Reprint of Johann Bayer's Uranometria, first published in Augsburg in 1603
The Uranometria was the first star chart that broke new ground and thus became the standard until the present day. Bayer used Greek letters for the main stars of a constellation instead of the "location descriptions" that had been customary until then. Johann Bayer also introduced the degree grid system. This made it possible for the first time to determine the location of a star clearly and accurately. The first volume contains the illustrated map and the original Latin description.
In the comprehensive accompanying book, the author Dr. Jürgen Hamel from Rostock, a well-known historian of astronomy, explains the significance of these first star charts as a means of measuring the sky. This second volume will be published at the same time and delivered together with the map collection. In later editions, the Uranometria was no longer printed on both sides, as the text pages on the back showed through onto the image map pages in the first edition. The 51 map sheets are reproduced accurately from the 1648 edition on the right-hand page of the book. The left-hand side contains Bayer's original tables and explanations from the first edition of 1603. In contrast to the museum editions, the text and images are therefore combined on a double page. The explanations on the reverse sides with descriptions and tables can be found in the accompanying book. As all texts are written in Latin, they have been translated into German where necessary.
The origin of the pages:
The image pages are from the 1648 edition, printed from the original copper plates in Ulm. The original is located in the Heidelberg University Library, Manuscript Department. The text pages and four image pages, whose quality was not optimal in the Heidelberg edition, are from the first edition of 1603, printed in Augsburg. This edition is owned by the Linda Hall Library of Science in Kansas City, USA. All excerpts in the accompanying book and extreme macro photographs are from the first edition of 1603, printed in Augsburg. These plates are privately owned.
The accompanying book:
has 176 pages, A4 format. In addition to Johann Bayer's biographical data and a detailed description of the Uranometria, including its art history, we have also included several other star charts as comparative images to highlight the uniqueness of Bayer's work and his standardisation of cartography.
What is the Uranometria 1603?
The Uranometria is the first accurate map of the sky, published by the Augsburg lawyer Johann Bayer in 1603. Thanks to the main stars of every constellation known at the time being designated in Greek letters for the first time, this map is still valid today and is still used in its cataloguing according to star size.
Of the original editions scattered around the world, printed in Augsburg (1603) and Ulm (1648), we chose the 1648 edition to represent the map collection and the first edition from 1603 for the descriptions on the back, as these are the best-preserved editions.
Joh. Bayer's URANOMETRIA was used by astronomers as a working basis well into the 19th century. For this reason, all editions contain notes from later periods, as do the editions we have used. This alone shows how important and accurate these maps were when they were first created and that they were still being used as a working basis centuries later.
With this map collection, we offer all interested amateur and professional astronomers, libraries and collectors of historical writings a work that has made history – for more than 400 years.
