestial Atlas: Based on the exhibition held at the Linda Hall Library (Kansas City) from 1 November 1995 to 1 February 1996 [html version prepared by William B. Ashworth, Jr, 1997].
• Ciel & Terre: Based on the exhibition Figures du ciel held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris) from 8 October 1998 to 10 January 1999.
• Awestruck by the Majesty of the Heavens: Based on the exhibition held at the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum (Chicago) from 1 October 1999 to 2 January 2000.
• Atlas Coelestis: Based on the collection of celestial atlases in the Biblioteca “Guido Horn d’Arturo” del Dipartimento di Astronomia dell’Università di Bologna e dell’Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna [in English & Italian].
• Stjerneatlasen: Website of Danmarks Natur- og Lægevidenskabelige Bibliotek (Copenhagen) with celestial maps from the Uranometria of Johann Bayer (1603) and the Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia of Johannes Hevelius (1690).
• Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology (Digital Collections): Online editions of several historical star atlases (click on ‘COLLECTIONS’).
• Divine Sky: The Artistry of Astronomical Maps: Web exhibition by the University of Michigan Shapiro Science Library. Includes plates from Andreas Cellarius’s Harmonia Macrocosmica (1708 edition), John Flamsteed’s Atlas Coelestis (1729) and Elijah H. Burritt’s Atlas Designed to Illustrate the Geography of the Heavens (1850 edition).
• Images, Artwork and Historical Objects at the U.S. Naval Observatory: Offers high resolution images from several celestial atlases such as the 1482 edition of the Poeticon astronomicon of Hyginus, the Uranometria of Johannes Bayer (editions of 1603 and 1661), Jean Fortin’s Atlas céleste de Flamstéed (3rd. ed., 1795) and Alexander Jamieson’s Celestial Atlas (1822).
• New York Public Library Digital Gallery: Offers digital images from several celestial atlases. The section Pictures of Science. 700 Years of Scientific and Medical Illustration contains images from Jean Fortin’s Atlas céleste de Flamstéed (3rd. ed., 1795) and Johann Elert Bode’s Uranographia (1801). The section Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts from Western Europe contains images from a 15th-century illustrated manuscript De sideribus tractatus based on Hyginus’ De astronomia.
• Stars and Constellations: History of the Constellations: Comprehensive website on the origin of the modern (and many obsolete) constellations by the Department of the History of Science of the University of Oklahoma.
• Studies of Occidental Constellations and Star Names to the Classical Period: An Annotated Bibliography – comprehensive web bibliography on the history of Western star names and constellations by Gary Thompson.

