The Harmonia Macrocosmica of Andreas Cellarius

An Inventory of Known Copies in Public Libraries and Collections

The Harmonia Macrocosmica (1660, 1661, c. 1680 or later, 1708) of the Dutch-German mathematician and cosmographer Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596 - 1665) is perhaps one of the best-known cosmographical atlases that was published in the second half of the seventeenth century.

Its colourful and aesthetically appealing double-folio plates of the Ptolemaic, the Copernican and the Tychonic world systems, supplemented with numerous other cosmographical plates and star maps, have often been reproduced in the last few decades as illustrations in books and articles, posters, postcard sets, calendars, jigsaw puzzles and even as novelty wrapping paper. Nowadays, the original plates can only be afforded by those who are willing to pay the astronomical prices that they command.

The following list presents an inventory of all known more or less complete copies of the Harmonia Macrocosmica in public libraries and collections. The copies in Dutch collections are based on my own research, while those outside of the Netherlands are based on Giovanna Grassi’s Union Catalogue of Printed Books of 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries in European Astronomical Observatories (1989), Peter van der Krogt’s new edition of Koeman’s Atlantes Neerlandici, vol. 1 (1997), and the help of numerous people who have sent me information on previously unrecorded copies.

Edition of 1660 by Johannes Janssonius (Amsterdam) - plates and text

• Universiteitsbibliotheek (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – shelf nr. OF 69-18 [purchased in 1965 from an Amsterdam bookseller].
• Universitaire Faculteiten St. Ignatius (Antwerpen, Belgium) – shelf nr. “Janssonius 1660”.
• Bibliothèque Royale Albert I (Bruxelles, Belgium) – shelf nr. Section Cartes et Plans, II D 39.838 D [plates only; not coloured; title page and plates 22 to 29 missing].
• Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek (Darmstadt, Germany) – shelf nr. gr. Fol. 3/497.
• Universitäts- und Forschungsbibliothek (Erfurt/Gotha, Germany) – shelf nr. ???.
• Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (München, Germany) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. 2 Astr.u. 12 & 13.
• Kungliga Biblioteket (Stockholm, Sweden) – shelf nr. Atlasfol. Bland. 82 A.
• Bibliothèque Municipale de Saint-Brieuc (Saint-Brieuc, France) – shelf nr. G 669 [probably transferred from the library of the ancient Beauport abbey in Paimpol during the French Revolution in 179; the title page is missing, so the atlas may also date from 1661].
• British Library (London, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. Maps C.6.c.2 [plate 22 missing].
• University Library (St Andrews, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. ???.
• University of Michigan Libraries (Ann Arbor, United States of America) – shelf nr. GA 7 .C39 [plate 13 missing; plates 1-12 & 14 bound in wrong order].

Edition of 1661 by Johannes Janssonius (Amsterdam) – plates and text

• Nationaal Scheepvaart Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – shelf nr. A.1143(01) [= C-154. Not coloured].
• Universiteitsbibliotheek (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – shelf nr. Kaartenzaal V-8-X-11 [together with the ten-volume Atlas Maior of Johannes Janssonius. Purchased in 1973 from an Amsterdam bookseller] – copy used for the 2006 facsimile by TASCHEN.
• Stadsbibliotheek (Haarlem, Netherlands) – shelf nr. 157 A 5 [acquired between 1716 and 1768].
• Provinciale Bibliotheek van Friesland (Leeuwarden, Netherlands) – shelf nr. 123 A Blaeu Atlas [presented with a eleven-volume Atlas Maior of Joan Blaeu to the University of Franeker in 1711 by Johan Willem Friso, the stadtholder of Groningen and Friesland].
• Zeeuwse Bibliotheek (Middelburg, Netherlands) – shelf nr. Kluis 1128 D 6 [formerly owned by the Council of the Reformed Church of Vlissingen].
• Sterrenkundig Instituut (Utrecht, Netherlands) – shelf nr. Kluis II D 112 [frontispiece missing; acquired by de Seignelai (in 1692) and Egidius Carolus Alexander de Ketelaare (in 1854). Purchased in the 1930’s for DFL 75.–].
• Bibliothèque Royale Albert I (Bruxelles, Belgium) – shelf nr. V.H. 14.358 E [copy used for the selection of plates in the 1963 reprint by Intermills (Brussels)].
• Bisschoppelijk Seminarie (Gent, Belgium) – shelf nr. A.147.
• Observatoire Royale de Belgique (Uccle, Belgium) – shelf nr. j99.
• Staatliche Bibliothek (Amberg, Germany) – shelf nr. Geogr. 510.
• Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek (Bonn, Germany) – shelf nr. Max 907.

• Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek (Darmstadt, Germany) – shelf nr. gr. Fol. 3/497a – copy used for the 2006 facsimile by Coron [Kindler Verlag].

• Sächsische Landesbibliothek (Dresden, Germany) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. Astron.54 and Geogr.A.168.
• Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek (Göttingen, Germany) – shelf nr. GR 2 ASTR I, 1950 RARA.
• Universitätsbibliothek (Heidelberg, Germany) – shelf nr. A 776 A GROSS RES.
• Hochschulbibliothekszentrum NRW (Köln, Germany) – shelf nr. ???.
• Universitätsbibliothek (Leipzig, Germany) – shelf nr. Gr.Fol. 912.
• Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (München, Germany) – shelf nr. 2 Astr.u. 14.
• Staatliche Bibliothek (Neuburg a/d Donau, Germany) – shelf nr. 2 Geogr. 63.
• Stadtbibliothek (Nürnberg, Germany) – shelf nr. ???.
• Staatliche Bibliothek (Passau, Germany) – shelf nr. 2° Cart. 12 [plate 5 missing].
• Universitätsbibliothek (Rostock, Germany) – shelf nr. ???.
• Stadtbibliothek (Trier, Germany) – shelf nr. ???.
• Universitätsbibliothek (Tübingen, Germany) – shelf nr. Fa 13.2.
• Herzog-August-Bibliothek (Wolfenbüttel, Germany) – shelf nr. C Astron 2o.
• Biblioteka Gdańska Polskiej Akademii Nauk (Gdansk, Poland) – shelf nr. ???.
• Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna (Poznan, Poland) – shelf nr. ???.
• Biblioteka Uniwersytecka (Warszawa, Poland) – shelf nr. ???.
• Biblioteka Ossolinskich (Wroclaw, Poland) – shelf nr. ???.
• Aargauische Kantonsbibliothek (Aarau, Switzerland) – shelf nr. ???.
• Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek (Bern, Switzerland) – shelf nr. Kart. V 1.
• Kantonsbibliothek (St. Gallen, Switzerland) – shelf nr. ???.
• Stiftsbibliothek (St. Gallen, Switzerland) – shelf nr. 15522.
• Zentralbibliothek (Zürich, Switzerland) – 3 copies, shelf nrs. I ZZ 61, T 4 [presented to the City of Zürich in 1661 by Giovanni Anthonio Pestalozzi] and T 12 [presented in 1689 by Prince Caelestinus and valued at 38 ‘florenis imperialibus’].
• Universitätsbibliothek (Graz, Austria) – shelf nr. IV 11546.
• Universitätsbibliothek (Salzburg, Austria) – shelf nr. ???.
• Universitätsbibliothek (Wien, Austria) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. III 34.639 [with additional prints by Wilhelm Schickhardt and Vincenzo Coronelli] and IV 206.964.
• Institut für Astronomie der Universität Wien – shelf nr. ???.
• Národní Muzeum Knihovna (Praha, Chechoslovakia) – shelf nr. ???.
• Országos Sézchényi Könyvtár (Budapest, Hungary) – shelf nr. TA 361 [frontispiece missing].
• Sternberg Astronomical Institute (Moscow, Russia) – shelf nr. ???.
• Bibliothèque Municipale (Dijon, France) – shelf nr. 17401.
• Bibliothèque de l’Université de Toulon et du Var (La Garde, France) – shelf nr. ???.
• Bibliothèque Municipale (Lille, France) – shelf nr. O 81 Rés.
• Bibliothèque Municipale (Lyon, France) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. 5218 and 5220.
• Bibliothèque Municipale d’Étude (Nice, France) – shelf nr. ???.
• Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal (Paris, France) – shelf nr. G.fol. 156.
• Bibliothèque Centrale du Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France) – shelf nr. ???.
• Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris, France) – shelf nr. Ge DD 4796 (141).
• Observatoire de Paris (Paris, France) – shelf nr. 104 [not coloured?].
• Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees (Toulouse, France) – shelf nr. ??? [formerly in the library of the Pic du Midi Observatory].
• Bibliothèque Municipale (Troyes, France) – shelf nr. eae. 1.13.
• Bibliothèque Universitaire de Lille (Villeneuve d‘Ascq, France) – shelf nr. A 56.
• Biblioteca de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain) – shelf nr. Map 912 (∞) (002) Cel Fol.
• Biblioteca de Ajuda (Lisboa, Portugal) – shelf nr. Atlas 52-XIV-3.
• Biblioteca di Università (Bologna, Italy) – shelf nr. ???.
• Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense (Milano, Italy) – shelf nr. PP 1429 [not coloured, copy used for the 2000 reprint by Ulrico Hoepli Libreria (Milan)].
• Biblioteca Estense (Modena, Italy) – shelf nr. 33.M.9.
• Biblioteca di Abbazia di Montecassino (Montecassino, Italy) – shelf nr. ???.
• Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Roma, Italy) – 3 copies, shelf nrs. Barberini.X.I.39, Chigi.S.121(int.16) and Geogr.Folio.10.Cons.
• Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana (Venezia, Italy) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. Rari 5 and ???. The plates of the first copy can be viewed on the library’s GeoWeb site.
• Biblioteca Civica Bertoliana (Vicenza, Italy) – shelf nr. ???.
• Lund Observatory (Lund, Sweden) – shelf nr. ??? [not coloured].
• Kungliga Biblioteket (Stockholm, Sweden) – shelf nr. Atlasfol. Bland. 82 B RAR.
• Emmanuel College (Cambridge, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. ???.
• University Library (Cambridge, United Kingdom) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. ??? and ???.
• Royal Observatory of Scotland, Crawford Collection (Edinburgh, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. Cr.15.4 [acquired in 1882 by Lord Crawford for DM 10.50 from a German bookseller].
• British Library (London, United Kingdom) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. Maps C.6.c.3 and 49.i.10 [not coloured].
• National Art Library (London, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. ???.
• Royal College of Physicians (London, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. SL 1e-D 2/6.
• Royal Geographical Society (London, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. 1.B.55 [frontispiece and plates 1, 6, 9, 27 & 29 missing].
• Victoria and Albert Museum (London, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. ???.
• Bodleian Library (Oxford, United Kingdom) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. 1844.a.12 and Vet. B3 a.3.
• Museum of the History of Science (Oxford, United Kingdom) – no shelf nr. [formerly owned by Robert T. Gunther (1869-1940) and presented to the museum in 1969 by his son Albert E. Gunther].
• Houghton Library, Harvard University (Cambridge, United States of America) – shelf nr. Typ 632.61.269 p.
• Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum (Chicago, United States of America) – shelf nr. QB65 .C4 1661 [not coloured].
• Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology (Kansas City, United States of America) – shelf nr. QB41 .C335 1661.
• Yale University Library (New Haven, United States of America) – shelf nr. ???.
• New York Public Library (New York, United States of America) – shelf nr. Map. Div. ???.
• American Philosophical Society Library (Philadelphia, United States of America) – shelf nr. ???.
• Union Library Catalog of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, United States of America) – shelf nr. ???.
• Princeton University Library (Princeton, United States of America) – shelf nr. Oversize G1015 .C44 1661e.
• John Carter Brown Library (Providence, United States of America) – shelf nr. 1-SIZE 1661 .C33.
• Mount Angel Abbey Library (St. Benedict, United States of America) – shelf nr. ???.
• J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah (Salt Lake City, United States of America) – shelf nr. QB41 .C39 1661a [copy used for the selection of plates in the 1982 reprint by the Hansen Planetarium (Salt Lake City); for a complete digital scan of this copy, including text and plates, click here].
• The Huntington Library (San Marino, United States of America) – shelf nr. # 487000.1079 [not coloured; on permanent loan from the Mt. Wilson/Carnegie Observatory].
• Stanford University Library (Stanford, United States of America) – shelf nr. QB41 .C35 1661 ff.
• Library of Congress (Washington, United States of America) – shelf nr. QB41 .C39 Rare Book.
• McGill University Libraries (Montréal, Canada) – shelf nr. QB41 .C44 1661 [frontispiece missing; formerly owned by John Jocelyn and the Astronomer Royal John Couch Adams (1819-1892)].

