England / UK: 'Scorpio', plate 23 in Urania's Mirror, a set of celestial cards accompanied by 'A Familiar Treatise on Astronomy', Sidney Hall and Richard Rouse, London, 1824

Urania's Mirror; or, a view of the Heavens is a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards, first published in November 1824. They had illustrations based on Alexander Jamieson's A Celestial Atlas, but the addition of holes punched in them allowed them to be held up to a light to see a depiction of the constellation's stars. They were engraved by Sidney Hall, and were said to be designed by 'a lady', but have since been identified as the work of the Reverend Richard Rouse Bloxam, an assistant master at Rugby School.

The cover of the box-set showed a depiction of Urania, the muse of astronomy, and came with a book entitled A Familiar Treatise on Astronomy... written as an accompaniment.

Copyright:

Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

Adam Cuerden (restoration)

Credit:

Pictures From History