Theoria Lunae, eius motum per eccentricum et epyciclum demonstrans. <BR>

Nice example of this celestial chart illustration of the moon epicicles from the 1708 Valk & Schenk edition of Andreas Cellarius's Harmonia Macrocosmica seu Atlas Universalis et Novus. This beautiful chart illustrates the Ptolemaic model of lunar motion. The epicycles of the moon are shown as it revolves along its various orbits. The central diagram is bordered by the signs of the Zodiac and surrounded by superb engravings of clouds filled with putti, the title banners and two smaller diagrams. Engraved by Joannes van Loon.<BR>Andreas Cellarius Harmonia Macrocosmica (first published in 1660) is generally regarded as one of the most spectacular cosmographical atlases that was published in the second half of the seventeenth century. The atlas was published in 1660 and 1661 by the Amsterdam publisher Johannes Janssonius (1588-1664), as a cosmographical supplement to his Atlas Novus. Andreas Cellarius had already started working on this atlas before 1647 and intended it to be a historical introduction for a two-volume treatise on cosmography but the second part was never published. His atlas contained a description of ancient and contemporary astronomy including the theories of Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Tycho Brahe. The atlas was illustrated with twenty-nine engraved plates that are among the most beautiful celestial charts ever made. The charts include illustrations of the heavens and diagrams of the orbits of the Sun, Moon, and planets according to the different cosmological theories. They were richly adorned with elaborate cartouches and baroque elements such as putti in clouds, shells, garlands, as well as portraits of famous astronomers and astronomical instruments.<BR>The plates of his Harmonia Macrocosmica were reprinted (without the Latin commentary) in 1708 by the Amsterdam publishers Gerard Valk (1651-1726) and Peter Schenk (1660-1711). Some restored tears in outer margin and at centrefold, affecting at bottom the border frame <BR>