W. G. Evans. Southern Circumpolar Map for each Month in the Year. 1835

Evans, W. G. after Burritt, Elijah Hinsdale

Southern Circumpolar Map for each Month in the Year.

Hartford, Published by F. J. Huntington 1835, Entered according to act of Congress Sept. 1st 1832 by F. J. Huntington of the State of Connecticut.

Paper Size: 12.6 x 12.6 Inches

A decorative hand coloured chart depicting the Southern circumpolar constellations from E. H. Burritt's Geography of the Heavens and Celestial Atlas. Constellations are drawn in detail and include depictions of the zodiac figures and the stars they are said to represent. Included on the map are Hydra, represented by the Snake, Dorado, represented by the swordfish, Pavo, represented by the Peacock and the Centaur, the Pheonix and Ara, the altar. The charts is quartered by the lines of the Solstitial and Equinoctial colures.

Elijah Hinsdale Burritt and F. J. Huntington produced Burritt's Geography of the Heavens in Hartford, Connecticut, from approximately 1833 to 1856. The work, while primarily educational in nature was created for ease of use by students and amateur astrologers. Much of the nomenclature they developed, especially regarding the visible constellations and stars of the Southern Hemisphere, is still in use today. The Atlas itself consisted of eight charts depicting the Heavens seasonally and hemispherically. Constellations were depicted figurally though only the most important stars were noted. All of Burritt's charts were based on the works of Pardies and Doppelmayr from the early 1740's. The Geography of the Heavens was the last decorative Celestial reference in the 19th century.

Elijah Hinsdale Burritt, 1794 – 1838, born in New Britain, Connecticut, was an American mathematician and astronomer. He is most famous for his two books, Logarithmick Arithmetick from 1818 and Geography of the Heavens and Celestial Atlas, started in 1833. He is sometimes referred to as "the forgotten astronomer" for the lack of recognition of achievements in his field.