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Description:This fine hand coloured original copper-plate engraved antique astronomical chart showing the Geocentric motion of the inner planets of Mercury and Venus according to the Tychonic hypothesis for the years 1712 and 1713 by Johann Doppelmayr, was first published in Homanns Atlas von hundert Charten in 1712 & the Grossen Atlas in 1712. In 1742 Doppelmayr collected most of the Astronomical charts he had prepared over the years for the Homann publishing firm and published The Atlas Coelestis with 30 Astronomical Plates, including this one.This chart was published according to the famous Tycho Brahes cosmological system that described the complex movements of Venus and Mercury as viewed from earth. The center of the chart is filled with a delightful scene of cherubs swinging through the clouds. Two text panels at lower corners describe the movements of the planets.
General Definitions:Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stablePaper color : - off whiteAge of map color: - OriginalColors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pinkGeneral color appearance: - AuthenticPaper size: - 24 1/2in x 21in (625mm x 535mm)Plate size: - 23in x 19 1/2in (585mm x 495mm)Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)
Imperfections:Margins: - NonePlate area: - Bottom centerfold re-joinedVerso: - None
Background: Doppelmayrs 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 nturlichen 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 Homanns Grossen Atlas (Nuremberg, 1716), but are mentioned in Hagers 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 1720s as the Atlas Portatilis Coelestis, oder compendiose Vorstellung des gantzen Welt-gebudes, 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 Flamsteeds star catalogue (London, 1725) and star atlas (London, 1729).
Doppelmayr, Johann Gabriel 1677 - 1750Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (also spelled Doppelmaier or Doppelmair) was the son of the Nuremberg merchant Johann Siegmund Doppelmayr (1641-1686) and was born on 27 September 1677 (many early sources incorrectly give his year of birth as 1671). His father had an interest in applied physics and was one of the first to design a vertical vacuum air pump in Nuremberg.Doppelmayr enrolled at the Ägidiengymnasium in 1689 and after completing his studies in 1696 enrolled at the nearby university of Altdorf to study law which he completed in 1698 with a dissertation on the Sun. He then attended lectures on mathematics and natural philosophy by Johann Christoph Sturm (1635-1703) which he completed in 1699 with his dissertation De visionis sensu nobilissimo, ex camerae obscurae tenebris illustrato. He continued his studies on physics and mathematics at the university of Halle where he also learned French and Italian.In September 1700, Doppelmayr traveled to Berlin and from there, through Lower Saxony, to Holland where he visited Franeker and Amsterdam on his way to Utrecht where he stayed for a couple of months to continue his studies on physics and mathematics and to master the English language.In April 1701, Doppelmayr went to Leiden where he stayed in the house of the astronomy professor Lothar Zumbach von Koesfeld and learned (probably in the Musschenbroek workshop) how to grind and figure telescope lenses. He then traveled to Rotterdam and in May to England where he visited Oxford and London.After returning to Holland in the end of 1701, Doppelmayr spent another five months in Leiden, where he followed astronomy lessons from Lothar Zumbach von Koesfeld. After visiting Utrecht, Deventer, Osnabrück, Hannover, Kassel, Marburg, Gießen, Wetzlar and Frankfurt, Doppelmayr returned to Nuremberg in August 1702 and was appointed professor of mathematics at the Ägidiengymnasium in 1704, a position that he would hold until his death.In 1723, he received an invitation to become the professor of mechanics at the Academy of St. Petersburg, but Doppelmayr declined and suggested that they should ask the Swiss mathematician Nikolaus Bernouilli for this position.Doppelmayr died on 1 December 1750 in Nuremberg, and many believed that this was caused by the fatal effects of a powerful electrical shock which he had received shortly before while experimenting with a battery of electric capacitors. Other sources, however, suggest that Doppelmayr’s electrical experiments were performed several years earlier and were not the cause of his death.