Planetary system, 1830-36 (lithograph)

Creator: S. Barfoot; S. Lingham; William Darton & Son This coloured lithograph presents an image of the solar system, to Uranus. Surrounding the central diagram are four images: a telescope, a globe, a sundial and a book. The telescope appears with the names Galileo and Metius, referring to Galileo Galilei, one of the first to turn a telescope to the sky in 1609, and Jacob Metius, a Dutch optician, who filed a patent claim for the telescope in 1608. The terrestrial globe refers to the astronomers Copernicus and Hevelius; the sundial to the instrument-maker and lecturer James Ferguson; and the book (open at pages with geometrical and astronomical figures and the word "Astronomy" to Herschel. Given the date of this print it is likely that this book represents John Herschel's "Elements of Astronomy" (1832). The publisher William Darton specialised in publishing maps and books for children, he moved to Holborn Hill in 1803 and worked with his son from 1830 until he retired in 1836. It is likely that that this image accompanied a magazine or book, since it is not self-explanatory.