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Flamsteed's Historia Coelestis - a guide to the different sections

There are two different editions of Flamsteed's Historia:

• the Historiae Coelestis Libri Duo which was published in 1712 &
  
  
• the Historia Coelestis Britannica which was published posthumously in 1725

The aim of this page is to give a guide to the contents and organisation of the two different editions.

Both contain the observations made by Flamsteed. The first contains those observations made up to the end of 1705 whilst that of 1725 includes all the observations made until his death at the end of 1719.

The story of how the Historiae Coelestis Libri Duo came to be published is complex and acrimonious and resulted in Flamsteed having a lifelong feud with both Edmond Halley and Isaac Newton as only those observations up to the year 1689 were printed with his approval and even a few of these were not.

Funded originally by George Prince of Denmark, the consort of Queen Anne, and overseen by a committee of referees initially consisting of Newton, Christopher Wren, Dr John Arbuthnot, David Gregory and Francis Robartes, its printing began under the supervision of the bookseller Awnsham Churchill in May 1706, with the equivalent of 98 sheets (recorded by Flamsteed as 97 sheets) having been printed by December 1707. At this point, the press was stopped and following a dispute with the referees, Flamsteed was effectively cut out of the production process. Following the death of Prince George in 1708, production was funded by the Queen herself. Edited from this point onwards by Halley, the Historia was eventually published in 1712.

Following the death of both the Queen in 1714 and Newton’s patron, the Earl of Halifax, in 1715, Flamsteed was able to acquire 300 of the 400 copies that had been printed. After extracting only those pages that had been printed by the end of 1707 for reuse in an edition over which he had full control (the edition of 1725) , Flamsteed burnt the rest as a 'sacrifice to Truth' (Flamsteed Correspondence V3. p.789).

The Historia was originally planned to have 12 etchings of the Observatory by Francis Place, headpieces at the start of each section and over 136 diagrams printed in groups over a total of six plates.

For more information on these see:

Flamsteed’s Historia Coelestis and the etchings of Francis Place – a comparative study

 

The sections of the 1712 Historia

The 1712 Historia consists of two books (or volumes) bound as one. Book 1 contains the observations made from 1676–1689 and consists mainly of observations made with the Equatorial Sextant. Book 2 contains the observations made from 1689–1705 and consists mainly of observations made with the Mural Arc.

Following the preliminaries, the first volume is divided into seven numbered parts, each of which begins with a headpiece (HP) at the top of the page. The second volume is shorter, containing just three numbered parts and an eratis. Different copies have slight typographical changes on a small number of pages. Those that have been noticed are included in the comment column of the table below.

Although the bookseller Awnsham Churchill was contracted by the referees as ‘undertaker’ to publish 400 copies of the Historia, his name does not appear on the Title Page at the bottom of which there are only the words ‘Londini: Typis J. Matthews. MDCCXII.’ rather than ‘Londini: Typis J. Matthews impensis A. Churchill. MDCCXII.’ This is possibly because under the articles of agreement, Churchill was not permitted to sell any of the copies. Although Churchill’s name is mentioned ten times by Flamsteed in his draft for the preface of the 1725 Historia, he only mentions the name of Matthews [Mathews] once, choosing to refer to him instead as the printer.

The 1712 preface, which was written by Halley explained the history of the book’s production going on to say (translated from the Latin by Mrs EM Barker):

‘You have therefore, diligent watcher of the stars, a truly royal treasury of observations obtained at royal expense and beautifully shared with you, a favour unusual in princes. ... Yet in view of the great bounty of the gift, the odd blemish should not cause offence nor the fact that so many printing errors are found in the first book, hardly excused by the haste of the toiling press; or of the order of the figures in the lunar observations p.194 begins from Fig.77, from which one would suspect that some tables are missing in the preceding ones, which is not so. Flamsteed well understood the reasons for both. ... ’

Unlike the 1712 edition, the 1725 edition contains the observations made by Flamsteed at Derby, the Tower of London and at Greenwich prior to taking up residence at the Observatory. Included with them are two pages of figures numbered 1–73.

