The frontispiece to Cellarius’s Harmonia Macrocosmica, renowned for its portrayals of both classical and contemporary astronomers.
Title page of Cellarius's Harmonia Macrocosmica 1708
This is the frontispiece of one of the most beautiful celestial atlases ever produced. Andreas Cellarius’s Atlas Coelestis, or Harmonia Macrocosmica, was first published in 1660 by Joannes Janssonius. A second edition appeared one year later and was republished in 1708 by Gerard Valk and Pieter Schenk. The same frontispiece, designed by Frederik Hendrik van den Hoven, was used for all three editions. The classical ruins in the background of the title page suggest that the old cosmological order had been superseded by new ideas based on modern observation and universal laws of motion, as formulated by Tycho Brahe and his younger successor, Johannes Kepler.
In the foreground, a group of learned astronomers, their instruments in hand, gathers around Urania, the muse of astronomy. Not all of the figures have been definitively identified. Still, the two seated figures, dressed in black on the left and right, are generally considered to represent Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), recognisable by his forked moustache, and Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543). Standing figures, from left to right, include the classical geographer and astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (c. 90–168 CE); probably the Arabian astronomer al-Battani (c. 850–929); and Alfonso V of Portugal (1432–1481), wearing a plumed hat and holding a heliocentric model of the solar system. This detail represents a designer’s error, as the heliocentric model should properly be associated with Copernicus. At the far right stands Philip Lansberg (1551–1632), pointing toward a disc in the sky held by two of four putti equipped with sighting cross-staffs.
Andreas Cellarius (Heidelberg, c. 1596 - Hoorn, 1665)
Andreas Cellarius enrolled at Heidelberg University in 1613. Then, after several years as a schoolmaster in The Hague, he became the rector of the Latin School at Hoorn around 1637.
Cellarius's connection with the Janssonius publishing firm dates back to around 1645. This year, Jodocus Janssonius, Johannes's son, published Cellarius's Architectura Militaris, work on fortifications. In 1652 the Amsterdam publisher Gillis Jansz. Valckenier published Cellarius's Regni Poloniae … with 21 maps.
In 1660, Joannes Janssonius added a celestial atlas to his Atlas Major, the beautiful Harmonia Macrocosmica by Andreas Cellarius. In 1661, the atlas was republished as a separate publication. The plates of the Harmonia Macrocosmica were reprinted (without the Latin commentary) in 1708 by the Amsterdam publishers Valk and Schenk.
The Harmonia Macrocosmica is the most beautiful celestial atlas ever published and is one of the notable masterworks from the Golden Age of Dutch cartography. The first part of the atlas contains engravings depicting the world systems of Claudius Ptolemy, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Tycho Brahe. At the end are star maps of the classical and further constellations.
The Valk Family
Gerard Valk (Valck) (1652-1726) was Amsterdam's publisher, engraver, art seller, and globemaker. He was trained under Abraham Bloteling, later becoming his assistant. The two moved to London, where Valk worked with various map and print sellers. He married Abraham's sister, Maria Bloteling, in London around 1673; in that city, his son and successor, Leonard, was born in 1675.
Not long after, Bloteling and Valk returned to Amsterdam, where Gerard Valk was registered as a burgher on December 8, 1679.
Around 1680 he began working with the German engraver Petrus Schenk as an engraver, publisher, map and print-sellers. They acquired the plates for the Janssonius Novus Atlas and Sanson's maps. Although they never shared premises, they worked closely together in the publications of editions of these works. Valk and his son Leonard are best known for their globemaking. In addition to globes newly compiled from the latest geographical and astronomical information, the Valk's published theoretical works on astronomy and globes.
In 1710, the family tie between the two partners, Valk and Schenk, became even closer when Gerard's son Leonard Valk (1675-1746) married Maria Schenk (1688-1770), Petrus' daughter.
After the death of Gerard in 1726, the business continued in the hands of his son Leonard and Gerard's widow Maria until she died in 1729, and then by Leonard until he died in 1746.
