Live auction - Lot 1060
[Atlas - Celestial]
Atlas céleste de Flamstéed, approuvé par l'Académie Royale des Sciences et publié sous le privilège de cette compagnie. Seconde édition. Par M. J. Fortin.
Paris, (Widow Hérissant for) F.G. Deschamps, 1776
€ 700 / 900
Live bidding (Drouot*) Live bidding (Invaluable*)Bidding is closed
Lot description
4to: viii-40 pp.; 30 pl. (some spotting).
Contemp. marbled calf, gilt orn. flat spine (some minor defects). Good copy.
Second edition, but actually a completely revised edition of Flamsteed's great, innovative and highly influential stellar atlas [by P.-C. Le Monnier, F. Pasumot and N.-L. de La Caille] with all plates re-engraved on a much smaller scale, thus turning the atlas into a work with much more aesthetic appeal. Contains 30 double-page astronomical maps depicting constellation figures (mythological figures and the signs of the zodiac), including 1 star chart of the northern and 2 of the southern hemisphere (never visible from Europe). Ended with a catalogue of stars (text ruled). Enriched with an engr. folded map "Réduction de la grande Carte de la Lune" by Jean Dominique Cassini (s.l., s.n., 1788), 23,3 x 31 cm, placed between the astronomical maps and the catalogue of stars.
Ref. BnF. - De La Lande, Bibl. astronomique, pp. 553-554. - Not in Shirley.
Prov. Stamp erased. - [Georges Petit].