The Atlas Coelestis

Doppelmayr’s best-known astronomical work is his Atlas Coelestis in quo Mundus Spectabilis et in eodem Stellarum omnium Phoenomena notabilia, circa ipsarum Lumen, Figuram, Faciem, Motum, Eclipses, Occultationes, Transitus, Magnitudines, Distantias, aliaque secundum Nic. Copernici et ex parte Tychonis de Brahe Hipothesin. Nostri intuitu, specialiter, respectu vero ad apparentias planetarum indagatu possibiles e planetis primariis, et e luna habito, generaliter e celeberrimorum astronomorum observationibus graphice descripta exhibentur, cum tabulis majoribus XXX, published in 1742 by the heirs of Homann in Nuremberg.

In this atlas, Doppelmayr collected most of the astronomical and cosmographical plates which he had prepared over the years for the Homann publishing firm and which had appeared in several of their atlases. These earlier atlases allow us to infer approximate dates for the design and preparation of many of Doppelmayr’s cosmographical plates.

The earliest ones are plates 2 and 11 as they were already included in Homann’s first atlas, the Neuer Atlas bestehend in auserlesenen und allerneusten Land-Charten ueber die gantze Welt, und zwar erstlich nach Astronomischer Betrachtung der Bewegung des Himmels in dem Systemate Copernico-Hugeniano, dann auch nach der näturlichen Beschaffenheit und geographischen Eintheilung der mit Wasser umgebenen allgemeinen Erd-Kugeln in ihre besondere Monarchien, Koenigreiche, Staaten und Laender (Nuremberg, 1707).

Plates 3 and 7 to 10 were first published in Homann’s Atlas von hundert Charten (Nuremberg, 1712), whereas plates 1, 4 and 15 to 25 can be dated between 1716 and 1724 as they were not included in Homann’s Grossen Atlas (Nuremberg, 1716), but are mentioned in Hager’s list of plates sold by Homann at his death in 1724.

The plates depicting the constellations (nrs. 16 to 25) were probably prepared and engraved in the early 1720’s as the Atlas Portatilis Coelestis, oder compendiose Vorstellung des gantzen Welt-gebäudes, in den Anfangs-grunden der wahren Astronomie (1723) of Johann Leonard Rost refers to a set of celestial hemispheres drawn by Doppelmayr. The choice and the style of the constellation figures on these plates is based on the Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia (Danzig, 1687) of the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius, who also avoided the use of Bayer’s Greek letters for identifying the individual stars, and they were clearly executed before the publication of John Flamsteed’s star catalogue (London, 1725) and star atlas (London, 1729).

According to Sandler (1890), the other plates (nrs. 6, 12 to 14 and 26 to 30) date from after 1735. The cometary plates (nrs. 26 to 28) can be dated to 1740 or slightly later.

Description of the plates of the Atlas Coelestis (1742)

The following table gives a summary description of the cosmographical plates of the Atlas Coelestis.

Plate 1		Plate 2		Plate 3
Plate 4		Plate 5		Plate 6
Plate 7		Plate 8		Plate 9
Plate 10		Plate 11		Plate 12
Plate 13		Plate 14		Plate 15
Plate 16		Plate 17		Plate 18
Plate 19		Plate 20		Plate 21
Plate 22		Plate 23		Plate 24
Plate 25		Plate 26		Plate 27
Plate 28		Plate 29		Plate 30