The Schenk Family
Petrus Schenk (1660-1718), the founder of one of the best-known publishing firms of Amsterdam in the 18th century, was born in Elberfeld, Germany, in 1660. He went to Amsterdam, where he became a pupil of the engraver Gerard Valck. On 19 Nov. 1686, a privilegio was granted to Petrus Schenk and Gerard Valk for the manufacturing and selling their prints—Schenk’s contribution to cartography dates from c. 1695. In 1706, he moved to the Vijgendam in Amsterdam, ‘in Sanson’s Atlas’. After he died in 1718, his son, Leonardus Schenk, continued the art and print shop. The second son, Petrus II (1693-1775), settled in another famous house: ‘in Visscher’s Atlas’, where he continued associating with Gerard and Leonarus Valck.
The Schenk family produced general geographical atlases and special atlases. Apart from seventy original maps, several hundred are known as Schenk, printed from plates obtained from Janssonius and Visscher. Schenk and Valck acquired all the plates of the Janssonius Heir’s Novus Atlas, including the Celestial Atlas. Many of Janssonius’ plates were reworked and amended.
Republishing maps from Janssonius’ Novus Atlas since c. 1680 was followed by engraving new maps copied from Sanson’s better and more modern maps. Petrus Schenk published these maps in his Atlas Contractus sive mapparum geographicarum Sansoniarum auctarum et correctum Nova Congeries, also called Atlas Minor. After 1719, Petrus Schenk II continued the Atlas Contractus.
Petrus Schenk, the elder, enjoyed great fame as a print seller and artist among art and print dealers in the whole of Europe. The great activity in map publishing, displayed by Petrus Schenk, the elder, was continued by his son and grandson. But the number of original atlas maps is small. Like his father, who bought the copperplates of Janssonius’ atlas, Petrus Schenk II bought many of the plates formerly owned by Nicolaas Visscher.
Apart from the globes, maps and atlases, Petrus Schenk II published many books. In 1733, he was older men of the booksellers guild in 1733.
Petrus Schenk Junior (1728-1803) was an engraver and artseller. He continued to publish many of the titles his father and grandfather issued, and the globes of his uncle Leonard Valk.
Atlas Coelestis seu Harmonia Macrocosmica.
Item Number: 32642 new Authenticity Guarantee
Category: Antique maps > Celestial Maps
Title page of Cellarius's Harmonia Macrocosmica.
Title: Atlas Coelestis seu Harmonia Macrocosmica.
Apud G. Valk et P. Schenk.
F.H. v. Hoven fec.
Designer: Frederik Hendrik van den Hoven.
Date of the first edition: 1660.
Date of this map: 1708.
Copper engraving, printed on paper.
Image size: 430 x 260mm (17 x 10¼ inches).
Sheet size: 530 x 310mm (20¾ x 12¼ inches).
Verso: Blank.
Condition: Original coloured, excellent.
Condition Rating: A+.
From: A Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica sea Atlas Coelestis. G. Valk and P. Schenk, 1708. (Van der Krogt 1, p. 517, 1:802)
This is the frontispiece of one of the most beautiful celestial atlases ever produced. Andreas Cellarius’s Atlas Coelestis, or Harmonia Macrocosmica, was first published in 1660 by Joannes Janssonius. A second edition appeared one year later and was republished in 1708 by Gerard Valk and Pieter Schenk. The same frontispiece, designed by Frederik Hendrik van den Hoven, was used for all three editions. The classical ruins in the background of the title page suggest that the old cosmological order had been superseded by new ideas based on modern observation and universal laws of motion, as formulated by Tycho Brahe and his younger successor, Johannes Kepler.
In the foreground, a group of learned astronomers, their instruments in hand, gathers around Urania, the muse of astronomy. Not all of the figures have been definitively identified. Still, the two seated figures, dressed in black on the left and right, are generally considered to represent Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), recognisable by his forked moustache, and Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543). Standing figures, from left to right, include the classical geographer and astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (c. 90–168 CE); probably the Arabian astronomer al-Battani (c. 850–929); and Alfonso V of Portugal (1432–1481), wearing a plumed hat and holding a heliocentric model of the solar system. This detail represents a designer’s error, as the heliocentric model should properly be associated with Copernicus. At the far right stands Philip Lansberg (1551–1632), pointing toward a disc in the sky held by two of four putti equipped with sighting cross-staffs.
Andreas Cellarius (Heidelberg, c. 1596 - Hoorn, 1665)
Andreas Cellarius enrolled at Heidelberg University in 1613. Then, after several years as a schoolmaster in The Hague, he became the rector of the Latin School at Hoorn around 1637.