Edition of c. 1680 (or later) by the heirs of Janssonius (Amsterdam) – Volume 5 of the five-volume edition of the Novus Atlas sive Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (plates only)

• American Geographical Society Collection (Milwaukee, United States of America) – shelf nr. At. 050A-1658 [purchased in 1869 from Henry Stevens, London].

Edition of 1708 by Gerard Valk & Petrus Schenk (Amsterdam) – plates only

• Nationaal Scheepvaart Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – shelf nr. A.0426(01) [= C-76. Frontispiece and plate 29 missing].
• Universiteitsbibliotheek (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. 572 A 39 [formerly owned by the mathematical society Een onvermoeide arbeid komt alles te boven] and 1804 A 11 [frontispiece, title page and plates 22-29 missing].
• Sterrenkunde Bibliotheek Universiteit van Amsterdam (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – shelf nr. IX-D-Pal-1 la 9R [incomplete, plates 3, 11, 19 & 29 not original].
• Universiteitsbibliotheek (Groningen, Netherlands) – shelf nr. OKW uklu PC - - - - 2 [not coloured; title page missing; bound with Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr’s Atlas Coelestis of 1742].
• Provinciale Bibliotheek van Friesland (Leeuwarden, Netherlands) – shelf nr. 124 A plk [not coloured; frontispiece missing?].
• Museum Boerhaave (Leiden, Netherlands) – shelf nr. 13065 [= XII A 1. Bound with Gerard Valk’s Nova Totius Geographica Telluris Projectio of c. 1702; on permanent loan from the Leiden Observatory].
• Universiteitsbibliotheek (Leiden, Netherlands) – shelf nr. 437 D 4 [missing?].
• Universiteitsbibliotheek (Utrecht, Netherlands) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. AC fol. 123 rariora [title page missing; formerly owned by the Utrecht professor of physics Gerrit Moll (1785-1838)] and Rariora fol. 1.
• Université Catholique de Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) – shelf nr. D 70 [bound with the Dutch edition of the ‘Water World’ of Janssonius of 1657].
• Observatoire Royale de Belgique (Uccle, Belgium) – shelf nr. j99.
• Staatliche Bibliothek (Amberg, Germany) – shelf nr. Geogr. 511.
• Staatsbibliothek (Berlin, Germany) – 2 copies, shelf nrs.7nbsp;2° Kart. A 180 and gr. 2° Ol 19 310R.
• Sächsische Landesbibliothek (Dresden, Germany) – 3 copies, shelf nrs. 1.D.30, Astron.55 and Astron.55.b.
• Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek (Göttingen, Germany) – shelf nr. GR 2 BIBL UFF 32.
• Universitätsbibliothek (Greifswald, Germany) – shelf nr. 521/Rb 41 gr. 2°.
• Hamburger Sternwarte (Hamburg, Germany) – shelf nr. 210.15.10/5.
• Universitätsbibliothek (Heidelberg, Germany) – shelf nr. A 776 B GROSS RES.
• Universitätsbibliothek (Leipzig, Germany) – shelf nr. Gr.Fol. 913.
• Deutsches Museum, Bibliothek (München, Germany) – shelf nr. 1927 C 14.
• Universitätsbibliothek (München, Germany) – shelf nr. 2 Math. 299b.
• Staatliche Bibliothek (Passau, Germany) – shelf nr. 2° Cart. 13.
• Württembergische Landesbibliothek (Stuttgart, Germany) – shelf nr. HBFg 12.
• Herzog-August-Bibliothek (Wolfenbüttel, Germany) – shelf nr. Ne 2° 10.
• Biblioteka Czartoryskich (Krakow, Poland) – shelf nr. ???.
• Poznanskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciol Nauk (Poznan, Poland) – shelf nr. ???.
• Ksiaznica Miejska im. M. Kopernika (Torún, Poland) – shelf nr. ???.
• Kantonsbibliothek (Appenzell, Switzerland) – shelf nr. L 189.
• Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek (Bern, Switzerland) – shelf nrs. Ryh 1002:11-12, 14-20; 1003:5-6 & 1107:2 [incomplete; plates 1, 4-6, 8-10, 12, 17-19, 22-23, 25 & 27-29 missing].
