A set of six mid 19th-Century English Muggletonian planetary oil colour prints,
GLOBES AND PLANETARIA
A set of six mid 19th-Century English Muggletonian planetary oil colour prints,

A set of six mid 19th-Century English Muggletonian planetary oil colour prints,

細節
A set of six mid 19th-Century English Muggletonian planetary oil colour prints,
Printed in Oil Colours by G. Baxter, Patentee, 11, Northampton Sq.r and Drawn by Isaac Frost and Engraved by Chubb & Son 7. Charterhouse St., circa 1846, plates 1, 3, 6, 7, 9 and 10 -- 9 x 12in. (22.8 x 30.5cm.) framed and glazed

See Colour Illustrations (6)

拍品專文

The prints are entitled:
Plate 1 - The Newtonian System of the Universe
Plate 3 - The Newtonian System
Plate 6 - The Newtonian System
Plate 7 - System According to the Holy Scriptures
Plate 9 - System According to the Holy Scriptures
Plate 10 - System According to the Holy Scriptures
Plate 6 also bears an inscription on the actual print This Diagram will show that if the Earth revolves round the Sun, as the Solar System states, then it will necessarily follow, that the Earth will differ in its position with the Sun and any given fixed star on its equator, every day throughout the whole year. Now consideer, is it so? If it is not so, then it will make much in favour of the Holy Scriptures, that the Sun revolves around the Earth - Isaac Frost

The sect known as "Muggletonians" were originally formed during the aftermath of the English Civil War, in the 1650's, by cousins John Reeve and Lodowick Muggleton. They were a radical religious sect - chapter XI of the Book of Revelations speaks of "two witnesses" whom God will appoint to preach to the ungodly world in its final days. Reeves and Muggleton received "messages from God" informing them that they were these witnesses.

The sect lasted in one form or another, with small but reasonable support, well into the Victorian era (the last reported Muggletonian died in the mid twentieth century). The tenets of Muggletonianism, as they survived into the nineteenth century, were varied. Somewhat softened from Reeve's original vision, Muggleton's legacy was one of anti-Trinitariansim: Christ the Son was in fact the true God, whilst Heaven was watched over by the prophets Elijah and Moses. In addition, God paid little attention to his creation, therefore rendering acts of faith and devotion such as prayer, worship, martyrdom and so on irrelevant and pointless. Heaven was to be found on Earth, rather than in the afterlife, and Hell likewise existed within man; religious tolerance and a lack of ceremony was similarly characteristic of the sect, the "services" commonly taking place in an inn or tavern, with a reading or two from the bible, and the singing of the "Divine Songs" (written by Muggleton and other members).

Isaac Frost was a scientist and prominent member of the sect in the mid nineteenth century. He was instrumental in the refinement of the Muggletonian's geocentric astronomical theory, as represented on the plates offered here. They were originally published under the title Two Systems of Astronomy, 1846. Frost also edited, with his brother Joseph, The Works of J. Reeve and L. Muggleton in three volumes, in 1832.

George Baxter was a London printer who developed and patented an unusual method of printing using oil pigments. His works are rare, because although the graduations of colour produced are quite beautiful, the process was too expensive to sustain commercial manufacture. The Two Sytstems of Astronomy prints were undoubtedly produced for circulation amongst the sect's members only.