Harmonia Macrocosmica

The atlas is divided into two main parts. The first contains a series of copper-engraved plates illustrating different models of the universe that were discussed in early modern astronomy. These include the geocentric system associated with Claudius Ptolemy, the heliocentric system proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus, and the geo-heliocentric system developed by Tycho Brahe. The diagrams show how each system explained the motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets.^[2]

The later plates contain star charts showing the constellations of the northern and southern skies. These include the traditional constellations known from classical astronomy, as well as constellations introduced by the German scholar Julius Schiller. In his work Coelum stellatum christianum (1627), Schiller replaced many of the classical constellation figures with Christian and biblical figures. Cellarius included these alternative constellations alongside the traditional ones in the atlas.^[3]

Of the various engravers and artists who worked on the plates of the atlas, only two signed their work. The frontispiece was created by the Dutch engraver Frederik Hendrik van den Hove, while ten of the plates were engraved by Johannes van Loon.^[4]

The figures used for the classical constellations were not newly designed for the atlas. Instead, they were based on earlier constellation images created by the Dutch engraver Jan Pieterszoon Saenredam, whose work influenced later celestial atlases of the seventeenth century.^[4]

• Van Gent, Robert H. (2006), Andreas Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica of 1660, TASCHEN, ISBN 978-3-8228-5290-3
• Bio-bibliography of Andreas Cellarius

Media related to Cellarius Harmonia Macrocosmica at Wikimedia Commons

• rarebookroom.org
• Harmonia Macrocosmica
• Digitized example of the 1661 Harmonia Macrocosmica at RareMaps.com