Thomas Wright (1711–1786) was an English astronomer, mathematician, architect, and landscape gardener. Before he published his most well-known book in 1750, An Original Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe, in which he discuss his own theories of the universe and creation, he engraved a set of copper plates in 1742 titled A Synopsis of the Universe: or, the Visible World Epitomiz’d which included several illustrations and figures diagramming various astronomical concepts including solar system theories, planets’ orbits, refraction, the seasons, the laws of motion, and more. Accompanying it was a short treatise with commentary about them titled Clavis Cælestis: Being the Explication of a Diagram, Entituled: A Synopsis of the Universe or, The Visible World Epitomiz’d.
Wright’s illustrations were published as seven separate sheets with detailed figures intended to be folded and inserted throughout his treatise. When combined into their final arrangement, they formed a large poster at least five feet long that presents a wide-ranging view of astronomy and invites a great amount exploration. The amount of detail in each of Wright’s engravings is remarkable and shows his dedication to creating something not only informative but also a work of art.
The Clavis Cælestis so rare that only one complete edition with the original illustrations is known to exist at the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology, which has graciously made high-resolution scans of it freely available for everyone to explore.
A facsimile was published by Dawsons of Pall Mall London in 1967, complete with the full text of the Clavis Cælestis, and foldouts of all seven sheets of Wright’s illustrations printed with exceptional attention to detail. Copies of this book are also fairly rare. A copy in excellent condition was acquired by this project’s author.
For the first time in more than 280 years, these figures have been carefully recreated and paired with their accompanying text in a new digital edition. Over the course of five weeks, every figure was recreated from scratch using the scans from the Linda Hall Library as a basis and the entire text of the treatise was retyped for viewing online.
Free for everyone
All recreated treatise figures and text are free to use and have been released under the CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) license to be used without any restrictions.
Website and poster design are copyright Nicholas Rougeux.
