The Comet Book

"Necessarium est autem veteres ortus cometarum habere collectos. Deprehendi enim propter raritatem eorum cursus adhuc non potest, nec explorari an vices servent et illos ad suum diem certus ordo producat"

[It is essential that we have a record of all the appearances of comets in former times. For, on account of their infrequency, their orbit cannot yet be discovered or examined in detail, to see they observe a periodical interval and whether their reappearance on a fixed day could be the result of certain cause] {Seneca, 60AD}

Stanislaus Lubienietzki (1623-1675) was a Polish historian and astronomer. [variations on his name include Lubieniecki and Lubienietski] Apart from the present work, he is remembered for the posthumous publication of The History of the Polish Reformation ('Historia Reformationis Polonicae'). He is said to have been persecuted by Lutheran ministers who ultimately murdered him and his 2 daughters with poison {source}.

The vast 'Theatrum Cometicum' (The Theatre of Comets) was published in Amsterdam in 1668 and includes about 80 lavish engravings (a great many of them are double-page fold out illustrations). It provides accounts of over 400 comet sightings throughout history and in discussing their meaning, Lubienietzki essentially helps usher in a more astronomical rather than astrological approach to the study of comets.

Much of the book is devoted to recording the observations across Europe of comets that occurred in 1664/1665 by eminent scholars such as Athanasius Kircher, Caspar Schott, Otto von Guericke, Christian Huygens and Johannes Hevelius, among others. They each supplied constellation charts with their accounts so the engraved plates made for this book reflect the variety of cartographic traditions popular during the 17th century (the styles of Willem Janszoon Blaeu and Jodocus Hondius dominate). The contribution by Hevelius (also from Poland) is interesting because his own treatise, 'Cometographia', was also published in 1668.

• The whole of 'Theatrum Cometicum' is available online at the National Digital Library of Poland. Also known as Biblioteka Narodowa, this digital library deserves special mention. In addition to having a large selection of books in page image format, the interface is one of the best I've seen. There are thumbnail view icons, drop down menus in the sidebar to go directly to illustrations, ajaxy hover previews for pages or chapters ahead and behind, sufficient english and category links to navigate around the site fairly easily and if like me you are very lazy, you can just keep refreshing the front page until you see an example image from a book you want to explore. Dare I say, this is a stellar repository. [nb. there is presently a note to say that the digital library is offline on 29.3.07 for a few hours]
• 'Theatrum Cometicum' is $68,000 cheap.
• 'The Remarkable Work of Copernicus, Hevelius, and Other Polish Astronomers'.
• Giornale Nuovo has some example colour images from the BNF exhibition site and further commentary.
• 'Comets in Ancient Cultures'.
• 'Ancient Comets in Italy'.
• 'Les comètes dans les arts'
• Comet - wikipedia.

Century 21 Exposition

Century 21 Exposition (Seattle, Wash.), design for the Space Needle, elevation

Century 21 Exposition (Seattle, Wash.), proposed

design for the Space Needle and grounds, site plan

Space Needle summit cutaway

Space Needle elevator plans

Ford pavilion geodesic dome

"In 1957 Paul Thiry, one of Seattle's earliest practitioners of European Modernism, was appointed principal architect of Century 21, the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. The Ford pavillion, part of the Triangle of the Future, was located near the south gate on Boulevard 21. Under its geodesic dome, visitors were entertained by a simulated flight to outer space in a model rocket ship. An auto show was also part of the attraction at the pavillion, where the Ford Motor Company displayed some of the consumer products it had in development."









"This drawing shows a preliminary design of an observation tower and restaurant for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair Exhibition. Set on the only section of the fair grounds that was not owned by the city, the site did not have the height restrictions of other exhibits/pavillions at the fair. The lot, 37-by-37 m, was purchased by private investors for $75,000 and is still privately owned. Although there is much contention surrounding who came up with the final design of the Space Needle, John Graham is widely acknowledged as its architect."















"The Nalley's Fine Food pavilion was a plastic form shell pneumatically applied on a frame of reinforcing rods and metal lathe. The exterior of the pavilion was constructed without a straight line or sharp angle. The unique oval contained a theater which showed movies of the great Pacific Northwest. In the lobby of the building were displays of the food products from Nalley's Tacoma-based company."















"The site for the Century 21 Branch of the Seattle First National Bank was located at the northwest corner of the Friendship Mall. [design proposals]











"The Century 21 Branch of the Seattle First National Bank was located at the north-west corner of the Friendship Mall. It featured a canvas awning stretched over a steel frame decorated with the flags of the participating nations."

Preliminary sketch for Space Needle and floor plans by Victor Steinbreuk

Rendered proposals for exposition grounds

[click images for larger versions]

I've been toying around with Google alerts (a regular automatic search in news/blogs/websites) the last couple of months with varying outcomes. I nearly stopped the weekly emails in February when a 1997 website was included with 'new digitial collection' search results. But they do add a certain lazy randomness to my trawling habits.



In this case I was directed to the Century 21 Exposition design plans for the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair that belong to the Architecture of the Pacific NorthWest Database at the University of Washington. I was nearly sure I could see Kurt Russell among those uniquely architectural 2-D figures in the Ford Pavillion sketch plans.



