Old star maps with unknown constellations

A recent study in the Bodel Nijenhuis Collection of maps, atlases, topographical prints and drawings in the Leiden University Library has resulted in the discovery of an enigmatic pair of celestial hemispheres of which the origin appears to be unknown.

Northern hemisphere (COLLBN Port 169 N 3a)          
Southern hemisphere (COLLBN Port 169 N 3b)

The celestial hemispheres, printed on separate sheets, were apparently removed from an early 17th-century book and pasted on a piece of cardboard.
The iconography of the depicted constellations on both hemispheres can be closely matched with those on a 34-cm celestial globe first published in 1603 by the Amsterdam cartographer-publisher Willem Jansz Blaeu (1571-1638). Amongst the many similarities that can be noted are the depiction of the constellation Argo Navis as a Dutch East Indiaman and the naming of the Plancius constellation Toucana as Lang.

Two Unknown Constellations

However, the author of this pair of celestial hemispheres did not follow Blaeu's celestial globe in every detail and made a few remarkable changes.
In the southern hemisphere, below the feet of Centaurus, the Plancius constellations of Chamaeleon, Musca and Triangulum Australe were replaced by two constellations of his own making: Ceneus (referring to the Lapith Caeneus) and Siren.
So far, I have not seen these constellations depicted on any other 17th-century star map known to me, nor have I found them mentioned in any work known to me about the history and lore of the Western constellation figures.

Historical Celestial Atlases

Depiction of the classical constellations described in the astronomical poem of Aratus of Soloi and its various Latin editions (miniature from codex Barberinianus latinus 76, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 15th-cent.)

Man has always been fascinated with the solemn and mysterious parade of the celestial luminaries across the night sky. As the earliest-known texts of various ancient cultures attest, the stars were commonly grouped into constellation figures which were believed to represent divine persons, sacred animals and other objects of religious importance.
Of course, each of the major cultures stemming from the Near East, the Far East and the New World developed an indigenous system of constellation figures and associated legends which were recorded in written texts or depicted on maps or on globes.
Of these various constellation systems, the Sumerian/Babylonian system of constellation figures would prove to be the most influential as it was their system that through successive adoptions, modifications and additions by Greek/Roman, Islamic and European astronomers evolved into the mathematically defined system of 88 constellations that is currently employed in the international astronomical community.
Traditionally, astronomers plot the positions of the stars and the constellation figures in two ways:

• Internal view: the constellation figures are depicted on an imaginary celestial sphere as seen from an observer placed in the centre. This is the method commonly adopted in celestial atlases and is most suited for astronomical observations.
• External view: the constellation figures are depicted on an imaginary celestial sphere as viewed from the outside. This is the method commonly adopted in celestial globes and is more suited for artistic or tutorial purposes.

Up to the middle of the 19th century, celestial atlases and globes were considered to be both works of precision and art and in many cases they resulted from the collaboration of skilled astronomers and artisans.

Celestial Atlases and Globes on the Web

• Atlas Coelestis: Comprehensive website by Felice Stoppa with digital editions of various celestial atlases and maps from the middle of the 15th century to the early 20th century.
• The Mercator Globes at Harvard Map Collection: On this website one can view the globes of Gerard Mercator (terrestrial globe of 1541, celestial globe of 1551) of the Harvard Map Collection in great detail.
• Tycho Brahe (1546 – 1601): The Astronomiæ instauratæ mechanica (1602) is not a celestial atlas but the digital version of the copy in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries includes the plates depicting the astronomical instruments used by Tycho Brahe for his celestial observations on which many later celestial globes and atlases were based. With an introduction by Ronald Brashear.
• Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596 – 1665): Harmonia Macrocosmica (1660, 1661, 1708).
• Johannes Hevelius (1611 – 1687): Firmamentum Sobiescianum, sive Uranographia (1690). For “star free” images of the Hevelius constellation figures, click here.
• Coronelli, Vincenzo (1650 – 1718): Printed segments of Coronelli’s 110-cm celestial globe (1693) in the 1782 reprint by Desnos (Paris).
• John Flamsteed (1646 – 1719): Atlas Coelestis (1729, 1753).
• Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (1677 – 1750): Atlas Coelestis (1742).
• John Flamsteed (1646 – 1719): Atlas céleste de Flamstéed (Jean Fortin, Paris, 1776). Although the title page of this French edition gives the year of printing as 1776, the inclusion of the constellation Taurus Poniatovii (Poniatowski’s Bull) on plate 10 indicates that this copy was published in 1778 or later.
• Johann Elert Bode (1747 – 1826): Vorstellung der Gestirne auf XXXIV Tafeln (1782).
• Franz Niklaus König (1765 – 1832): The diaphanous Atlas Céleste (1826) [30 plates; nrs. 28 & 29 are missing] (Municipal and University Library of Berne) [In English, French & German].

