Historic Boötes and Canes Venatici

I came into this inspiring blog focusing on medieval literature and arts. One of his entry talks about the historic representation of Bootes and how Canes Venatici came to be. It’s a short entry but very informative, but he only has Bootes. So I was thinking why not posting the entire constellation from its earliest representation to the most current representation in my blog. So in regards with the List of Figures entry of Bootes, let’s rewrite the entry here, and next, the rest of the constellation.

The earliest Bootes was probably a young herdsman holding a staff as depicted in Leiden Aratea (816 AD). Source: Leiden Aratea

 

In Limoges Aratea (early 11th century), Bootes was depicted holding the crooked staff in a manner as if he is driving something (Ursa Major) to walk. Source: Limoges Aratea

 

9th century Assyrian scholar Hunayn ibn Ishaq converted the crooked staff into “spearshaft with a hook” because he didn’t know the Greek word Κολλοροβος, and so he translated it into the nearest Arabic word, arriving at العصى ذات الكلاب , al ‘Ashadzat al Kullab, “spearshaft with a hook”. source: Kitab Suwar al Kawakib

 

In the first half of the 12th century, several decades after Alfonso VI conquered Toledo from the Moors, Italian scholar Gerard of Cremona found a copy of Almagest in one of the city’s former Islamic library and translated into Latin, bringing the text back to the Western Civilization. He mixed up the words kullab, “hook” into kilab, “dogs” and so the hastile haben canes, “spearshaft with dogs” was born. This dogs reappears in various star charts of the next era.

 

Johannes Regiomontanus in his Kalendarius (1512) has Bootes as a herdsman in his field, tilling about. He carries a spear, a sickle (“hooked”), a sword and other appliances that helped him in his pursue of the Ursa. Source: Kalendarius teütsch Maister Joannis Küngspergers

 

Petrus Apianus’ in his Horoscopion Apiani (1533) shows the Renaissance-dressed Bootes with an enormous club and companion dogs. Source: Horoscopion Apiani

Gerard Mercator didn’t show the dogs in his commercially successful Mercator Globes (1551). His depiction is close to the original Bootes, although he looks more like a soldier instead of herdsman. Source: The Mercator Globes

 

Zacharias Bornmann in his Astra (1596) shows Bootes with a spear, and naked. Source: Astra

 

Bayer in his Uranometria (1624) has Bootes with a spear shaft and a sickle. The stack of wheat(now Coma Berenices) provides a nice foreground.

     

Cor Caroli Regis Martyris first appear in Francis Lamb’s atlas (1673) to honor King Charles I of England. The name itself was probably introduced in 1660. Source: Les Constellations Disparues

   

Hevelius published Uranographia (1687), proposing Canes Venatici as the official constellation - dogs of Bootes. He decided the dogs to be greyhounds in Greeks: Asterion (“little star”) and Chara (“joy”). He also introduced Mons Maenalus, a mountain in Greece that Boötes is stepping upon. This time Bootes appears in his middle-age appearance, different with the younger original. His depiction of Bootes probably determines the modern shape of the figure. Source: Wikipedia 

Johann Bode’s Uranographia (1801) shows the Quadrans Muralis just above Bootes head(introduced by Lalande in 1795) and the Cor Caroli (introduced by Halley in 18th century). The sickle reappears and the crooked staff . Source: Uranographia

 

Alexander Jamieson’s A Celestial Atlas (1822) replaced the crooked staff with a spear. Source: Wikipedia

 

Urania’s Mirror (1825) added more star names into its predecessor image. Source: Wikipedia

 

Johan Meuris image for Stellarium (2005)

 

There is no official modern depiction of Bootes but in conclusion, most modern depiction of Bootes tries to incorporate everything that is there in the past. He carries many appliances of a herdsman: the crooked staff is now represented by the sickle, while his other arm, supposedly straight in line, is represented with a longer lance or staff. The dogs are depicted pursuing Ursa Major, but not hunting it. 

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