	Section title		Part no.	HP	Comment		1725 Historia
1	Frontispiece			n/a	unnumbered and blank on recto		no
2	Title page			n/a	unnumbered and blank on verso		no
3	Dedication page			n/a	unnumbered and blank on verso		no
4	Praefatio ad lectorem			n/a	p.i–vi		no
5	Fixarum catalogus Britannicus		i	1	p.1–60		no
6	Stellarum fixarum distantias (1676–1689)		ii	2	p.1–102 p.1: spacing between the words Historiae and Coelestis in the heading is wider in some copies than others p.34 numbered as 43 in some copies p.102 blank and unnumbered		yes
7	Observationes cometarum & planetarum primariorum (1676–1689)		iii	3	p.103–192 p.131 numbered as 331 in some copies p.162–163 numbered as 154 & 155 p.192 blank and unnumbered		yes
8	Observationes Lunae ad fixas appulsus (1676–1689)		iv	4	p.193–350 p.193, names omitted on headpiece Diagrams op p.204, 223 & 350 p.211 misnumbered as 208 p.235 misnumbered as 253 p.281 misnumbered as 280 p.326 misnumbered as 322 p.327 misnumbered as 323		yes
9	Observationes exhibens configurationum & eclipsum comitum Jovialium (1676–1689)		v	5	p.351–360 Plate of figures op p.360 but sometimes nearby p.357 & 358, heading at the top of the first column in some copies of includes the extra words ‘Mense Die’ [day of the month]		yes
10	Observationes macularum Solarium (1676–1689)		vi	1	Two pages unnumbered, p362, one page unnumbered*, p.363–368 [i.e. p.365–370]		yes except pages 367–368
11	Observationes altitudinum & distantiarum sois a vertice quadrantibus (observationes refractionum) (1678–1681)		vii	2	p.369–88 [i.e. p.371–390] p.385 in some copies numbered as 381 p.388 blank and unnumbered		yes
	Liber Secundus (Book 2)
12	Half-title Page			n/a	unnumbered and blank on verso (misplaced in Dudley Observatory copy after p.366 of Book 1)		no
13	Planetarium primariorum observationes selectas (1689–1705)		i	3	p.1–32		no
14	Solis & Lunae Observationes (1689–1705)		ii	4	p.33–112		no
15	Observationes exhibens eclipsum comitum Jovialium (1689–1705)		iii	5	p.113–120		no
16	Erratis			n/a	Two pages unnumbered. No erratis for Book 2		no
	*These first four pages made up sheet Yyyy and needed reprinting. Writing to sharp on 25 October 1709, Flamsteed told him: ‘This comes to informe you that on Thursday last my servant delivered to Mr Stamfeild [Sharp’s nephew] at Mr Knaps all the printed sheets of my Historia Caelestis from page 101 to ye conclusion, except the reprinted copy of the first sheet of ye Maculae which I could not yet printe nor so much as set my eyes upon‘. (Flamsteed Correspondence, Vol.3 & Newton Correspondence, Vol.5 (the two transcripts slightly differ))

The following copies can be viewed online:

Historiae Coelestis Libri Duo (from ETH Zurich)

Historiae Coelestis Libri Duo (from Linda Hall Library)

 

The sections of the 1725 Historia

The 1725 Historia Coelestis Britannica consists of three separate volumes, which according to their title pages were printed by H. Meere. This is despite the fact that the bulk of Volume 1 (over 80%) consists of pages printed by J. [John] Matthews, which were recycled from the 1712 Historia. These sections are indicated in the last column of the table below. They were printed on a superior grade of paper as can be seen in the digitised volumes to which links are given below. Some of the three volume sets have a small number of duplicate pages. Some sets have some pages missing. This however may be due to errormade when photographing the volumes rather than when compiling them.

