1835 Burritt / Huntington Map of the Constellations by Month (4 Maps)

Lovecraft inspiration!

This is an 1835 set of maps by Elijah Burritt depicting the night sky throughout the year. Each sheet features the stars and constellations in the night sky over a quarter of the year. On each of the charts, the constellations are drawn in detail and include depictions of the Zodiacal figures the stars were believed to represent.

The Maps

The first map (image top left) represents the sky in January, February, and March. Included on this chart are Taurus (the Bull), Gemini (the Twins), Cancer (the Crab), Canis Major (the Greater Dog), Canis Minor (the Lesser Dog), and Orion. The second map (image top right) represents the sky in April, May, and June. Included on this chart are Leo (the Lion), Virgo (the Virgin), Bootes, Hydra (the Snake), and the Centaur, among others. The map representing July, August, and September (image bottom left) features Scorpio (the Scorpion), Sagittarius (the Archer), Capricorn (the Goat), Serpentarins (the Serpent Bearer), and Taurus (the Bull). The fourth chart (image bottom right) depicts the night sky as it appears in the last quarter of the year, October, November, and December. Included on this chart are Aquarius (the Water Bearer), Aries (the Ram), Pisces (the Fish), Capricorn (the Sea Goat) and Cetus (the Whale).

Publication History and Census

All four maps are quartered by lines indicating the Solstitial and Equinoctial Colures. These maps, like all of Burritt's charts, are based on the celestial cartographic work of Ignace-Gaston Pardies (1635 - 1673) and Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (1677 - 1750). The maps were engraved by W. G. Evans under the direction of E. H. Burritt and issued as plate nos. II, III, IV, and V in the 1835 edition of F. J. Huntington's Atlas, Designed To Illustrate The Geography Of The Heavens.

Cartographers

Elijah Hinsdale Burritt (April 20, 1794 - January 3, 1838) was an American astronomer and mathematician active in Connecticut. Burritt is often called 'the forgotten astronomer.' Burritt was born to an impoverished family in New Britain, Connecticut, and was initially apprenticed as a blacksmith. After an injury on the job, Burritt turned to astronomy with a passion. He studied at Williams College, from which he graduated in 1816. After graduation, he moved to Milledgeville, then the capital of Georgia. He taught at local schools for several years but, being a northerner, began to feel uncomfortable as his 'Yankee attitudes' alienated his peers. He returned to Connecticut in 1829 and turned his parents' home into an observatory to pursue his love of astronomy. Burritt then organized a group of 30 settlers to relocate to the newly formed Republic of Texas. There, Burritt and many of his fellow settlers contracted Yellow Fever and died. His seminal work, Burritt's Geography of the Heavens, was published in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1833. The work became the authoritative American celestial atlas of his era. Much of the nomenclature they developed, especially regarding the visible stars and constellations of the Southern Hemisphere, is still in use today. The atlas itself consisted of 8 charts depicting the heavens seasonally and hemispherically. Constellations were depicted figuratively, though only the most important stars were noted. The Geography of the Heavens was the last decorative celestial reference in the 19th century. Burrit's geography was among the most prized possessions of fantasy / horror writer H.P. Lovecraft who wrote:

My maternal grandmother, who died when I was six, was a devoted lover of astronomy, having made that a specialty at Lapham Seminary, where she was educated; and though she never personally showed me the beauties of the skies, it is to her excellent but somewhat obsolete collection of astronomical books that I owe my affection for celestial science. Her copy of Burritt's Geography of the Heavens is today the most prized volume in my library. (to Maurice W. Moe, 1 January 1915)

As a side note, Elijah Burritt is the older brother of the more famous Elihu Burritt (1810 - 1879), known for his philanthropic and social work, and the father of Elijah Hinsdale Burritt Jr. (1835 - 1879), a bookseller and publisher based in Minnesota.   Further Details...

Francis Junius Huntington (December 3, 1802 - February 5, 1878) was an American publisher of books and later music. Born in Suffield, Connecticut, Huntington was the son of Hezekiah Huntington, who fought in the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783), worked as a prominent attorney in Connecticut after the war, and was appointed District Attorney for Connecticut by President Thomas Jefferson in 1806. Francis Huntington grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. He entered the publishing world in Hartford at a young age and soon found success in his chosen field as a bookseller, printer, and publisher. Atlases, geography books, and textbooks were among the many works he published. He moved to New York City in 1862 where he began publishing musical books. He died in New York in 1878. He married Stella Bradley Bull on September 1, 1833, with whom he had seven children, three of which died in childhood.   Further Details...

Source

Burritt, E., Atlas, Designed To Illustrate The Geography of The Heavens, New Edition, (Huntington and Savage) 1835.    

Condition

Very good. Set of four maps. Each sheet exhibits varying degrees of toning with some light soiling. Noted size represents a single sheet. Measurement stated represents individual maps.

References

Rumsey 2853.002, 2853.003. Kanas, N., Star Maps, p. 277-78. Kidwell, Peggy Aldrich, 'Elijah Burritt and the Geography of the Heavens.', Sky and Telescope #69 (January 1985).