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| This visually striking print is extremely rare: only one other copy is known to survive. It combines in one elegant image the paths of all the 17 transits expected from the year 918 to 2117. . Published by Benjamin Martin in 1757, it was based on Edmond Halley’s astronomical tables. Unfortunately one of Halley’s assumptions about the orbit of Venus was incorrect. At the time of the transits in 1761 and 1769 it would have been clear to owners that Martin’s projected paths were misplaced. There are also resulting errors in the dates: most noticeably, there was no transit in 1996. . Update 26/08/2008: Rob van Gent reports a third example of this print at the University Library Utrecht, Map Room, Collection Moll, Mappae Astronomicae 32 [20]. |  |