1. SPHÆRA MUNDI Per circulos tam primarios quam secundarios cum punctis lineis et angulis notabilioribus in triplici respectu Horizontis situ pro motu stellarum primo aliisque harum Phænomenis in genere tradendis, exhibita – Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
2. SYSTEMA SOLARE ET PLANETARIVM ex hypothesi Copernicana secundum elegantissimas Illustrissimi quondam Hugenii deductiones novissime collectum & exhibitum – The solar system and its dimensions according to the Cosmotheoros of Christiaan Huygens. The insets show the sizes of the planets compared with the Sun, the Copernican and Tychonic arrangement of the planets and the path of the solar eclipse of 12 May 1706 across Europe and Northern Asia. This plate was first published in Homann’s Neuer Atlas (1707) and reprinted in his Atlas von hundert Charten (1712) and his Grossen Atlas (1716).
3. SYSTEMA MUNDI TYCHONICUM Secundum celeberrimorum Astronomorum TYCHONIS DE BRAHE et IO. BAPTISTÆ RICCIOLI S.I. Hypotheses concinnatum – This plate was first published in Homann’s Atlas von hundert Charten (1712) and reprinted in his Grossen Atlas (1716).
4. THEORIA PLANETARUM PRIMARIORUM In qua ipsorum motus in Copernicano Systemate tam ex Kepleri et recentiorum Astronomorum quam aliorum, ut Sethi Wardi, Ismaelis Bullialdi et Nicolai Mercatoris Hypothesin Ellipticis demonstrantur, exhibente – Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
5. PHÆNOMENA IN PLANETIS PRIMARIIS Quæ facies diversas, ex illorum phasibus, maculis et fasciis seu zonis ortas sistunt, exhibita – Explanation of the phases of the planets as seen from the Earth, the aspects of Saturn’s ring and the markings on the planets observed by Galileo Galilei, Christoph Scheiner, Franciscus Fontana, Christiaan Huygens, Robert Hooke, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Jacques-Philippe Maraldi, John Hadley and Francesco Bianchini. Engraved after 1726.
6. PHÆNOMENA circa quantitatem dierum artificialium et solarium perpetuo mutabilem, ex Hypothesi copernicana deducta, cum aliis tam Veterum quam recentiorum Philosophorum, Systematibus mundi notabilioribus, exhibita – Engraved between 1735 and 1742.
7. PHÆNOMENA MOTVVM IRREGVLARIVM quos Planetæ inferiores VENVS et MERCVRIVS ad annum Salutis MDCCX. Directionibus, Stationibus et Retrogradationibus fuis È TERRA spectandos præbent, exemplo singulorum Periodi pro Hypotheseos Copernic firmamento Geometricè demonstrata – The heliocentric motions of the inferior planets Mercury and Venus during the year 1710 with two diagrams depicting the transit of Mercury across the Sun on 5 November 1710 and the (predicted) transit of Venus across the Sun on 6 June 1761. This plate was first published in Homann’s Atlas von hundert Charten (1712) and reprinted in his Grossen Atlas (1716).
8. EPHEMERIDES MOTUUM COELESTIUM GEOMETRICÆ In quibus secundum Hypothesin Copernicanam omnia Motuum Planetariorum irregularium Phænomena h.e. Directiones, Stationes et Retrogradationes præcipue ad añ. Chr. 1708 et 1709, ut et eorum causæ curiose ad oculum demonstrãtur – The inset at the bottom gives the scale of the solar system compared with the Hugenian estimate of the distance between the Sun and Sirius. This plate was first published in Homann’s Atlas von hundert Charten (1712) and reprinted in his Grossen Atlas (1716).
