[Carte Celeste] - Le Taureau
FLAMSTEED, John / FORTIN, Jean Baptiste

[Carte Celeste] - Le Taureau

Paris
F.-G. Deschamps
1776
Size : 22 x 26 cm
Color : Hand Colored
Condition : A
Technique : Copper engraving
Reference : 620-14
€245.00

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Description

Beautiful example with gold embossing of Flamsteed's constellation map of Taurus.

John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal of England, published the most important work of the golden age of celestial atlases (the Atlas coelestis). In 1725, he published his Historia coelestis Britannica, dedicated to king George I of England. This work summarized Flamsteed's lifework in three volumes dedicated to listing more than 3000 stars with their accurate positions, he named 54 constellations according to the right ascension. It consists of over 1600 pages that include explanations, figures, detailed tables, and charts that presented a load of numerical data. One of Flamsteed's main objectives was to correct Bayer's serious errors in the representation of the figures, as the latter had reversed many of the figures and showed them from behind instead of the front. These new positions were at odds with the traditional descriptions.

Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis was published in 1729. It included 25 plates of captivating celestial maps accurately plotted based on his earlier observations. This atlas was very appealing to the public at the time of its publication due to its valued scientific reliability and the exquisite aesthetic features illustrating constellations and mythological figures.

This map was published in the French edition of Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis. The second French edition, Atlas céleste de Flamsteed (1776), was revised and augmented by Jean-Baptiste Fortin (1740-1817), Pierre-Charles Le Monnier (1715-1799), François Pasumot (1733-1804), Nicolas-Louis de La Caille (1713-1762). It contained 30 celestial maps on double sheets that have been re-engraved into a smaller scale.

Bibliography: 

Flamsteed, John (1725). Historia Coelestis Britannica. Vol.1-3. London: Meere, 1725.

Flamsteed, John (1729). Atlas Coelestis. London, 1729.

Lachièze-Rey, M. & Luminet J.P. (1998). Figures du Ciel ... Seuil / Bibliothèque nationale de France.

FLAMSTEED, John / FORTIN, Jean Baptiste

John Flamsteed (1646-1719) was the son of a prosperous merchant from Denby, Derbyshire, England, John Flamsteed (1646 -1719) studied astronomy on his own at the age of 16, until 1669, before continuing his studies at Cambridge University from 1670 to 1674. In March 1675, he was appointed the first Astronomer Royal of Great Britain by King Charles II (who created the position for him), on the recommendation of Sir Jonas Moore. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich was built for him the same year, and he began making observations there with his own instruments in 1676. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1677, was a member of the Council from 1681 to 1684 and from 1698 to 1700.

The scientists Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley, through the Royal Society, urged Flamsteed to publish his extraordinary observations. But Flamsteed refused, preferring to complete them before disclosing them. In 1704, the Prince of Denmark allocated the necessary funds for their publication and, despite the death of the latter in 1708 and Flamsteed's objections, his work was published in 1712 by Halley and printed in 400 copies. Flamsteed's desire to give an accurate and complete version of his observations led him to destroy 300 copies. His ever-improving collection of observations led to the elaboration of his Historia Coelestis Britannica catalog published in 1725 by his widow, in which he listed nearly 3000 stars, and then to his splendid Atlas Coelestis star atlas published in 1729, ten years after his death, in which he described the 25 constellations with a precision unequalled until then. Nowadays, some stars still carry the number they are covered with in his system.

Fortin, Jean-Baptiste (1740-1817), was the mechanical engineer for the king and the royal family for globes and spheres.