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M-11472: (Image: 17 x 20’’)  “THEORIA LUNÆ, EIUS MOTUM PER ECCENTRICVM ET EPICYCLVM DEMONSTRANS [The moon’s eccentric orbit with epicycles]”,  Cellarius. Amsterdam: Pieter Schenk and G. Valk, c. 1708.  Engraved map with original hand-coloring.

This lunar chart is from Harmonia Macrocosmica seu Atlas Universalis et Novus (Harmonious Universe or New and Universal Atlas) by Andreas Cellarius.  First published in 1660 by Jansson. The atlas contained a description of ancient and contemporary astronomy including theories by Ptolemy, Copernicus and Tycho Brahe. This wonderful chart depicts the Ptolemaic theory of lunar motion. The epicycles of the moon are shown as it revolves along its various orbits. The central diagram is bordered by the signs of the Zodiac and surrounded by engravings of clouds filled with putti.