Brooke, Henry. A Guide to the Stars. London, 1820.
Johann Bode had pioneered the use of constellation outlines in his 1782 edition of Flamsteed’s atlas (exhibit item 6), drawing them in faintly around his constellation figures. In 1820, Henry Brooke thought that he could produce a simpler set of star maps by using only the outlines, and omitting the constellation figures entirely.
The resulting maps are indeed less busy, if also less attractive, as we see in this star chart, which shows the heavens as one would see them in December at 20˚ north latitude. Most of the charts in this atlas show the heavens for latitude 51˚ north, as one might expect in an atlas intended for English viewers. But Brooke included two maps for the equator and two for 20˚ north latitude, perhaps for English viewers in India and the East Indies. One nice feature of this low-latitude chart is that it allows us to see, in fairly uncluttered fashion, many of the southern constellations named by Lacaille in 1756, including Sculptor, Fornax, Horologiam, Pictor, Caelum, and Reticulum. On a chart for the latitude of England, these constellations would be below the horizon. Below is part of the same section of the heavens, from Bode’s Uranographia. It is quite different scene when the constellation figures are present.