Burritt, Elijah H. “The Constellations for each Month of the Year (North Pole).” Pl. VI.

Elijah H. Burritt. Pl. VI.  “The Constellations for each Month of the Year (North Pole).”  From Atlas, Designed to Illustrate the Geography of the Heavens. 

Hartford: F.J. Huntington, 1835. 13 x 12 ½.  Engraving.  Original hand color.  Light transference from preceding page in atlas. Browning in bottom and upper right hand corners.  Else, very good condition.  

A series of most interesting American celestial maps from the early nineteenth century by Elijah Hinsdale Burritt (1794-1838).  Burritt was an educator and journalist, and he designed this atlas to illustrate his textbook The Geography of the Heavens.  The maps were designed for students as an affordable alternative to a celestial globe.  The delineations were based on Alexander Jamieson’s maps of 1822, and they were designed to be detailed yet easy to read.  Burritt’s success in this has provided us with these charming maps.