Thomas, Corbinianus

Mercurii philosophici firmamentum firmianum descriptionem et usum globi artificialis coelestis. Frankfurt & Leipzig: n.p., 1730



Oblong 4to (6⅛ x 7¾ in.; 155 x 197 mm).  Engraved frontispiece by A. G. Fleischmann, 84 engraved plates (13 folding) of armillary spheres, globes and celestial maps, one engraved text diagram; light foxing and light occasional text browning, lower right corner of dedication leaf, repaired. Contemporary brown morocco, gilt tooled borders of wheat sheaves and floral panels, central supralibros, the spine in 5 compartments tooled in blind with raised bands, plain endpapers, edges gilt; extremities rubbed, head of spine chipped, small splits on ends of upper joint.  

Leopold Anton von Firmian, Archbishop of Salzburg (supralibros with initials "L.D.C.A.S.S.A.I." and dated 1727)

Linda Hall, Out of This World, 24; Honeyman sale VI:2975; Warner, The Sky Explored, pp. 251 and xii

First edition, "one of the unsung treasures of celestial cartography" (Linda Hall) in a contemporary binding with the episcopal arms of the dedicatee,  Leopold Anton von Firmian, Archbishop of Salzburg, after whom Thomas named a constellation.

"Thomas used an interesting three-part nomenclature system to label his stars. He used the Bayer Greek letter, a Roman numeral for the magnitude, and an Arabic numeral for reference to a star catalog.
This system originated on the large globes of Coronelli " (Linda Hall). He was one of the first celestial cartographers to dedicate a separate plate to Camelopardalis, which first appeared on globes about 1600, but which is usually represented together with Cepheus or Cassiopeia. Thomas was also the first cartographer to supply separate plates for some of the southern constellations such as Indus and Pavo. In honor of his patron, the Archbishop of Salzburg, Thomas fashioned a new constellation, the Corona Firmiana, but it was never used again.