Gaius Julius Hyginus: De Astronomia

The picture shows the title page of the book. The title of the work is printed at the top of the page and is followed by a woodcut almost the size of a full page. The drawing shows an astronomer sitting in the middle, holding astronomical instruments, with a woman on his left and a man on his right. Above the astronomer's head, the sun, moon and constellations are shown in a celestial arc.

 

Marcus Manilius: Astronomica
1767

 

Known as Astronomica or Astronomicon, this work is a poetic presentation of the 12 signs of zodiac and their constellations. It was written around 30-40 AD. Not much is known about its Roman author Marcus Manilius (1st century AD).

The first modern printed edition of the Astronomicon (1739) was edited by Richard Bentley (1662-1742), a classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University. Bentley was a man of wide learning and corresponded with Isaac Newton, among others. The edition in the Library’s collection dates from 1767. It was edited by the German theologian Elias Stöber, who paraphrased Bentley.

 

Link to Volter

The picture shows the opening of a book. On both pages the text is printed at the top of the page and at the bottom are pictures of constellations. On the left-hand page, the constellation of capricornus is shown. The picture shows an animal with a goat's front body and a snake-like tail. On the right is an aquarius. The naked male figure is kneeling, carrying a large pot from which water is flowing down past him.