Ránlom, Josephine von

Aufblick zu den Sternen-Welten.  Als untrüglicher Führer, alle am Himmel prangende, dem unbewaffneten freien Auge sichtbaren Sternbilder auf die leichteste Weise auffinden und erkennen zu lernen.  Nach mehrjährigen eigenen und sorgfältigen Beobachtungen, für Damen ....  Vienna: Schaumburg, 1846



Oblong 4to (7¾  x 10 in.; 197 x 254 mm).  Tinted additional lithographed title, 56 lithographed star charts printed white on blue (one folding); title and additional title foxed, scattered light foxing throughout (generally not affecting plates).  Publisher's buff boards, elaborately printed in brown and black; both covers with vertical central crease mark, edges frayed, spine chipped.

First edition.  This star atlas is unusual in that it is specifically written for girls and women by a female author.  Another unusual aspect of this atlas is that there are no superimposed images of constellation figures.  The reader is encouraged to study the striking and effective white-on-blue plates and identify the stars.  Each plate is accompanied by text printed on rectots only.  The last twelve plates represent the night skies for every month of the year.  The book also includes an alphabetical chart of all the stars and where to find them, an alphabetical list of the named constellations, and the stories of the Greek myths relating to various stars and constellations.