THOMAS, CORBINIANUS. MERCURII PHILOSOPHICI. FRANKFURT & LEIPZIG: N.P., 1730

Oblong 4to (155 x 197 mm). Hand colored engraved frontispiece by A. G. Fleischmann,  71 (of 84) engraved plates with early hand coloring (many folding) of armillary spheres, globes and celestial maps, one engraved text diagram; light foxing and light occasional text browning, title with loss to outer margin and one leaf with lower corner torn away. Contemporary sheep-backed boards.

Honeyman sale VI:2975; Linda Hall, Out of This World, 24; Warner, The Sky Explored, pp. 251 and xii

FIRST EDITION OF "ONE OF THE UNSUNG TREASURES OF CELESTIAL CARTOGRAPHY" (LINDA HALL) by one of the first celestial cartographers to dedicate a separate plate to Camelopardalis, which first appeared on globes about 1600, but which is usually represented together with Cepheus or Cassiopeia. Thomas was also the first cartographer to supply separate plates for some of the southern constellations such as Indus and Pavo. In honor of his patron, the Archbishop of Salzburg, Thomas fashioned a new constellation, the Corona Firmiana, but it was never used again.