Homann and Doppelmayr Map of The Moon, 1707

Title in Latin: Tabula Selenographica in qua Lunarium Macularum exacta Descriptio secundum Nomenclaturam Praestantissimorum Astronomorum tam Hevelii quam Riccioli Curiosis Rei Sidereae Cultoribus shown Joh. Babr. Doppelmajero Math. P.P. upera Joh. Baptistae Homanni Norinbergae. A stunning full color example of J. B. Homann and Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr's important c. 1742 map of the Moon. Essentially a comparative chart, Doppelmayer constructed this map to illustrate the lunar mapping of Johannes Hevelius (left) and Giovanni Battista Riccioli (right). The left hand lunar map, composed by Hevelius, is a considered a foundational map in the science of Selenography – or lunar cartography. This map first appeared in Hevelius' 1647 work Selenographia which laid the groundwork for most subsequent lunar cartographic studies. Here the moon is presented as it can never be seen from Earth, at a greater than 360 degrees and with all visible features given equal weight. In this map Hevelius also establishes the convention of mapping the lunar surface as if illuminated from a single source – in this case morning light. The naming conventions he set forth, which associate lunar features with terrestrial locations such as 'Asia Minor,' 'Persia,' 'Sicilia,' etcetera were popular until the middle of the 18th century when Riccioli's nomenclature took precedence. The Riccioli map, on the right, is more properly known as the Riccioli-Grimaldi map, for fellow Jesuit Francesco Grimaldi with whom Riccioli composed the chart. This map first appeared in Riccioli and Grimaldi's 1651 Almagestum Novum. This was a significant lunar chart and offered an entirely new nomenclature which, for the most part, is still in use today.