Description
John Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis
These extraordinary celestial maps are from John Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis. Published in 1729, this work was the beginning of a new age in celestial cartography. Flamsteed's work began to use the equatorial coordinate system still in use today. And perhaps more importantly, it displayed stars discovered via telescope, which increased the number of stars displayed in a given area almost three times compared to previous works. Atlas Coelestis was intended to aid in navigation. Therefore, Flamsteed did not include heavenly objects that do not have a exact coordinates like stars. He did not include nebulae or the Milky Way as later atlases modeled after Flamsteed's did.
John Flamsteed (1646-1719) was England's first Royal Astronomer. He committed his life to studing the sky visible from Greenwich and cataloging the positions of stars. Preparation of Atlas Coelestis began in 1715. Sadly, Flamsteed died four years later and Atlas Coelestis was not published until 1729, ten years after his death.
The prints are on fine paper measuring approximately 21 1/2" by 28 1/4".