• Bibliothèque Publique et Universitaire (Genève, Switzerland) – shelf nr. Fa 45 Rés.
• Bibliothek der Benediktiner-Erzabtei St. Peter (Salzburg, Austria) – shelf nr. ???.
• Benediktinerabtei Unserer Lieben Frau zu den Schotten (Wien, Austria) – shelf nr. 99.a.5.
• Bibliotheca Theresiana (Wien, Austria) – shelf nr. IV 20.758.
• Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Wien, Austria) – shelf nr. 393.686-E.K. [bound with Gerard Valk’s Nova Totius Geographica Telluris Projectio of c. 1702].
• Institut für Astronomie der Universität Wien – shelf nr. ???.
• Klaster premonstratu na Strahove (Praha, Czechoslovakia) – shelf nr. ???.
• University Karlovy (Praha, Czechoslovakia) – shelf nr. mA6/775 [plates 1-5, 7, 11 & 19 missing; additional diagrams and maps by Homann and others].
• Library of the Abby of Eger (Eger, Hungary) – shelf nr. ???.
• Janus Pannonius Tudományegyetem Központi Könyvtára (Pécs, Hungary) – 2 copies, shelf nrs. ??? and ???.
• Demosia Bibliotheke Meleon “Phyxes Akos” (Milies, Greece) – shelf nr. ???.
• Bibliothèque de l’Université Louis Pasteur (Strasbourg, France) – shelf nr. H 122 [online edition].
• Bibliothèque Municipale (Valenciennes, France) – shelf nr. ???.
• British Library (London, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. Maps C.25.d.18 [copy used for the 1987 facsimile by Archival Facsimiles Ltd. (Alburgh)].
• Royal Astronomical Society (London, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. ??? [three plates missing?].
• Whitehall Library of the Ministry of Defence (London, United Kingdom) – shelf nr. Vn.17.
• Museum of the History of Science (Oxford, United Kingdom) – no shelf nr. [formerly owned by Fred. William Hope and lent to the museum in 1936 from the Library of the Hope Department of Entomology, University Museum, Oxford; plate 22 is missing].
• University of Michigan Libraries (Ann Arbor, United States of America) – shelf nr. GA7 .C39 1708.
• Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Library (Austin, United States of America) – shelf nr. QB 41 .C389 [three extra plates from Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr’s Atlas Coelestis of 1742. From the private collection of the Dutch calendar historian Walter Emile van Wijk (1887-1961)].
• Houghton Library, Harvard University (Cambridge, United States of America) – shelf nr. C1 8286 pf.
• Map Collection, Harvard University (Cambridge, United States of America) – shelf nr. QB65 .C4 1708 pf*.
• Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum (Chicago, United States of America) – shelf nr. QB65 .C4 1708.
• Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University Library (Evanston, United States of America) – shelf nr. L912 .C393.
• Hillman Library Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, United States of America) – shelf nr. ff QB65 C4 1708.
• Stanford University Library (Stanford, United States of America) – shelf nr. QB41 .C35 1708 ff.
• University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, United States of America) – shelf nr. XF.912 .C33 H170.
• Library of Congress (Washington, United States of America) – shelf nr. G1015 .C4 1708 Vault.
• David M. Stewart Museum (Montréal, Canada) – shelf nr.  G1-1708 [purchased in 1982 from an American map seller].

I would be most grateful to learn of any other copies in public libraries or collections that I can add to this list. I am also very much interested in anecdotal information on any of the copies listed above, such as previous owners and which prices they fetched in the past as they can help in assessing its readership and influence in the past.