This label identifies the book as one of the "Heralds of Science," a list of 200 foundational books in the history of science selected by Bern Dibner in 1955.

A red heraldic emblem featuring a compass rose topped with a fleur-de-lis, enclosed within a double-lined red rectangular border. This is the insignia of the Burndy Library.

BURNDY LIBRARY

BERN DIBNER

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES

A rectangular woodcut-style illustration on a yellow background serves as the library's bookplate. It depicts a bearded man—likely the mythological figure Atlas or a personification of the astronomer—kneeling on the ground and supporting a large armillary spherea physical model of the celestial sphere, consisting of a spherical framework of rings representing lines of celestial longitude and latitude on his back and shoulders. The sphere consists of various intersecting rings labeled with the following terms (translated from the original Latin): "Solstitial colure," "Arctic circle," "Circle of Cancer," "Axis," "Equinoctial colure," "Oblique horizon," "Zodiac," "Circle of Capricorn," "Antarctic circle," and "Axis of the world." Small plants and tufts of grass are visible at the figure's feet.