Cellarius's connection with the Janssonius publishing firm dates back to around 1645. This year, Jodocus Janssonius, Johannes's son, published Cellarius's Architectura Militaris, work on fortifications. In 1652 the Amsterdam publisher Gillis Jansz. Valckenier published Cellarius's Regni Poloniae … with 21 maps.
In 1660, Joannes Janssonius added a celestial atlas to his Atlas Major, the beautiful Harmonia Macrocosmica by Andreas Cellarius. In 1661, the atlas was republished as a separate publication. The plates of the Harmonia Macrocosmica were reprinted (without the Latin commentary) in 1708 by the Amsterdam publishers Valk and Schenk.
The Harmonia Macrocosmica is the most beautiful celestial atlas ever published and is one of the notable masterworks from the Golden Age of Dutch cartography. The first part of the atlas contains engravings depicting the world systems of Claudius Ptolemy, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Tycho Brahe. At the end are star maps of the classical and further constellations.
The Valk Family
Gerard Valk (Valck) (1652-1726) was Amsterdam's publisher, engraver, art seller, and globemaker. He was trained under Abraham Bloteling, later becoming his assistant. The two moved to London, where Valk worked with various map and print sellers. He married Abraham's sister, Maria Bloteling, in London around 1673; in that city, his son and successor, Leonard, was born in 1675.
Not long after, Bloteling and Valk returned to Amsterdam, where Gerard Valk was registered as a burgher on December 8, 1679.
Around 1680 he began working with the German engraver Petrus Schenk as an engraver, publisher, map and print-sellers. They acquired the plates for the Janssonius Novus Atlas and Sanson's maps. Although they never shared premises, they worked closely together in the publications of editions of these works. Valk and his son Leonard are best known for their globemaking. In addition to globes newly compiled from the latest geographical and astronomical information, the Valk's published theoretical works on astronomy and globes.
In 1710, the family tie between the two partners, Valk and Schenk, became even closer when Gerard's son Leonard Valk (1675-1746) married Maria Schenk (1688-1770), Petrus' daughter.
After the death of Gerard in 1726, the business continued in the hands of his son Leonard and Gerard's widow Maria until she died in 1729, and then by Leonard until he died in 1746.
The Schenk Family
Petrus Schenk (1660-1718), the founder of one of the best-known publishing firms of Amsterdam in the 18th century, was born in Elberfeld, Germany, in 1660. He went to Amsterdam, where he became a pupil of the engraver Gerard Valck. On 19 Nov. 1686, a privilegio was granted to Petrus Schenk and Gerard Valk for the manufacturing and selling their prints—Schenk’s contribution to cartography dates from c. 1695. In 1706, he moved to the Vijgendam in Amsterdam, ‘in Sanson’s Atlas’. After he died in 1718, his son, Leonardus Schenk, continued the art and print shop. The second son, Petrus II (1693-1775), settled in another famous house: ‘in Visscher’s Atlas’, where he continued associating with Gerard and Leonarus Valck.
The Schenk family produced general geographical atlases and special atlases. Apart from seventy original maps, several hundred are known as Schenk, printed from plates obtained from Janssonius and Visscher. Schenk and Valck acquired all the plates of the Janssonius Heir’s Novus Atlas, including the Celestial Atlas. Many of Janssonius’ plates were reworked and amended.
Republishing maps from Janssonius’ Novus Atlas since c. 1680 was followed by engraving new maps copied from Sanson’s better and more modern maps. Petrus Schenk published these maps in his Atlas Contractus sive mapparum geographicarum Sansoniarum auctarum et correctum Nova Congeries, also called Atlas Minor. After 1719, Petrus Schenk II continued the Atlas Contractus.
Petrus Schenk, the elder, enjoyed great fame as a print seller and artist among art and print dealers in the whole of Europe. The great activity in map publishing, displayed by Petrus Schenk, the elder, was continued by his son and grandson. But the number of original atlas maps is small. Like his father, who bought the copperplates of Janssonius’ atlas, Petrus Schenk II bought many of the plates formerly owned by Nicolaas Visscher.
Apart from the globes, maps and atlases, Petrus Schenk II published many books. In 1733, he was older men of the booksellers guild in 1733.
Petrus Schenk Junior (1728-1803) was an engraver and artseller. He continued to publish many of the titles his father and grandfather issued, and the globes of his uncle Leonard Valk.