The Book of the Fixed Stars
A medieval Islamic star atlas, copied five centuries after it was written.
- Work
- Kitab suwar al-kawakib al-thabita (Book of the Images of the Fixed Stars)
- Artist / naturalist
- 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi
- Origin & date
- Copied late 15th century (text composed ca. 964 CE)
- Held by
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Format
The full-resolution scan, color-managed to the source — yours to print, study, and keep.
Size
$19.00
The story
'Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi's Kitab suwar al-kawakib al-thabita (Book of the Images of the Fixed Stars), composed in Baghdad around 964 CE, is one of the foundational texts of observational astronomy — a systematic catalogue of the 48 Ptolemaic constellations, each cross-checked against al-Sufi's own naked-eye observations and corrected where Ptolemy's data had drifted. This copy, made in the late 15th century, carries the text's original convention: each constellation drawn twice, once as seen from Earth and once mirrored as it would appear from outside the celestial sphere, on a globe. What to notice: the figure is rendered with the fluid, confident line of a scientific diagram meant to be checked against the sky, not merely admired. Al-Sufi's star catalogue was still being used to correct European star tables centuries later — a working document that outlived every empire that copied it.
About this reproduction
- Faithful reproduction of a public-domain work, sourced from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s open-access release.
- Printed to order on 200gsm EMA matte art paper: smooth, no glare.
- Color-managed to the source scan.
- Ships in 5–8 business days; satisfaction guarantee.
