Text: Richard P. Benton, “Frontispiece from The Christian Philosopher,” Poe as Literary Cosmologer (1975), p. i (This material is protected by copyright)

The five figures on the upper part of the plate, marked 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. represent the planets Herschel, Saturn, Jupiter, the Earth, and Moon, in their rclatii c sizes and proportions; together with telescopic views of the belts and rings of Saturn, and the belts of Jupiter. The two figures immediately below, marked 5 and 6, are intended to illustrate the description given of the eye, pp. 88-104. Fig. 5 represents a front view of the human eye. Fig. 6 represents a section of it, exhibiting the three coals and the three humors of which it is composed. Fig. 7 represents a rude view of the appearance which the rings and moons of Saturn will exhibit, in certain cases, as beheld from a point 20 or 30 degrees north from his equator — see pp. 187. 188. The shade on the upper part of the rings represents the shadow of the body of Saturn, as it appears upon the rings about midnight.