Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning
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- Create Date：2021-07-02 09:55:06
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Richard Hinckley Allen
- ISBN：0486210790
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Reviews
Jon Svenson
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The research that went into this book must have been enormous。 For me this is the definitive version of star names， how they came into being and how they differed between researchers in different times in history: The Muslims， Christian Europeans， China， Persia， and others。 I picked this up as research for a book， and it is a fascinating insight into history。 5/5*
Kevin
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I’ve heard a few reviewers now claim that more recent works have superseded Allen’ monumental achievement。 Certainly His is dated， and his assessment of Mesopotamian/Babylonian constellation names and myths predated the great advances that the early twentieth century brought to our knowledge of those cultures。 But the work itself is still the definitive study of the subject and the jumping off point for almost all later works touching upon the history and natures of our constellations。
Phil Slattery
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Excellent source of information for anyone interested in the mythology behind the stars and constellations--no matter what the nationality or culture。
Gavin White
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A massive compendium of knowledge about the stars and constellations from all over the world。 It has been the standard reference work for decades but it does show its age in many places。 The weakest part of the work is its treatment of Mesopotamian sources。 This is no fault of the author but was due to the fact that the Mesopotamian sources had only just started to be published and were very imperfectly understood。 I'd suspect that his treatment of the star-lore of some of the other lesser known A massive compendium of knowledge about the stars and constellations from all over the world。 It has been the standard reference work for decades but it does show its age in many places。 The weakest part of the work is its treatment of Mesopotamian sources。 This is no fault of the author but was due to the fact that the Mesopotamian sources had only just started to be published and were very imperfectly understood。 I'd suspect that his treatment of the star-lore of some of the other lesser known cultures would also be prone to the same criticism。 It could also do with some star-maps - even a map of the Greek heavens would be useful to help the reader navigate around the book。 。。。more
Schwarzenberger
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This is an astonishing book that I have picked at for years。 It has a load of information that starts with the aim of explaining where the names of the stars come from but in many ways is a compendium of world mythology， languages， religions and science; you can almost trace the development of world civilization by opening it almost anywhere。 You do have to pick away at it or use it when you want to check a particular item; it really is not meant for a straight read。 The author Allen ties togeth This is an astonishing book that I have picked at for years。 It has a load of information that starts with the aim of explaining where the names of the stars come from but in many ways is a compendium of world mythology， languages， religions and science; you can almost trace the development of world civilization by opening it almost anywhere。 You do have to pick away at it or use it when you want to check a particular item; it really is not meant for a straight read。 The author Allen ties together so many sources when discussing a constellation and the stars in it that I had to just pause to figure out how he put together all these sources to make a point of information。 This guy is a pre-internet version of Wikipedia and after looking at some of the pages beyond where I wanted find out information--and it's hard to just go and find out only what you wanted to read about--I often would wonder how I got there--just like I feel after cruising the internet for an hour or so。 I randomly opened to page 264 where he discusses the constellation Lepus。 He starts with giving the name in several languages then goes into Ancient Greek names， in several dialects no less。 Then on to the ancient Romans with a quote in Latin， with no translation。 This book was originally printed in 1899 and I guess that the author would have assumed that anyone who had an interest in this subject had a thorough Classic education with a thorough acquaintance， if not mastery of Latin and Greek。 Oh， by the way the English usage has a full Edwardian charm to it although sometimes it is a bit pompous。 I think of this book as a stellar version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica because it ranges so far and sometimes barely keeps to the subject at hand。 By that I mean that after 2 pages about Lepus he goes into "a brief digression" about the moon and how various cultures throughout the world and history interpret markings on the lunar surface。 In one multi-punctuated sentence he starts with mention of Sanskrit tales goes on to Aztecs and ends with Japanese。 This is in the same sentence。 It seems like he is trying to tell you everything about everything。 But this book has a lot of fuddy-duddy charm。 He's telling you about a lot of how the peoples of the world looked in amazement at the stars above and I think that he wants us all to still have that amazement in something so seemingly bland as explaining how humans gave names to the stars。 。。。more
Jonathan Lidbeck
