Star Lore Art Geography of the Heavens Elijah Hinsdale Burritt, W. G. Evans 1833

Geography of the Heavens was a description of the constellations, covering not only astronomical aspects but also mythology and poetry. The author, Elijah Hinsdale Burritt, is often called "the forgotten astronomer." In fact, in all of my research on the history of astronomy, E.H. Burritt (1794-1838) appears to be one of only two astronomers, who does not have his own Wikipedia page. (The other one being Alexandre Ruelle). First published in 1833 in Hartford, Connecticut, the descriptions of the stars and constellations were accompanied by a "Celestial Atlas", consisting of seven engraved plates showing the outlines of the constellations in their mythological form as animals, mythological characters etc. There were two plates of the north and south polar regions, four plates for the equatorial regions and one map for the entire heavens in Mercator projection, highlighting the Milky Way and the Sun's place in the ecliptic throughout the year. (see right) The engravings were done by W. G. Evans, based on Francis Wollaston's illustrations of A Portraiture of the Heavens, a star atlas published in 1811. Burritt had the rare gift to explain mathematics and astronomy in terms that untrained people could understand. His Geography of the Heavens was extremely popular and could be considered the first star catalogue not written for scientists but for ordinary people.

Burritt's Geography of the Heavens; osr.org Plate VII

The six plates below as well as the seventh plate above were taken from atlascoelestis.com. Links to the original sites are given below the plates.

Plate I

Plate II

Plate III

Plate IV

Plate V

Plate VI

Back to Star Lore Start Page

Back to Art Start Page

Back to Space Page

Back to English Main Page

Back to Start Page