Edmond Halley 1687

Portrait of Edmond Halley painted around 1687 by Thomas Murray (Royal Society, London)

Isaac Newton 1689

Portrait of Isaac Newton painted in 1689 by Sir Godfrey Kneller (Farleigh House, Farleigh Wallop, Hampshire)

Newton’s Secret Investigations

The studies into Newton’s unpublished papers mentioned above have revealed that during the greater part of his scientific career, his secret passions in fact lay in alchemy and matters of theology (such as the nature of the Holy Trinity, the dimensions of Solomon’s Temple, biblical prophecies and biblical chronology).
It will therefore not come as a surprise that the true source for our anecdote in fact derives from Newton’s latter interests. More than 50 years ago the American historian of science I. Bernard Cohen was able to trace it back to the highly regarded Newton biographies by the English physicist David Brewster (1781-1868) in which it is cited in full as:

‘... when Dr. Halley ventured to say anything disrespectful to religion, he invariably checked him, with the remark, “I have studied these things – you have not”.’

The fact that Halley and Newton often quarreled on theological matters is confirmed by another remark recorded by John Conduitt, who in turn heard it from his wife (and Newton’s niece) Catherine Conduitt (née Barton; 1679-1739). However, these altercations were never so intense as to cause a rift between these two great scientists.

1624 telescope

 Early depiction of a ‘Dutch telescope’ from the “Emblemata of zinne-werck” (Middelburg, 1624) of the poet and statesman Johan de Brune (1588-1658). The print was engraved by Adriaen van de Venne, who, together with his brother Jan Pieters van de Venne, printed books not far from the original optical workshop of Hans Lipperhey.

Halley’s Comet in 1910 ceramic

Comets have been depicted in the past on a great variety of materials. Best known, of course, are depictions on parchment, paper, textiles, wood, metal and stone – countless examples of which can be found in any book on comet lore.
Cometary depictions on porcelain, however, seem to be relatively rare. In fact, I know only of one example of this kind of depictions, namely a series of blue Royal Delft plates issued in 1910 by the porcelain manufacturer ‘De Porceleyne Fles’ in Delft commemorating the return of Halley’s Comet in that year.
These plates, which measure about 25 centimeters in diameter, show a stylized comet passing between a cloud-enveloped Earth and a flame-belching Sun with the texts ‘HALLEY’, ‘HET KOMETEN JAAR’ (‘the Comet Year’) and ‘1910’. The solar rim is embellished with figures which may refer to the zodiacal constellations of Gemini and Aquarius, but their identification (and meaning) is not certain.

Also shown in the top-left corner is a smaller comet labeled ‘1910A’, referring to the unexpected (but much brighter) comet that appeared in January of that year. The copies known to me (see below) all show the comet 1910a and were thus produced after January 1910 but there may have been earlier copies which do not show this addition.
At the moment I know of the following copies of the above-mentioned cometary plate:

• Private collection (Dodewaard, Netherlands)
• Astronomical Institute (Utrecht, Netherlands)
• Kasteel Duivenvoorde (Voorschoten, Netherlands)

Another copy, also in a private collection, is depicted in: Roberta Bromley Etter & Stuart L. Schneider, Halley’s Comet: Memories of 1910 (Abbeville Press, New York, 1985), p. 11.
I am collecting material on these kinds of cometary depictions and I would be very grateful for help in locating more examples of the above depicted plate or similar ceramic ware depicting Halley’s Comet or any other comets.

Alexandria Observatory

The observatory of Alexandria with an astronomer measuring the heavens with some instruments (cross staff, mariner's astrolabe) which actually belong to a much later period
(source: Camille Flammarion, Astronomie Populaire: Description générale du ciel, Paris: 1880).