The other works of Andreas Cellarius
The Harmonia Macrocosmica made Cellarius known, but it was not his only work. This page lists what the sources we read say about the rest.
What the sources say
- According to Van Zoonen, all Cellarius’s learned publications appeared in Amsterdam during his rectorate in Hoorn: the Atlas Novus, Architectura Militaris (1645), Regni Poloniae (1659) and the Harmonia Macrocosmica (1660). Van Gent’s website adds that the Harmonia was a cosmographical supplement to Janssonius’s Atlas Novus. [3], [2]
- Cellarius is also known as the author of a bulky work on fortification, written in German, which appeared first in 1645. [1]
- The geographical description of Poland appeared first in 1652, according to Van Gent’s article; Van Zoonen and the title page shown on Van Gent’s website give 1659. Which was the first edition we do not know. [1], [3], [2]
- Because of the Polish book it has been assumed that he visited Poland in his youth. After his enrolment at Heidelberg on 26 October 1614, every trace of him is lost for ten years; with the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War in 1618 it seems plausible that he moved on, Van Gent says, ‘perhaps to Poland’. Van Zoonen: we have no certainty. [1], [3]
- On 2 November 1626 the States General granted him a patent on making steel, provided it was of good quality. We know neither the date of his application nor the circumstances. The report of 1648 on the Latin School speaks of his ‘alchemy’. [3]
- Cellarius wrote a few laudatory poems on Henrick Bruno, the assistant rector of the Latin School in Hoorn and former tutor of Constantijn and Christiaan Huygens; they were printed in Bruno’s Hooghe-Liedt. [2]
What we do not know
- Which edition of the description of Poland is the first, and whether the edition of 1652 exists next to that of 1659.
- Whether he really visited Poland: it is an inference from his book.
- Whether other works by him exist: we have not read the bibliography on Van Gent’s website nor pages 15 to 25 of his article.
Sources
- R.H. van Gent, ‘De hemelatlas van Andreas Cellarius: Het meesterwerk van een vergeten Hollandse kosmograaf’, Caert-Thresoor 19 (2000) no. 1, pp. 9 to 25 (scan on Van Gent’s website) The scan has no text layer; we read printed pages 9, 10, 13 and 14 ourselves, not the rest.
- Robert H. van Gent, Andreas Cellarius – Biography (Utrecht University) The web biography carries no date; we cannot say whether it is older or newer than the article.
- Arie van Zoonen and Jannie van Zoonen-Zielman, Zeshonderd jaar scholen en schoolmeesters in Hoorn 1396–1996, vol. 1 (Vereniging Oud Hoorn and Publicatiestichting Bas Baltus, Hoorn 2018), pp. 135 to 148 (chapters 3.12 and 3.13) We read these pages and their footnotes in the pdf of Oud Hoorn. The town archives (Westfries Archief) and the burial register DTB 82 that it cites, we did not see ourselves.
Every statement above carries the number of its source. Read on 26 October 2026. What we could not confirm in a source is left out.