The descriptions included above are copied from the site but seem not always to be totally accurate for each of the illustrations. 'Observation deck' and 'site plans' are favoured terms. I had to play around with the image URLs to get complete large illustrations.

• Century 21 -- The 1962 Seattle World's Fair: Part 1 and Part 2.
• Century 21 'Forward into the Past' CyberTour.
• 'A Fair To Remember' - Seattle Center at 40.
• The final image above comes from 'Century 21 - A Glimpse at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair'.

I was a little disappointed that there don't appear to be many decent futuristic diagrams and brochures from Seattle 1962 Century 21 online. Links anyone?

Fashion Plates from Hungary

Fashion plates from the 1870s from the Hungarian Electronic Library. [via]

Drawing on the Renaissance

Known as the Charles VI Tarot Deck these late 15th century hand painted cards are among 17 that have survived from a series produced in northern Italy and here depict the fool, the hangman, the moon and death. It's also known as the Gringonneur deck after the artist from the end of the 14th century who is said to have painted (some of?) the earliest tarot decks for King Charles VI. These cards are certainly an example from a very early tarot work but I'm not sure where they sit in an historical sense - a quick look around the web didn't identify any standout authorities for me. In any event, this deck appears in the present exhibition site as an example of how allegorical, emblematic and symbolic iconography from the renaissance circulated in popular (if elite) form. [Tarot].







Helmet design sketch (and detail) in the mannerist style from ~1575 by Andrea Casalini for a suit of armour for Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and Governor-General of Holland. The exuberant decoration and presentation of a war accessory as an artistic object reflects a wider emergence of tournaments, festivals and processions of armies as subjects for aesthetic presentation.







Nicolo dell'Abate sketch and detail from ~1563 - 'Le Char des Licornes' (The Unicorn Chariot) - featuring motifs and mythological imagery from the antiquities. The sketch was the basis for a tapestry featuring Marie de Medici and Henri IV. Dell'Abate was one of the italian artists who helped to disseminate italian renaissance/mannerist styles to France via the School of Fontainebleau (see: i, ii, iii).






Pierre Jacques, a sculptor from Reims, spent about 5 years in Italy in the 1570s. He produced an album of sketches of ancient roman statue features. The whole album is online at BNF [the 2nd image above was nabbed from here] and if anyone is keen (and reads french) there is a long article from 1894 here in page image format, establishing the date and bona fides of the author and subject matter and its importance in the development of the french renaissance etc ('etc' means that it was eventually a bit over my head both in content and language).




René Boyvin (previously) was also strongly connected to the School of Fontainebleau and the 2 figures here depict a torch carrier and a masquerade character sketch. {2nd half of 16th century}




This sketch by Albrecht Dürer from 1492/3 consists of 2 fragments, a couple playing backgammon and the standing woman playing checkers. They were designs for stained glass pieces, a field in which artisans from southern Germany excelled during a transition from gothic to renaissance characteristics. A certain simplicity of drawing style was required for the stained glass work, a skill Dürer would again employ to great success with wood and metal engraving.




It was quite by accident that I chose these 2 François Clouet portraits or at least, I wasn't aware that Élisabeth d'Autriche (Austria) [1571], who married into the french Royal Court and Élisabeth de Valois [1559] who married into the spanish Royal Court both had similarly unhappy lives. Élisabeth de Valois married at age 14 and died during childbirth aged 23. Élisabeth d'Autriche married the (mad) Charles IX and when he died 4 years later, she retreated to her homeland rather than remarry and continue life at Court. François Clouet replaced his father as the official portraitist for the french Royal Court in 1540. His drawings are considered masterpieces for their simplicity, exquisite beauty and accuracy.




'Défilé des funérailles du roi Mausole : Chevaux caparaçonnés' (~1570) by Henri Lerambert was also a product of the School of Fontainebleau. The funeral procession of ancient greek King Mausolus was the basis for a tapestry. The grid lines seen in the sketch allowed squares to be enlarged to their final size after the design was accepted. (See: i, ii, iii)



The allegorical virtues Prudence and Justice (~1550) by Giulio Campi , a leading mannerist artisan of the Cremona group in Lombardy, Italy.


The 'Dessins de la Renaissance' exhibition site at BNF has an extensive collection of drawings, essentially exploring how the themes of the renaissance spread through France. Lucky you if your french reading skills are strong. Most, if not all, the library stamps were removed and I did a very minimal amount of artifact cleaning in a few of these.

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The satirical prints below have nothing at all (well, directly anyway) to do with the renaissance and come from a site to note for the future - British Printed Images to 1700, being developed by a number of British repositories. At present there are only about 10 prints available but they give the impression that this will be a formidable and exemplary site when the planned 10,000 prints have all been put online. [via]

'A picture of the Ridinge of the Asse' (anonymous) from ~1607.

'This Costly Fish Catcht In's Weil All These Desire To Tast As Wel As Feele. at All times in Season' {a 'Weil' is a kind of lobster pot - a metaphor for marriage} (from about 1682 but it is a variation on a motif with a convoluted history)

Doll heard what each man said,
She vext, and was half dismaid,
Hold, she cried tis time I think
To cut the cord; let her sink.
You all strive to set her free,
Not one of you will pull for mee.