Andreas Cellarius. Haemisphaerium Scenographicum Australe Coeli Stellati Et Terrae....Amsterdam, 1708

Andreas Cellarius (1596-1665)
Coeli Stellati Christiani Haemisphaerium Prius
From Atlas Coelestis seu Harmonia Macrocosmica
Published Amsterdam, 1708
Sheet size: 19 1/2 x 24 in.
Frame size: 26 1/4 x 30 5/8 in.

Finely executed map of the Southern Sky, illustrating the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere superimposed over the Southern Polar Hemispher.

The map provides a fantastic image of the stars, as if seen from deeper in space, so that each of the constellations is facing in the opposite direction from the way that the same constellations would be seen from earth. This projection reflects a theory that originated with Petrus Plancius that the stars remained in a sphere-like configuration above the earth, which moved in coordination with the earth. This theory is found in the title of his atlas, Harmonia Macrocosmica.

A spectacular example of this decorative map of the southern sky, illustrating the constellations, with decorative scenes surrounding the map image. The South Pole, South Africa & South America are also shown, with the South Pole listed as Terra Incognitae.

Andreas Cellarius was born in 1596 in Neuhausen and educated in Heidelberg. He emigrated to Holland in the early 17th Century and in 1637 moved to Hoorn, where he became the rector of the Latin School. Cellarius' best known work is his Harmonia Macrocosmica, first issued in 1660 by Jan Jansson, as a supplement to Jansson's Atlas Novus. The work consists of a series of Celestial Charts begun by Cellarius in 1647 and intended as part of a two volume treatise on cosmography, which was never issued.

Cellarius' charts are the most sought after of celestial charts, blending the striking imagery of the golden age of Dutch Cartography with contemporary scientific knowledge. In addition to their lavish aesthetic appeal, the celestial charts of Andreas Cellarius comprise the most sweeping, ambitious project in the history of celestial cartography, one which also illustrates the historical tensions of the time. Cellarius’ maps present the evolution of the field of astronomy from ancient times until his own. In his distinctive visual language, Cellarius portrayed the often-conflicting theories that prevailed. In addition to the relatively obscure notions of Tycho Brahe and Schiller, Cellarius’s charts track the theories of Ptolemy, dating from the 2nd century AD, and Copernicus’s 16th-century challenge to the venerable ancient astronomer.