Star Map by Johann Elert Bode – Plate X

Plate X Star Map from Johann Elert Bode – Constellations shown:
Delphinus – the Dolphin, Vulpecula – the Fox, Aquila – the Eagle, Antinous – an obsolete constellation no longer in use by astronomers, having been merged into Aquila, Sagitta- the Arrow, and others.

Johann Elert Bode
Vorstellung der Gestirne

Dimensions: 27.5 x 23 cm

Portrait of Johann Ehlert Bode
Portrait of Johann Ehlert Bode

Handcolored copperplate engravings representing the Constellations from the star atlas “Vorstellung der Gestirne” by the German astronomer and mapmaker Johann Elert Bode (1747-1826).

Born in Hamburg, Bode became the director of the Berlin Observatory and published the Uranographia in 1801, a celestial atlas  showing the positions of stars,and including an artistic interpretation of the figures in the constellations.  This smaller star atlas – Vorgestellung der Gestirne (Presentation of the Stars) – was intended for astronomical amateurs.

Bode is known for his reformulation and popularisation of the Titius–Bode law. He also charted the orbit of Uranus and suggested the planet’s name.