18th century illustration of the constellation Corona Borealis

THOMAS, Corbinianus.

[Corona Borealis] Corona Firmiana vulgo Septentrionalis.
Frankfurt, 1730. Original colour. 125 x 135mm.

A chart of the Corona Borealis constellation, here renamed 'Corona Firmiama' to honour his patron, Leopold Anton von Firmian, Archbishop of Salzburg, a tribute that did not last long. The plate was engraved by Johann Christoph Berndt for the celestial atlas 'Mercurii Philosphici Firmamentum Firmianum', also named the archbishop. Corbinianus Thomas (1694-1767), a Benedictine monk, was Professor of Mathematics and Theology at the University of Salzburg. His star atlas was first published in 1730 at Frankfurt, with a second edition at Augsburg the following year. He used an odd system for nomenclature: Bayer Greek letter for the star, Roman numeral for the magnitude and Arabic numeral for the star catalogue reference.

KANAS: 7.7, 'beautiful illustrations'; WARNER, p.251.
Stock ID : 21489