An Epitome of Astronomy or a Compendious View of our Solar System

This hand-coloured print presents a circular table of information about the known planets of the Solar System, particularly their position, size, period of rotation and speed of motion. The text below mentions the "Herschel Georgium Sidus or Uranus Planet" as "lately discovered", and much of the information about this planet is listed as "uncertain". This would seem to date publication to shortly after 1781. The publishers Langley and Belch are chiefly known for the publication of an attractive series of maps of England and Wales between 1817 and 1820.

There is a similar print to this one in the Science Museum that was published by William Snow and addressed "To the Masters and Misses of the United Kingdom". Snow’s version includes less text at the bottom and, rather more logically, places the planets in the reverse order, so that the Sun appears in the centre and 'Herschel' in the outermost ring.

Object Details

ID: PAJ3462
Collection: Fine art
Type: Print
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Langley & Belch
Date made: 1781-1820; 1800-1846 1800-1850 1781-1790 1781-1800
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: 150 x 113 mm