A BRIEF DECLARATION OF BOTH

HEMISPHERES, CELESTIAL AS WELL AS TERRESTRIAL.

Since a legitimate and true description of both the earth and its parts cannot be made without a genuine knowledge of Cosmography and Geography; it will not seem irrelevant that, having premised some definitions and divisions, we briefly explain the congregation and connection of the heavens and the earth.

For Cosmography describes the world, that is, the heaven, and whatever is contained and embraced by its circumference.

The world, however, is divided into two parts: the Ethereal and the Elemental region.

The Ethereal indeed contains eight different orbs of the stars. The first seven of these, and those closest to the earth, are attributed to the seven Erratic stars, or Planets, of which the larger always spherically embraces the smaller, and these individual orbs carry around one star only.

The eighth, however, which is also called the Firmament, contains all the remaining stars, which are also called fixed.

The starry heaven or Firmament embraces with its circumference all seven orbs of the planets, but that, on the other hand, embraces those along with the inferior ones, from the ninth heaven, which is called the Primum Mobile, by whose continuous revolution all these eight orbs of the stars are carried around the poles of the world, from East to West, in the space of 24 hours.

The eight inferior ones, however, are always continuously revolved in the opposite direction, upon other poles (which are called the Zodiac) from West to East.

But because sailors only use the configurations of the principal fixed stars which are found around both poles of the world, we will rightly omit here the ambiguous motions of the Planets, as not necessary for them, and we will only append two celestial schemata, by which we will place before the eyes both hemispheres of the whole Firmament, or starry heaven, of which the former contains all the Northern stars, the latter, however, those which look to the South.

An engraving featuring two circular charts of the celestial spheres set against a background of stylized clouds. The left chart depicts the Northern (Septentrional) Hemisphere, showing the constellations of the zodiac (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces) and others such as the Great Bear, Herdsman, Hercules, Serpent Bearer, Serpent, Eagle, Dolphin, Swan, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Perseus, and Charioteer. The right chart depicts the Southern (Austral) Hemisphere, showing constellations including the Whale, Orion, Hare, Eridanus, Great Dog, Little Dog, Hydra, Cup, Crow, Centaur, Wolf, Altar, Southern Crown, and several southern polar constellations like the Crane, Phoenix, Toucan, Dorado, Peacock, Indian, Bird of Paradise, Chameleon, Fly, Southern Triangle, and Southern Cross. Both maps are overlaid with celestial coordinate grids including the ecliptic and meridians.