The ''Harmonia Macrocosmica'' is a

star atlas Celestial cartography, uranography, astrography or star cartography is the aspect of astronomy and branch of cartography concerned with mapping stars, galaxies, and other astronomical objects on the celestial sphere. Measuring the position ...

written by

Andreas Cellarius Andreas Cellarius (–1665) was a Dutch–German cartographer and cosmographer best known for his 1660 '' Harmonia Macrocosmica'', a major star atlas. Life He was born in Neuhausen, and was educated in Heidelberg. The Protestant Cellarius ...

and published in 1660 by

Johannes Janssonius Johannes Janssonius (1588, in Arnhem – buried July 11, 1664, in Amsterdam) (born Jan Janszoon, in English also Jan Jansson) was a Dutch cartographer and publisher who lived and worked in Amsterdam in the 17th century. Biography Jansson ...

. The first part of the atlas contains copper plate prints depicting the world systems of

Claudius Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and ...

Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a mathematical model, model of Celestial spheres#Renaissance, the universe that placed heliocentrism, the Sun rather than Earth at its cen ...

, and

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, ; 14 December 154624 October 1601), generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer of the Renaissance, known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations. He ...

. At the end are star maps of the classical and further

constellations A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellations were likely defin ...

, the latter ones as introduced by

Julius Schiller Julius Schiller (c. 1580 – 1627) was a lawyer from Augsburg who, like his fellow citizen and colleague Johann Bayer, published a star atlas in celestial cartography. In the year of his death, Schiller, with Bayer's assistance, published ...

in his ''

Coelum stellatum christianum The ''Coelum Stellatum Christianum'' is a star atlas published in 1627 by Julius Schiller ( 1580–1627), with the collaboration of Johann Bayer (1572–1625). In the treatise, which was published by Andreas Aperger at Augsburg during the same yea ...

'' of 1627. For its importance in the

history of cartography Maps have been one of the most important human inventions, allowing humans to explain and navigate their way. When and how the earliest maps were made is unclear, but maps of local terrain are believed to have been independently invented by man ...

, particularly of

celestial cartography Celestial cartography, uranography, astrography or star cartography is the aspect of astronomy and branch of cartography concerned with mapping stars, galaxies, and other astronomical objects on the celestial sphere. Measuring the position ...

, the ''Harmonia Macrocosmica'' is considered one of the notable masterworks from the Golden Age of Dutch/Netherlandish cartography ( 1570s–1670s), along with

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the list of atlases, first modern ...

's ''

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (, "Theatre of the Lands of the World") is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius, strongly encouraged by Gillis Hooftman and originally printed on 20 May 1570 in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of un ...

'' and Johannes Blaeu's ''

Atlas Maior The ''Atlas Maior'' is the final version of Joan Blaeu's atlas, published in Amsterdam between 1662 and 1672, in Latin (11 volumes), French (12 volumes), Dutch (9 volumes), German (10 volumes) and Spanish (10 volumes), containing 594 maps and ...

''. It is often described as the most beautiful celestial atlas ever published.

History

In the foreword to his ''Chronologica'',

Gerard Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish geographer, cosmographer and cartographer. He is most renowned for creating the 1569 world map based on a new projection which represented sailing courses of constant beari ...

stated the intention to publish an atlas which would cover everything of the then-known cosmos, geography and history of the earth. During his life, Mercator published five volumes of his atlas, the last one being published by his son Rumold. After Mercator's death, the Amsterdam cartographer

took over the project. He and fellow-cartographer Hendricus Hondius published their ''Novus Atlas'' in 1636, which featured over 320 maps in four languages. In 1660, Andreas Cellarius' ''Harmonia Macrocosmica'' was published as the seventh volume of the project. With the final addition of a volume describing the cities of the world from 1657, the project was finally completed.

Origins of the engravings

Of the various engravers and authors who worked on the plates of the atlas, only two have signed their work. The frontispiece of the atlas was created by Frederik Hendrik van den Hove and ten other plates were engraved by Johannes van Loon. Moreover, all the designs of the classical constellations were taken from the ones created by Jan Pieterszoon Saenredam.

References

*Van Gent, Robert H. (2006), ''Andreas Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica of 1660'', TASCHEN,
Bio-bibliography of Andreas Cellarius

External links

{{commonscat-inline, Cellarius Harmonia Macrocosmica, ''Cellarius Harmonia Macrocosmica''

''Harmonia Macrocosmica''Digitized example of the 1661 ''Harmonia Macrocosmica'' at RareMaps.com
17th-century Dutch books Astronomy books Classical star atlases Dutch celestial cartography in the Age of Discovery Astronomy in the Dutch Republic