Useful Books on the History of Constellations and Star Names

• Philipp von Zesen [= Caesius], Coelum Astronomico-Poeticum, sive Mythologicum Stellarum Fixarum: Hoc est, Signorum cœlestium, sive Constellationum omnium ad certás imagines redactarum, inque Cœlo fictitio sive Organo Globi Astronomici continui, mythologico nomine & picturà, ab Antiquis repræsentatarum succincta descriptio (Amsterdam: Joan Blaeu, 1662) [Google Books ink].
• John Hill, Urania, or, A Compleat View of the Heavens, containing the Antient and Modern Astronomy, in Form of a Dictionary (London: T. Gardner, 1754) [ECCO link].
• Ludwig Ideler, Untersuchungen über den Ursprung und die Bedeutung der Sternnamen: Ein Beytrag zur Geschichte des gestirnten Himmels (Berlin: Johann Friedrich Weiss, 1809) [Internet Archive link] – reprinted in 1994 by the Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University at Frankfurt am Main (= Publications of the Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science, Islamic Geography, nr. 200) – important early study on the origin of star names and constellations.
• Karl Friedrich von Klöden, Der Sternenhimmel: Eine vollständige populäre Sternenkunde mit besonderer Beziehung auf die grosse Sternwandkarte des Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs (Weimar: Druck und Verlag des Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs, 1848) [Google Books link].
• Richard Hinckley Allen, Star-Names and their Meanings (New York: G.E. Stechert, 1899) [Internet Archive link] – this book, available since 1963 in a Dover reprint as Star Names: Their Lore and Meanings, is often referred to as the best overall survey of the history of constellations and star names. Note however, that Allen’s treatment of Mesopotamian and Egyptian star names is now greatly outdated and that there are many errors in his treatment of Chinese, Indian and Arabic star names.
• Olcott, William Tyler, Star Lore: A Collection of Myths, Legends, and Facts Concerning the Constellations of the Northern Hemisphere (New York/London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1911) [Internet Archive link] – reprinted in 2004 as Star Lore: Myths, Legends, and Facts by Dover Publications (New York).
• Basil J.W. Brown, Astronomical Atlases, Maps & Charts: An Historical & General Guide (London: Search Publishing Company, 1932 [reprinted in 1968 by Dawsons of Pall Mall, London]) – now somewhat outdated history of celestial atlases and maps.
• Deborah Jean Warner, The Sky Explored: Celestial Cartography 1500-1800 (New York/Amsterdam: Alan R. Liss/Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1979) – authoritative treatment of celestial atlases published between 1500 and 1800.
• George Sergeant Snyder, Maps of the Heavens (London: André Deutsch, 1984) – coffee-table book with many large reproductions of celestial maps.
• Celestial Images: Astronomical Charts from 1500 to 1900 (Boston: Boston University Art Gallery, 1985).
• Paul Kunitzsch & Tim Smart, Short Guide to Modern Star Names and their Derivation (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1986) – authoritative treatment of the origins of the modern names of the stars. Kunitzsch wrote many more scholarly books and articles on the origin of Islamic and medieval European star names.
• Helmut Werner & Felix Schmeidler, Synopsis der Nomenklatur der Fixsterne/Synopsis of the Nomenclature of the Fixed Stars (Stuttgart: Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1986) – provides detailed lists of star designations in various historical star atlases and stellar catalogues.
• Giuseppe Maria Sesti, Le dimore del cielo: Archeologia e mito delle costellazioni (Palermo: Novecento, 1987) – also published as The Glorious Constellations: History and Mythology (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1991) and Die Geheimnisse des Himmels: Geschichte und Mythos der Sternbilder (Köln: DuMont Buchverlag, 1991).
• Ian Ridpath, Star Tales (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 1988) [web link] – nicely illustrated popular and reliable account of the origin of the Western constellations.
• Julius D.W. Schaaf, The New Patterns in the Sky: Myths and Legends of the Stars (Blacksburg: McDonald & Woodward Publishing Co., 1988) [web link] – popular account on the origin of the constellations in various cultures.
• Carole Stott, Celestial Charts: Antique Maps of the Heavens (London: Studio Editions, 1991) – coffee-table book with many large reproductions of celestial maps.
• Peter Whitfield, The Mapping of the Heavens (London/San Francisco: British Library/Pomegranate Artbooks, 1995) – popular history of constellations and celestial atlases and globes.
• André Le Boeuffle, Astronymie: Les noms des étoiles (Paris: Burillier, 1996).
• Marianne McDonald, Star Myths: Tales of the Constellations (New York: Friedman Group, 1996) – also published as Tales of the Constellations: The Myths and Legends of the Night Sky.
• Theony Condos, Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook containing ‘The Constellations’ of Pseudo-Eratosthenes and the ‘Poetic Astronomy’ of Hyginus (Grand Rapids: Phanes Press, 1997) – English translation of the Greek/Roman star myths in the Catasterismoi attributed to Eratosthenes and De astronomica of Hyginus.
• Marc Lachièze-Rey & Jean-Pierre Luminet, Figures du ciel: De l’harmonie des sphères à la conquête spatiale (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1998) – exposition catalogue, also published in English as Celestial Treasury: From the Music of the Spheres to the Conquest of Space (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001).
• Pascal Charvet & Arnaud Zucker, Le Ciel – Mythes et histoire des constellations: Les Catastérismes d’Ératosthène (Paris: NiL Éditions, 1998).
• Roland Laffitte, Héritages Arabes: Des noms arabes pour les étoiles (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 2001) – on the Arabic origins of many star names.
• Morton Wagman, Lost Stars: Lost, Missing, and Troublesome Stars from the Catalogues of Johannes Bayer, Nicholas-Louis de Lacaille, John Flamsteed, and Sundry Others (Granville: McDonald & Woodward Publishing Co., 2003) [web link].
• Celestial Images: Antiquarian Astronomical Charts and Maps from the Mendillo Collection (Boston: Boston University Art Gallery, 2005).
• Felice Stoppa, Atlas Coelestis: Il cielo stellato nella scienza e nell’ arte (Milan: Salviati Editore, 2006) – beautifully illustrated popular history of constellations and celestial atlases.
• Paul Kunitzsch & Tim Smart, A Dictionary of Modern Star Names: A Short Guide to 254 Star Names and their Derivations (Cambridge [Mass]: Sky Publishing, 2006) [web link] – updated reprint of the 1986 edition.
• Nick Kanas, Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography (New York: Springer, 2007) [web link].

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[last updated in September 2015]