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A very gratifying book to browse。 The organization is what makes it special。 History is sliced and ordered not by time period or geography， but by the night sky。When I picked up this book I went first to Vega， one vertex of the bright Summer Triangle。 There I found one of the most fascinating bits of trivia， something I haven't come across in a more traditionally-organized star guide。Vega （"Wega" is more correct， per Allen） dominates a high place in the summer nighttime sky。 Its prominent positi A very gratifying book to browse。 The organization is what makes it special。 History is sliced and ordered not by time period or geography， but by the night sky。When I picked up this book I went first to Vega， one vertex of the bright Summer Triangle。 There I found one of the most fascinating bits of trivia， something I haven't come across in a more traditionally-organized star guide。Vega （"Wega" is more correct， per Allen） dominates a high place in the summer nighttime sky。 Its prominent position and brightness have given it an important role in many cultures。 But the remarkable thing is that in both Babylonian and Egyptian tradition， it's considered the pole star， fixed， in the highest part of the heavens。 And， indeed， due to the earth's slowly wobbling axis， Vega did in fact at one time serve as the pole star--but this hasn't been the case for a good 14 THOUSAND years。14 thousand years！ The fact that human cultures have "remembered" this fact for some 500 generations， that the stories remain， is absolutely awe-inspiring。My go-to star guide， the Collins/Princeton， does mention that Vega will take its turn as pole star in 11，500 years--and this is， in a dry way， interesting。 And then 26，000 years after that， and again and again， as long as humans are here to observe， Vega will take its turn in that high place。 That's the astronomical prediction， looking forward。 But cultural history， looking backward， reveals something， for me， deeply comforting。 The people who saw Vega standing still （and Polaris spinning round it） are long gone， along with all memory of their lives and names。 But thanks to the persistence of language and mythology， what they observed， we can remember。This reference， full of historical oddities like this， is a great complement to your starchart or astronomer's guide。 The mathematical facts of the night sky can get overwhelming to the point of abstraction--that's a good time to step back and remember that stars have served another role， as mnemonic devices for stories， weirdly culture-bound stories。I'd also recommend looking up the moon and the Milky Way--the incredible diversity of mythology surrounding these great objects makes for a fascinating， if eclectic， read。 Humans and animals all feature more often than gods， but the stories all reveal more about our values， of course， than the celestial object itself--the sky is our Rorschach test。All entries are densely cited， and rich with diverse sources， Eastern， Western， modern， ancient。 This makes the prose a bit dense for a linear read but great to browse。 。。。more
Danica
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Our ultimate horizon， the furthest-away from the point of each individual I-experience （the self） is the Starry Firmament of Nuit; She is the Divine behind all forms of how human perceived and represented to themselves the Divine， throughout the history of human existence。For， Human as such emerges through this specific relationship， this interaction between an individual soul and the vastness of the clear night sky。 It’s an intimate， personal experience; and it’s universal， it stands true for e Our ultimate horizon， the furthest-away from the point of each individual I-experience （the self） is the Starry Firmament of Nuit; She is the Divine behind all forms of how human perceived and represented to themselves the Divine， throughout the history of human existence。For， Human as such emerges through this specific relationship， this interaction between an individual soul and the vastness of the clear night sky。 It’s an intimate， personal experience; and it’s universal， it stands true for every human being that has ever lived on Earth。 Astrology， that hidden grandfather of all sciences （which in unison with the grandmother， geometry， gave birth to all that we know as Science now）， is a form of artful， perfected adoration of Nuit。 There are patterns （that what we do know）， and there’s the Unknown， and there’s the happy unison of the two in astrology。 The Unknown does not become less or more not-known by our knowledge and use of the patterns that astrology reveals; the Beauty is in knowing and honoring this， all the while tirelessly calculating， measuring and defining。 Viewed in this way， all human practices and disciplines that are directly oriented to – centered on - the stars， are nothing but various elaborations of this same single ‘theme’; their basic function is to connect the human conscious mind in a structured （however narrowly specialized and limited， in some cases…） way with the Divine。 They serve to help the mind gap the immeasurable gap between human and God; they are various patterns， forms， emerged naturally through the course of experience of human being; their perfection is measured by how pure & crystal-clear is their conductivity。 This book is a collection of the Names that we have given （and that have been recorded）， over time， to the naked-eye visible individual stars as well as constellations。 Each name has a lore; for each star and constellation seen， human being had weaved a story。 These stories have come to us from the collective mind of humanity; they are structures （reflection of motion-patterns） emerged from the collective Unconscious， crystalized into Words; they are hidden hymns of worship， sung by human heart， to the immeasurable Beauty of the vastness of the body of Nuit。 As such， the book is a small， humble monument of this worship。 But it’s a hidden treasure-house: a catalog of names that mankind addressed the stars with， throughout history。It is akin to a very long （& ever tending toward eternity） love poem – maybe the oldest and longest one there is， and yet a living， breathing poem， whose verses and words are moving， changing places – appearing in different context every time， being reflected by a light from a different angle whenever you open the book to look up a star or a constellation。 And if you vow to always use it along with physically looking up at the night sky （instead of only reading the words on paper; and/or looking at the stars via phone app）， I promise: it will have many unexpected secrets to teach you！ 。。。more
Manuel Vega
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Tons of information about each constellation and star。 Excellent data base， but hard to read due to a poor editing with too many fonts in some cases way too small to read comfortable。
Jason Farley
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So much fun and a ridiculous amount of interesting information。 Astronomy is the best， and classical astronomy is the best of the best。
Philippe Billé
