![HEVELIUS, Joannes (1611-87). Prodromus astronomiae … catalogus stellarum fixarum … tabula motus lunae liberatorii [part II:] Firmamentum sobiescianum, sive uranographia. Danzig: Johannes Zacharias Stoll, 1690.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2016/CKS/2016_CKS_13730_0058_000(hevelius_joannes_prodromus_astronomiae_catalogus_stellarum_fixarum_tab095127).jpg?w=1)
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HEVELIUS, Joannes (1611-87). Prodromus astronomiae … catalogus stellarum fixarum … tabula motus lunae liberatorii [part II:] Firmamentum sobiescianum, sive uranographia. Danzig: Johannes Zacharias Stoll, 1690.
2 parts in one volume. Prodromus with additional engraved double-page frontispiece by C. de la Haye after A. Stech depicting the author, Ptolemy, Tycho Brahe, Ulugh Beg, the landgrave of Hesse and Riccioli seated around a table with Urania in the centre in pt. I, half-title, engraved portrait of Hevelius by Lambert Visscher after A. Stech and one plate, Firmamentum with double-page engraved frontispiece by C. de la Haye after A. Stech, 2 large engraved folding plates depicting the hemispheres and 54 double-page engraved star plates at end. (Portrait and second engraved title misbound at beginning of the book, portrait with ink stain in margin, first plate of hemispheres with clean marginal tear, repaired on verso with adhesive tape, both hemisphere plates lightly browned, occasional light spotting, last 2 plates a little creased.) Houzeau and Lancaster 12781.
[Bound before:]
HEVELIUS. Annus climactericus sive rerum uranicarum. Danzig: for the author by David Friedrich Rhetius, 1685. Half-title with large engraved vignette, 7 plates, including one folding, one engraved headpiece, woodcut initials. (Upper margin of L4 torn away, large repair, lower corner of one plate with marginal repair, lightly spotted).
2 works in one volume, 2° (396 x 233mm). 18th-century boards (spine worn, quite rubbed, front and back hinges broken). Provenance: Library of the Duke of Sachsen-Meiningscher (scored stamp on verso of first title).
FIRST EDITIONS. Prodromus was published posthumously, with an introduction by Hevelius' widow Elisabeth. ‘It is a catalogue of 1,564 stars arranged alphabetically under constellation names and by stellar magnitude within constellations. Latitude, longitude, right ascension, and declination are given (the latter pair of coordinates being often miscalculated even though two assistants were employed to verify calculations). John Flamsteed, another of Hevelius' many correspondents, was later to reprint the catalogue, with a different arrangement... Hevelius named eleven new constellations formed of stars not included in earlier groupings; seven of these names are still used… Illustrating the constellations of Hevelius' catalogue was a volume of fifty-six plates, possibly engraved in part by Hevelius himself. Contemporary globes, such as those by G.C. Eimmart, and Gerhard and Leonhard Valck, often acknowledge Hevelius as their source’ (DSB). The 54 star plates in this copy are very clean and attractive. The other work in this volume, Annus climactericus deals mainly with planets and comets.
2 parts in one volume. Prodromus with additional engraved double-page frontispiece by C. de la Haye after A. Stech depicting the author, Ptolemy, Tycho Brahe, Ulugh Beg, the landgrave of Hesse and Riccioli seated around a table with Urania in the centre in pt. I, half-title, engraved portrait of Hevelius by Lambert Visscher after A. Stech and one plate, Firmamentum with double-page engraved frontispiece by C. de la Haye after A. Stech, 2 large engraved folding plates depicting the hemispheres and 54 double-page engraved star plates at end. (Portrait and second engraved title misbound at beginning of the book, portrait with ink stain in margin, first plate of hemispheres with clean marginal tear, repaired on verso with adhesive tape, both hemisphere plates lightly browned, occasional light spotting, last 2 plates a little creased.) Houzeau and Lancaster 12781.
[Bound before:]
HEVELIUS. Annus climactericus sive rerum uranicarum. Danzig: for the author by David Friedrich Rhetius, 1685. Half-title with large engraved vignette, 7 plates, including one folding, one engraved headpiece, woodcut initials. (Upper margin of L4 torn away, large repair, lower corner of one plate with marginal repair, lightly spotted).
2 works in one volume, 2° (396 x 233mm). 18th-century boards (spine worn, quite rubbed, front and back hinges broken). Provenance: Library of the Duke of Sachsen-Meiningscher (scored stamp on verso of first title).
FIRST EDITIONS. Prodromus was published posthumously, with an introduction by Hevelius' widow Elisabeth. ‘It is a catalogue of 1,564 stars arranged alphabetically under constellation names and by stellar magnitude within constellations. Latitude, longitude, right ascension, and declination are given (the latter pair of coordinates being often miscalculated even though two assistants were employed to verify calculations). John Flamsteed, another of Hevelius' many correspondents, was later to reprint the catalogue, with a different arrangement... Hevelius named eleven new constellations formed of stars not included in earlier groupings; seven of these names are still used… Illustrating the constellations of Hevelius' catalogue was a volume of fifty-six plates, possibly engraved in part by Hevelius himself. Contemporary globes, such as those by G.C. Eimmart, and Gerhard and Leonhard Valck, often acknowledge Hevelius as their source’ (DSB). The 54 star plates in this copy are very clean and attractive. The other work in this volume, Annus climactericus deals mainly with planets and comets.
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