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M-11473: (Image: 19x22 ½’’) “SYSTEMA SOLARE ET PLANETARIUM…” Johann Gabriel Doppelmayer.  Nuremberg: Johann Baptist Homann, c. 1720. Engraved chart with original hand-coloring. Margins extended to facilitate matting.

This detailed chart was drawn by Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr, engraved by Homann and published in the Atlas Coelistis.  The chart depicts the motion of the planets according to the Copernican model with dimensions according to the Cosmotheoros of Christiaan Huygens.  It is centered on a sun-burst encompassing the solar system with planets and their moons orbiting around the sun. Lower left is a solar eclipse from May 12, 1706 projected onto a terrestrial map that depicts California as an island. Lower right shows the comparison of the Ptolemaic, Brahe and Copernican cosmological systems presented by Urania (goddess of astronomy).  The Ptolemaic system is partially obscured with scientific instruments and the Copernican system is labeled sic ratione (according to reason).

This chart is by the famous astronomer, professor of mathematics and cartographer J. G. Doppelmayer (1677-1750) and clearly illustrates the various theories and observations of the heavens as perceived in the early 18^th century.