9. MOTUS IN COELO SPIRALES Quos Planetæ inferiores VENUS et MERCURIUS secundum Tychonicorum Hypothesin exhibent, pro exemplo ad annum Christi præcipue 1712 et 1713 – Geocentric motion of the inner planets Mercury and Venus according to the Tychonic hypothesis for the years 1712 and 1713. This plate was first published in Homann’s Atlas von hundert Charten (1712) and reprinted in his Grossen Atlas (1716).
10. MOTVS PLANETARVM SVPERIORVM qui secundum TYCHONIS Hypothesin singulis fuis periodis per lineas spirales contingunt, exempli loco in primo Seculi XVIII triente geometricè exhibiti – The geocentric motion of the outer planets Mars (in 1712 & 1713), Jupiter (1708 to 1719) and Saturn (1701 to 1730) according to the Tychonic hypothesis. This plate was first published in Homann’s Atlas von hundert Charten (1712) and reprinted in his Grossen Atlas (1716).
11. TABULA SELENOGRAPHICA in qua Lunarium Macularum exacta Descriptio secundum Nomenclaturam Præstantissimorum Astronomorum tam HEVELII quam RICCIOLI Curiosis Rei Sidereæ Cultoribus exhibentur – Lunar maps according to Johannes Hevelius (left) and Giovanni Baptista Riccioli (right). This plate was first published in Homann’s Neuer Atlas (1707) and reprinted in his Atlas von hundert Charten (1712) and in his Grossen Atlas (1716).
12. THEORIA LVNÆ in qua motus ejusdem anomalus ex Hypothesi ill. Isaaci Newtoni, ut et Tychonicâ et Horroccianâ, porro illius motus cycloidalis et libratorius cum aliis Phænomenis ad Lunan spectantibus sistuntur – Engraved between 1735 and 1742.
13. THEORIA ECLIPSIVM in qua variæ Solis occultationes, obscurationes Terræ et Lunæ veræ, stellorum occultationes a Luna, aliiq. Phænomena huc spectantia sistuntur – Includes a map depicting the path of the solar eclipse of 12 May 1706 across Europe and Northern Asia. Engraved between 1735 and 1742.
14. THEORIA SATELLITUM IOVIS ET SATURNI in qua præcipua horum planetarum secundariorum Phænomena geometrica designatione sistuntur – The satellite systems of Jupiter and Saturn compared with the Earth-Moon system according to the observations of Giovanni Domenico Cassini in Bologna in 1661. Engraved between 1735 and 1742.
15. BASIS GEOGRAPHIÆ RECENTIORIS ASTRONOMICA in qua situs locorum insigniorum geographici ea exactitudine, qua celeberrimi Astronomi eosdem per observationes è plurimis luminarium et circumjovialium Eclipsibus nobis hactenus suppeditarunt pro certiori Geographiæ stabilimento positi designantur – World map in a stereographic projection based on the astronomically determined co-ordinates of 142 towns and cities deduced from observations of luni-solar eclipses and eclipses of the Jovian satellites. The longitudes are measured with respect to the island Ferro (El Hierro in the Canary Islands), assumed to lie exactly 22° 30ʹ West of the Paris Observatory. Engraved between 1720 and 1722.
16. HEMISPHÆRIVM COELI BOREALE in quo loca Stellarum fixarum secundum Æquatorem, per Ascensiones nempe rectas et Declinationes ad annum Christi 1730 completum sistuntur – Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
17. HEMISPHÆRIVM COELI AUSTRALE in quo loca Stellarum fixarum secundum Æquatorem, per Ascensiones nempe rectas et Declinationes ad anûm Christi 1730 completû sistuntur – Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
