Astronomical Recreation

print, lithograph, coloured, `Astronomical Recreation', by John Betts, 115 Strand, London, and Leighton Brothers [c. 1850]. Showing family looking at chart, and relating it to the night sky. From cover of former slip case. 20x13cm. framed size: 34x27cm.

Coloured lithographic print titled, 'Astronomical Recreation' showing a family examining a star chart and relating it to the night sky. Labelled as being by John Betts Leighton Brothers it is from the cover of a slipcase. Dated to around 1850, the print relates to a set of identification cards produced to instruct people in the recognition of star patterns seen in the sky. These took various forms, the commonest of which showed the outline of each constellation on separate cards. The positions of the stars are often perforated so that each card can be held up to the light to illustrate the apparent pattern of the stars in the night sky.