Erhard Weigel, Astroscopium Orbi Europaeo Sacrum

INTRODUCTION
- Man and the stars
SECTION I
- The dawn of astronomy: Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Biblical Cosmos
SECTION II
- The cosmos becomes a sphere
SECTION III
- The geometry of the cosmos
SECTION IV
- The skies of Islam
SECTION V
- Evangelisation of the cosmos
SECTION VI
- The Renaissance of Astronomy
SECTION VII
- Galileo: the cosmos through the telescope
SECTION VIII
- From Galileo to Newton

Atlas coelestis seu Harmonia Macrocosmica

Maps of the heavens in gnomonic projection

Erhard Weigel, Astroscopium Orbi Europaeo Sacrum

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Erhard Weigel (1625-1699)
Astroscopium Orbi Europćo Sacrum, Jena, 1688

The author has stamped the coats of arms of numerous contemporary royal houses and religious orders over the illustrations. The three eagles (n. 1), the symbol of the Germanic Empire equated with the symbol of the Holy Trinity, is accorded a clear preference. Among the other symbols we can identify: the fleur-de-lys of France (n. 2); the three crowns of the Kingdom of Sweden (n. 3); the emblem of the Society of Jesus (n. 4); the crest of the Duchy of Savoy (n. 5); the lion of St. Mark, the symbol of Venice (n. 6); and the Golden Fleece of the Kingdom of Spain (n. 7).