Lot 4: BODE, Johann Elert (1747-1826). Uranographia, sive astrorum descriptio, Berlin: 1801.

2° (630 x 460mm). Double-paged engraved title, 3pp letterpress introduction, 1p index of maps with star list, 20 double-page engraved star-maps, decorated with celestial figures, the stars defined by magnitude. (A few small tears and minor pencil notes to margins, some light spotting). Later half calf (worn upper inner hinge split).
Provenance: M. Frick and Elisa Frick (inscriptions on front free endpaper dated Valdivia 12 February 1895, and Santiago 15 March 1929).
Bode played an important role in the development of astronomy in Germany, becoming Royal Astronomer and a member of the Berlin Academy. This celestial atlas provided a benchmark in its field, a true successor to the great celestial atlases of Bayer, Hevelius and Flamstead. The Uranographia was "the most extensive and last great atlas of its kind" (Warner). The 20 star-maps include the two general sheets of each hemisphere, the 18 other maps making up a detailed wallmap of the celestial world. Bode's careful attention as an astronomer to star magnitudes and the softer engraving of the celestial figures make his work not only a decorative record of the cosmos, but also an important scientific record of a dedicated astronomer.

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