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Le livre de Richard Hinckley Allen， Star-names and their meanings， parut d’abord en 1899。 Une version corrigée （Star names : their lore and meaning） en a été éditée en 1963 à New York et réimprimée depuis。 Ce copieux volume de xiv-563 pages est le plus complet que je connaisse sur l’étymologie des noms d’étoiles （mais il ne dit rien des planètes）。 C’est un dictionnaire classé dans l’ordre alphabétique des noms latins des constellations， les étoiles individuelles étant traitées dans la notice de Le livre de Richard Hinckley Allen， Star-names and their meanings， parut d’abord en 1899。 Une version corrigée （Star names : their lore and meaning） en a été éditée en 1963 à New York et réimprimée depuis。 Ce copieux volume de xiv-563 pages est le plus complet que je connaisse sur l’étymologie des noms d’étoiles （mais il ne dit rien des planètes）。 C’est un dictionnaire classé dans l’ordre alphabétique des noms latins des constellations， les étoiles individuelles étant traitées dans la notice de la constellation qui les contient。 Cette série d’études est précédée de trois articles particuliers portant sur le soleil， la lune et la notion de constellation， et suivie d’un dernier sur la Galaxie ou Voie Lactée。 L’ouvrage se clôt sur une bibliographie et quatre index : un général， un des noms arabes， un des grecs， et même un des quelques références astronomiques trouvées dans la Bible où， semble-t-il， les seules figures précisément nommées sont， comme on pouvait s’y attendre， les plus évidentes : la Grande Ourse， Orion， et l’amas des Pléiades （cf Job， 9:9， 18:31-32 ; Amos， 5:8）。 （VIII 1996） 。。。more
Vasilis Kanatas
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A insurmountable book。 The depth of information it provides is huge。
Paperclippe
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Impossible to get through。 The information is presented secondarily to the writer's thick and unedited knowledge of lore not seems almost more like an exercise for the author to have shown the fruits of his research than to have created something even moderately intelligible without the reader having to take notes and make references of their own。 There is a lot of good， interesting information in here， it's just impossible to get at。 Impossible to get through。 The information is presented secondarily to the writer's thick and unedited knowledge of lore not seems almost more like an exercise for the author to have shown the fruits of his research than to have created something even moderately intelligible without the reader having to take notes and make references of their own。 There is a lot of good， interesting information in here， it's just impossible to get at。 。。。more
Heidi
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Wonderful， used it as a reference guide when talking about stars to groups。
Kozmo Kliegl
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A good story about how most of the brighter stars （& a few not-so-bright） in pre-telescopic times were given names by the ancients
Layo
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This book is fact-filled， well-researched， very dense and very dry。 It's a decent reference book， but I have found a few minor errors， which is worrisome given the avalanche of facts each entry provides about star lore from around the world - it would be nice to be able to rely on the researcher。 It also presumes that the reader is fluent in the Greek alphabet， though this is not a serious hindrance to those who are not。 It has a general index， a Greek index， and an Arabic index， which is useful This book is fact-filled， well-researched， very dense and very dry。 It's a decent reference book， but I have found a few minor errors， which is worrisome given the avalanche of facts each entry provides about star lore from around the world - it would be nice to be able to rely on the researcher。 It also presumes that the reader is fluent in the Greek alphabet， though this is not a serious hindrance to those who are not。 It has a general index， a Greek index， and an Arabic index， which is useful when looking for a specific star。 。。。more
Yael
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This gorgeous volume is the perfect companion piece to Burnham's Celestial Handbook: An Observer's Guide to the Universe Beyond the Solar System。 In fact， Robert Burnham may have drawn on Allen's work for many of his literary and mythological references。This one-volume work， like Burnham's published by Dover -- it first came out in 1963 -- is arranged in several sections: the introduction; an essay on the Solar Zodiac; one on the Lunar Zodiac or Houses; a complete list of the constellations -- t This gorgeous volume is the perfect companion piece to Burnham's Celestial Handbook: An Observer's Guide to the Universe Beyond the Solar System。 In fact， Robert Burnham may have drawn on Allen's work for many of his literary and mythological references。This one-volume work， like Burnham's published by Dover -- it first came out in 1963 -- is arranged in several sections: the introduction; an essay on the Solar Zodiac; one on the Lunar Zodiac or Houses; a complete list of the constellations -- the astronomical version， dividing up the entire sky into sections for easy reference rather than just the Zodiac or the lists of signs used by astrologers -- in alphabetical order， with all sky objects known at the time listed and described for each constellation; a discussion of the Milky Way galaxy; and the indices。 For each major object， including the constellation itselfs as well as the objects found in it， he describes the literary， historical， cultural， and some scientific data associated with it。 The purely astronomical information he gives on such objects is not nearly as detailed as that given by Burnham's Celestial Guide， and he does not describe deep-sky objects requiring telescopes to be observed。 His interest was in the human side of astronomy down the ages， for almost all of which there were no telescopes。Richard Hinckley Allen （1838， Buffalo， New York—1908， Northampton， Massachusetts; http://en。wikipedia。org/wiki/Richard_。。。） was a gifted polymath and amateur naturalist; his wide range of interests caused his friends to nickname him "the walking encyclopedia。" His youthful ambition to pursue astronomy was thwarted by poor eyesight， and he became a moderately successful businessman instead。 He continued in scientific pursuits as a hobby for the rest of his life。Akkeb is best remembered for Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning， originally published in 1899 as Star-Names and Their Meanings。 This work was based on his extensive research about the names of the stars and constellations in Arabic， Greco-Roman， Chinese， and many other astronomical traditions。 It is still considered one of the major works on the history of astronomical nomenclature and is often consulted as a resource on star names by amateur if not by professional astronomers。 。。。more
Lafcadio
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