Cosmology & celestial charts
Descartes’s diagram of planetary motion in vortices
Historical recordHistorical planetary theory, not polar geography.
What this record establishes
Institutional record documented; does not authenticate interpretations.
Record details
- Original title
- Principia philosophiae vortex diagram
- Artifact date
- 1644
- Creator
- René Descartes
- Holding institution
- Library of Congress
- Classification
- Mechanical cosmology
Antarctica connection
Contextual visual history; not direct evidence about Antarctica
Relevance and caution
Historical planetary theory, not polar geography.
The original printed vortex diagram on page 114 of René Descartes’s Principia philosophiae (1644), from the Library of Congress Rosenwald copy. This historical model of planetary motion is a cosmological diagram, not a map or survey of Antarctica. The complete scanned page is supplied as a supporting image.
René Descartes, Principia philosophiae (Amsterdam: Louis Elzevir, 1644), p.114. Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress, Rosenwald 1431 / LCCN 46028327.
Image source record · Reuse terms
Image rights and evidence limits
Underlying printed work published in Amsterdam in 1644 by René Descartes (1596–1650); copyright term expired. LOC Rare Book and Special Collections reproduction FAQ permits publication of foreign works before 1909, without a reproduction fee, and requests credit. Item explicitly belongs to Rare Book Selections, whose rights page reports no known U.S. copyright or other restrictions with standard researcher-assessment caveat. General Cosmos-collection item boilerplate is not an item-specific prohibition. No modern editorial or 1904 material included.
Image existence does not prove a linked claim. Consult image-specific captions and reuse conditions.
Sources and what they support
Links document the record, the claim’s circulation, an assessment, or reuse terms as labeled. A source link is not automatically corroboration.
- displayed image provenance; not proof of a linked interpretationhttps://www.loc.gov/resource/rbc0001.2013rosen1431/?sp=143
- image-specific reuse conditionshttps://ask.loc.gov/rare-books-special-collections/faq/312593
- documentary target record; may differ from displayed reproductionhttps://www.loc.gov/exhibits/world/heavens.html#obj73
- documentary target record; may differ from displayed reproductionhttps://www.loc.gov/item/46028327/
- institutional or documentary recordhttps://www.loc.gov/exhibits/world/heavens.html#obj73
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