GOLDBACH, C.F. – Neuester Himmels-Atlas zum Gebrauche fur Schul- und Akademischen Unterricht … Revidirt auf der Sternwarte Seeberg bey Gotha und mit einer Einleitung begleitet vom Freyherren von Zach. Zweyte unveränderte Auflage. Weimar, Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs, 1803. Contemporary half leather with title-label on front cover. 227 x 284mm; 5 leaves. With 58 (54 white-on-black) engraved star maps.

Rare second edition. Christian Friedrich Goldbach (1763-1811) was a German astronomer and geographer. He was born in Taucha / Saxony. The present celestial atlas was his magnus opus. Murawieff, Curator of the University of Moscow, was impressed by the atlas amongst other things, that he appointed Goldbach to Professor of Astronomy in Moscow.

27 of the maps are centered on the major constellations, each faced by a map of the same area, having constellations outlined. These copper-plates are printed in relief, with the result that the stars appear white against black ground. The atlas contains 10570 stars and therefore 7651 more than the atlas of Flamsteed. „Although Goldbach’s atlas was not the first showing white stars against a dark background, it was the first of this kind to catch the eye of the Paris astronomical establishment. Lalande noted that the method succeeded very well; Montucla praised its resemblance to a clear night sky“ (Warner).

Poggendorff I, 925; Warner, Sky explored 96, 1; not in Houzeau-L.

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