18. HEMISPHÆRIUM COELI BOREALE in quo Fixarum loca secundum Eclipticæ ductum ad añum 1730 completum exhibentur – Constellations of the northern hemisphere for the epoch 1731.0 after the catalogue of Johannes Hevelius. In the corners the observatories of Tycho Brahe on Hven (founded in 1576), Paris (1667), Johannes Hevelius in Danzig (c. 1650) and Georg Christoph Einmart in Nuremberg (1678). Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
19. HEMISPHÆRIUM COELI AUSTRALE in quo Fixarum loca secundum Eclipticæ ductum ad añum 1730. completum exhibentur – Constellations of the southern hemisphere for the epoch 1731.0 after the catalogues of Johannes Hevelius and Edmund Halley. In the corners the observatories of Greenwich (founded in 1666), Copenhagen (1642), Kassel (1714) and Berlin (1711). Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
20. GLOBI COELESTIS IN TABULAS PLANAS REDACTI PARS I in qua Longitudines Stellarum fixarum ad añum Christi completum 1730 tam Arithmeticè quam Geometrice exhibentur – Internal view of the northern hemisphere centred on the northern equatorial pole in a gnomonic projection down to the declination 45° North. Also depicted are the paths of the comets C/1590 E1 (observed by Tycho Brahe), C/1618 W1 (Johannes Kepler), C/1652 Y1 (Johannes Hevelius), 1P/1682 Q1 [Halley’s Comet] (Johannes Hevelius), C/1683 O1 (Johannes Hevelius) and C/1699 D1 (Giovanni Domenico Cassini). The comet of 1692 (observed by Philippe de la Hire) does not seem to be mentioned in modern cometographies. Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
21. GLOBI COELESTIS IN TABULAS PLANAS REDACTI PARS II in qua Longitudines Stellarum fixarum ad añum Christi completum 1730 tam Arithmeticè quam Geometrice exhibentur – Internal view of the sky centred on the vernal equinox in a gnomonic projection between the declinations 45° North and 45° South. Also depicted are the paths of the comets C/1577 V1 (observed by Tycho Brahe), C/1585 T1 (Tycho Brahe), C/1590 E1 (Tycho Brahe), C/1664 W1 (Giovanni Domenico Cassini), C/1665 F1 (Johannes Hevelius), C/1672 E1 (Giovanni Domenico Cassini), C/1677 H1 (Johannes Hevelius), C/1680 V1 (John Flamsteed) and C/1683 O1 (Johannes Hevelius). Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
22. GLOBI COELESTIS IN TABULAS PLANAS REDACTI PARS III in qua Longitudines Stellarum fixarum ad añum Christi completum 1730 tam Arithmetice quam Geometrice exhibentur – Internal view of the sky centred on the equator below the summer solstice in a gnomonic projection between the declinations 45° North and 45° South. Also depicted are the paths of the comets C/1652 Y1 (observed by Johannes Hevelius), C/1664 W1 (Johannes Hevelius), C/1672 E1 (Giovanni Domenico Cassini), C/1683 O1 (Johannes Hevelius) and C/1699 D1 (Giovanni Domenico Cassini). Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
23. GLOBI COELESTIS IN TABULAS PLANAS REDACTI PARS IV in qua Longitudines Stellarum fixarum ad añum Christi completum 1730 tam Arithmeticè quam Geometrice exhibentur – Internal view of the sky centred on the autumnal equinox in a gnomonic projection between the declinations 45° North and 45° South. Also depicted are the paths of the comets C/1618 W1 (observed by Johannes Kepler), C/1664 W1 (Johannes Hevelius), 1P/1682 Q1 [Halley’s Comet] (Johannes Hevelius), C/1684 N1 (Francesco Bianchini) and C/1706 F1 (Giovanni Domenico Cassini). Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
