Showrooms

eighteenth century sign of the zodiac - Virgo

Creator: John Flamsteed
Offered by: Shapero Gallery

Description
eighteenth century sign of the zodiac

FLAMSTEED, John.
Virgo.
London, C. Nourse,1753.

Hand coloured star chart heightened with gold and silver, engraved by John Mynde, from the second edition of Flamsteed’s Atlas Coelestis.

Framed and glazed, overall size: 80.3 x 68 x 4 cm.

A fine star chart from the Atlas Coelestis, the largest and most accurate star atlas published up to that time.

Charles II founded the Royal Observatory in Greenwich in 1675 and in the same year John Flamsteed (1646-1719), was appointed the first Astronomer Royal. Flamsteed began to collect data on the stars as observed using a telescope in order to create a star atlas showing the sky above Greenwich. This was a huge undertaking and Flamsteed didn’t live to see its publication, which was finally produced by his widow in 1729, ten years after his death. The stars were positioned and the co-ordinates drawn by Abraham Sharp, while the figures in the constellations were after drawings by Sir James Thornhill and others. In his atlas Flamsteed corrects the errors in position made by earlier astronomers such as Bayer in the seventeenth century. It was considered the first significant contribution of the Greenwich Observatory, and the numerical Flamsteed designations for stars are still in use.

More Information

Documentation:	Ample Provenance
Origin:	England
Period:	18th Century
Materials:	engraving with hand-colouring on paper
Condition:	Good.
Creation Date:	1753
Styles / Movements:	Other , Color
Dealer Reference #:	108132
Incollect Reference #:	612395

Dimensions

W.	31.5 in;	H.	26.77 in;	D.	1.57 in;
W.	80 cm;	H.	68 cm;	D.	4 cm;

Message from Seller:

Based in the heart of Mayfair in London, we specialise in prints and original works on paper across a broad range of subjects, from antique prints to modern pochoir plates, as well as photographs from vintage photography to modern art photography.

Sold