	Section title		Part no.	HP	Comment		1712 Historia
	Two etchings: the Sextant and the Mural Arc				Sometimes bound in Volume 1, sometimes in Volume 3, sometimes one in each. Position within volumes also varies		no
	Volumen Primum (Vol 1)
1	Half-title page				unnumbered and blank on verso		no
2	Frontispiece				unnumbered and blank on recto		no
3	Title page				unnumbered and blank on verso		no
4	Dedication				4 pages unnumbered, last page blank. Headpiece (Dieu et Mon Droit) on first page		no
5	Ad lectorem				unnumbered, 2 pages Order of Dedication and Ad Lectorem reversed in some copies		no
6	Observations of William Gascoine and William Crabtree (1638–1643)				p.1–6, page 6 blank		no
7	Observations of Flamsteed at Derby (1668–1674), the Tower of London (1675), Queen’s House Greenwich (1675), plus Tables				p.7–40 2 plates of figures op p.20 & 35 (73 figs. in total (mispositioned in some copies)		no
8	Stellarum fixarum distantias (1676–1689)		ii	2	p.1–102 p.1: spacing between the words Historiae and Coelestis in the heading is wider in some copies than others p.34 numbered as 43 in some copies p.102 blank and unnumbered		yes
9	Observationes cometarum & planetarum primariorum (1676–1689)		iii	3	p.103–192 p.131 numbered as 331 in some copies p.162–163 numbered as 154 & 155 p.192 blank and unnumbered		yes
10	Observationes Lunae ad fixas appulsus (1676–1689)		iv	4	p.193–350 p.193, names omitted on headpiece Diagrams op p.204, 223 & 350 p.211 misnumbered as 208 p.235 misnumbered as 253 p.281 misnumbered as 280 p.326 misnumbered as 322 p.327 misnumbered as 323		yes
11	Observationes exhibens configurationum & eclipsum comitum Jovialium (1676–1689)		v	5	p.351–360 Plate of figures op p.360 but sometimes nearby p.357 & 358, heading at the top of the first column in some copies of includes the extra words ‘Mense Die’ [day of the month]		yes
12	Observationes macularum Solarium (1676–1689)		vi	1	Two pages unnumbered, p362, one page unnumbered*, p.363–368 P.367–368 (sheet Aaaaa) missing in 4/4 copies examined		yes except pages 367–368
13	Observationes altitudinum & distantiarum sois a vertice quadrantibus (observationes refractionum) (1678–1681)		vii	2	p.369–88 [i.e. p.371–390] p.385 in some copies numbered as 381 p.388 blank and unnumbered		yes
14	Table				p.389–396. In some copies comes after the next section		no
15	Planetarium Loca supputata (sextant)				p.389–412		no
16	Errata Volume 1				2 pages unnumbered		no
	Volumen Secundum (Vol 2)
1	Half-title Page				unnumbered and blank on verso		no
2	Title page				unnumbered and blank on verso
3	Observationes Fixarum & Planetarum (Mural Arc)			3	p.1–573		no
4	Pixidis vel Acus Nautica variationes observata				p.574 only (unnumbered, printed on back of page 573 and seemingly misbound in some copies available on-line)		no
5	Appendix Tables				p.1–38		no
6	Planetarum Observationibus Deducta				p.39–70		no
7	Errata Volume 2				1 page unnumbered, blank on verso
	Volumen Tertium (Vol 3)
1	Half-title page				unnumbered and blank on verso		no
2	Title page				unnumbered and blank on verso		no
3	Ad lectorem & Praefatio				p.1–164. In some copies comes after section 7 (Abrahamus Sharpus, Catalogus)		no
4	Fixarum Catalogus (of various astronmers including Ptolomey, Tycho & Hevelius)				p.1–76		no
5	Stellarum Inerratium, Catalogus Britannicus			1	p.1–66		no
6	Fixarium in Zodiaco Longitudines ...				p.67–76 p.76 blank		no
7	Abrahamus Sharpus, Catalogus Fixarum Australium ad Annum 1726				p.77–84 p.84 blank		no
8	Tabulae Astronomicae constructae ab Abrahamo Sharpio				p.1–72		no
9	Tabulae constructae ab Abrahamo Sharpio				p.73–104		no
10	Errata Volume 3				1 page unnumbered, blank on verso		no
	* These first four pages made up sheet Yyyy and needed reprinting. Writing to sharp on 25 October 1709, Flamsteed told him: ‘This comes to informe you that on Thursday last my servant delivered to Mr Stamfeild [Sharp’s nephew] at Mr Knaps all the printed sheets of my Historia Caelestis from page 101 to ye conclusion, except the reprinted copy of the first sheet of ye Maculae which I could not yet printe nor so much as set my eyes upon‘. (Flamsteed Correspondence, Vol.3 & Newton Correspondence, Vol.5 (the two transcripts slightly differ))

The following sets of volumes can be viewed online:

From Lyon Public Library (digitised 3 Feb 2012)

Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 1
Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 2
Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 3

From Ghent University (digitised 9 July 2010)

Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 1*
Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 2
Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 3

* In this copy, sections 14 and 15 are reversed (see table above).

From the Bavarian State Library (digitised 14 January 2011)

Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 1
Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 2
Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 3

From the National Library of the Netherlands (3 volumes bound as 2, digitised 23 April 2014)

Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 1 and part Volume 2
Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 2 cont. and Volume 3

From National Library Naples (Vol 1 in library catalogue, but seemingly not digitised. Vols 2 & 3 digitised 4 November 2013)

Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 1
Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 2
Historia Coelestis Britannica Volume 3*

* In this copy, the preface is located between items 7 and 8 in the table above.