24. GLOBI COELESTIS IN TABULAS PLANAS REDACTI PARS V in qua Longitudines Stellarum fixarum ad añum Christi completum 1730 tam Arithmetice quam Geometrice exhibentur – Internal view of the sky centred on the equator above the winter solstice in a gnomonic projection between the declinations 45° North and 45° South. Also depicted are the paths of the comets C/1577 V1 (observed by Tycho Brahe), 1P/1607 S1 [Halley’s Comet] (Johannes Kepler), C/1661 C1 (Johannes Hevelius), C/1680 V1 (John Flamsteed), C/1702 H1 (Philippe de la Hire) and C/1707 W1 (Giovanni Domenico Cassini). The comet of 1692 (observed by Philippe de la Hire) does not seem to be mentioned in modern cometographies. Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
25. GLOBI COELESTIS IN TABULAS PLANAS REDACTI PARS VI in qua Longitudines Stellarum fixarum ad añum Christi completum 1730 tam Arithmeticè quam Geometrice exhibentur – Internal view of the southern hemisphere centred on the southern equatorial pole in a gnomonic projection up to the declination 45° South. Includes a precession table for the interval 1700 to 1760. Engraved between 1716 and 1724.
26. THEORIA COMETARVM in qua præcipua eorum Phænomena ex recentiorum Astronomorum Observationibus secundum ill. Newtoni et cel. Whistoni Hypothesin geometrice deducta cum aliis exhibentur – Discusses the cometary theories of Johannes Kepler, Johannes Hevelius, Pierre Petit, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Edmund Halley, Isaac Newton and William Whiston. Insets with telescopic views of the Great Orion Nebula (M 42) by Christiaan Huygens (1659) and Jean Picard (1673). Engraved between 1740 and 1742.
27. MOTVS COMETARUM IN HEMISPHÆRIO BOREALI qui intra 210 años ab añ 1530 usque ad añ: 1740, cum sex stellis novis per hoc tempus visis, à præstantissimus Astronomis observati – Paths of 38 comets, observed between 1530 and 1740, and six ‘new stars’ plotted in the northern celestial sphere. The ‘new stars’ are those of 1572 (Tycho Brahe’s supernova in Cassiopeia), 1600 (discovery of the variable star P Cygni by Willem Janszoon Blaeu), 1604 (Johannes Kepler’s supernova in Ophiuchus), 1612 (discovery of the Andromeda Nebula by Simon Marius), 1670 (observations of the variable star CK Vulpecula by Dom Anthlehem and Johannes Hevelius) and 1686 (discovery of the variable star χ Cygni by Gottfried Kirch). Insets on the parallax of Polaris and on the form and the visibility of the zodiacal light. Engraved between 1740 and 1742.
28. MOTVS COMETARUM IN HEMISPHÆRIO AUSTRALI qui intra añum 1530 et 1740 cum duabus stellis novis, nostro tempore visis, à celeberrimis Astronomis observati, geometrice nunc descripti – Idem as above, with insets on planetary and stellar parallax. The ‘new stars’ are those of 1596 (discovery of the variable star Mira by David Fabritius) and 1704 (discovery of the variable star R Hydrae by Jacques-Philippe Maraldi). Engraved between 1740 and 1742.
29. ASTRONOMIA COMPARATIVA in qua præcipua Planetarum phænomena ex Observationibus deducta, è Sole, Mercurio, Venere et Luna exhibentur – Engraved between 1735 and 1742.
30. ASTRONOMIA COMPARATIVA in qua Planetarum primaria Phænomena, ad motum spectantia, è Planetis nostri respectu, Marte, Iove et Saturno sistuntur – The synodic periods of the outer planets as observed from the Earth and other planets. Insets depicting the Tychonic planetary scheme and the angular size of the Sun as seen from the planets. Engraved between 1735 and 1742.

