Title: Atlas Portatilis Coelestis.
Author: Rost, Johann Leonhard, 1688-1727.
Imprint: Nürnberg : Verlegt und zu finden, bey Johann Christoph Weigel ... : Gedruckt, bey Johann Ernst Adelbulner, 1723.
Description: [16], 362, [22] p., XXXVIII leaves of plates (1 folded) : col. ill., lunar map ; 19 cm. (8vo)
Book location: QB42 .R63 1723 Rare Book Room

Little is known about Johann Rost, the author of the 1723 Atlas Portatilis Coelistis, other than that he was a Nuremberg astronomer. We know that his portable atlas follows the style of Johannes Hevelius by the inclusion of constellations invented by Hevelius. This copy contains many handsome features. The title page is a double page, printed in red and black. There are fourteen plates, each one usually divided into three panels, to present forty-one constellation maps. Other plates are scattered throughout the book, some in layers and the moon makes a dramatic presentation as a foldout, making a total of thirty-eight tables. The engravings are hand-colored. The star positions are inconsequential, and the coloring in this edition makes them practically disappear.

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Adapted from William B. Ashworth, Out of This World: The Golden Age of the Celestial Atlas.