Plates included in later editions of the Atlas Coelestis

Later editions of the Doppelmayr atlas by the same publisher bear the slightly altered title Atlas novus coelestis, in quo mundus spectabilis, et in eodem tam errantium quam inerrantium stellarum phoenomena notabilia [...] secundum Nic. Copernici et ex parte Tychonis de Brahe hypothesin, nostri intuitu, specialiter, respectu vero ad apparentias planetarum indagatu possibiles e planetis primariis et e luna habito, generaliter, e celeberrimorum astronomorum observationibus graphice descripta exhibentur. Although the year of publication is still given as 1742 on the title page, these editions often contain additional plates of later date.

The following additional plates are known:

Add 1		Add 2		Add 3
Add 4		Add 5		Add 6

• IOHANN BAPTISTAE HOMANNS Neu inventirte GEOGRAPHISCHE UNIVERSAL-ZEIG- UND SCHLAG-UHR: An welcher, vermittelst des in 24 Stunden um die frey schwebende Erdkugel herumgehenden Sonnen-Zeigers samt der völligen Himmels-Scheiben, nicht allein alle gehörige Stunden um den ganzen Erdboden durch Europam und Asiam, auch halb Africam und Americam über allen anbemerkten Orten auf einmal zusehen, sondern auch der Natürliche Tag und Nacht mit beweglichen Liecht und Schatten, wie nicht weniger der rechte Auf- und Untergang der Sonnen, und die daraus folgende Tag und Nachts Länge aller Orten, nach Erforderung eines jeden Climatis vorgestelt, ja so-gar der halb-jährige lange Tag und Nacht unter dem Mitternächtigen Polo gantz deutlich, und der Natur selbst fast ehnlich gleich gewiesen werden – Originally issued as a pamphlet (copies with a Dutch translation are also known). Copies are also known with the slightly different title IOHANN BAPTIST HOMANNA neulich erfundene GEOGRAPHISCHE UNIERSAL-ZEIG- UND SCHLAG-UHR [etc.]. Also included in Homann’s Atlas von hundert Charten (1712). Description of a universal clock built in 1705 for Johann Baptist Homann by the Nuremberg clockmaker Zacharias Land(t)eck (1670-1740). It was housed in the Fembohaus in Nuremberg until it was sold in the second half of the 19th century. The clock was found again in 1905 in Worms where it was acquired and restored by the Nuremberg clockmaker Gustav Speckhart. The clock was later acquired by the Hamburg lawyer and clock collector Heinrich Antoine-Feill (1855-1922). His collection was auctioned in Cologne in 1955. A clock of similar design made in 1738 by the Prague clockmaker Johannes Klein (1684-1762) is now in the collection of the Mathematisch-Physikalischen Salon in Dresden (a second copy of this clock is in the Clementinum in Prague).
• PLANISPHÆRIUM COELESTE secundum resitutionem Hevelianam et Halleianam – First published in 1707 in Homann’s Neuer Atlas. Similar plates were published by Frederick de Wit (Amsterdam, c. 1696), David Funck (Nuremberg, c. 1705), Petrus Schenk (Amsterdam, c. 1705), Johannes Covens & Cornelius Mortier (Amsterdam, after 1710), Melchior Rein (Augsburg, c. 1725), Georg Matthäus Seutter (Augsburg, before 1756), Tobias Conrad Lotter (Augsburg, c. 1772) and Reinier & Josua Ottens (Amsterdam, c. 1772).
• SPHÆRARUM ARTIFICIALIUM TYPICA REPRÆSENTATIO – First published in 1712 in Homann’s Atlas von hundert Charten. A very similar plate was published by Georg Matthäus Seutter (1678-1756), a pupil of Homann, who set up a cartographic publishing firm in Augsburg around 1707. Also by Johann C. Weigel (Nuremberg, before 1725).
• Die verfinsterte Erdkugel d[as] i[st] GEOGRAPHISCHE VORSTELLUNG der SONNEN- od[er] ERD-FINSTERNIS den 25ten Iulii Ao. 1748: wie solche so wohl nach ihrer Groesse als Figur und Veraenderung auf der Oberflaeche der Erden in Absicht der bedeckten Laender und Oerter sich verhaelt; I.tes Blat, in welchem die Figur, Grösse und Veraenderung des Halbschattens auf der Oberflaeche der Erden in 3 Halbkugeln auf 3 verschiedene Zeiten dieser Finsternis nebst dem Weg des Mittelpuncts vom Halbschatten auf derselben angezeiget wird auf das Fundament der Eulerischen Sonnen und Monds Tafeln nach den orthographischen Gründen stereographisch in 2. Blættern verzeichnet von Georg Moriz Lowiz; sculpsit Ruprecht Adam Schneider Fürth – Norimb. – herausgegeben in der Homaen[n]ischen Officin, a.o 1747 M. Decemb; [Gewidmet] Illustri ... D.mo LEONHARDO EULERO; C.P.S.C.M.G. [= Cum Privilegio Sacris Caesaris Majestatis Gratia] – Plate designed by Georg Moritz Lowitz (1722-1774) and printed in 1747 depicting the circumstances of the solar eclipse of 25 July 1748 with an explanatory text in German and in French. Dedicated to the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler.
• VORSTELLUNG der SONNEN- oder ERD-FINSTERNIS den 25. Iul. 1748: Zweytes Blat. In welchem der Weg des Mittelpuncts vom Halb-Schatten so wohl als die übrigen theile der Finsternis in Absicht auf die Örter von Europa ins besondere vorgestellet, und in erste Minuten Berliner Zeit eingetheilet ist; Wobey noch einige Stücke beygefüget sind, in denen diese Erd-Finsternis auf etliche Orte als eine Sonnen-Finsternis oder Bedeckung der Sonne vom Mond betrachtet wird – Companion to the preceding plate.
• VORSTELLUNG der in der Nacht zwischen den 8. u. 9. Aug. 1748 vorfallenden partialen MOND-FINSTERNIS – Plate designed by Johann Tobias Mayer (1723-1762) and printed in 1748 depicting the circumstances of the lunar eclipse of 8/9 August 1748.