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This webpage reproduces a section of
Star Names
Their Lore and Meaning
by
Richard Hinckley Allen
as reprinted
in the Dover edition, 1963

The text is in the public domain.

This page has been carefully proofread
and I believe it to be free of errors.
If you find a mistake though,
please let me know!

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 p349  Robur Carolinum, Charles' Oak,

the Quercia of Italy and the Karlseiche of Germany, was formally published by Halley in 1679 in commemoration of the Royal Oak of his patron, Charles II, in which the king had lain hidden for twenty-four hours after his defeat by Cromwell in the battle of Worcester, on the 3d of September, 1651. This invention secured for Halley his master's degree from Oxford, in 1678, by the king's express command. But La Caille complained that the construction of the figure, from some of the finest stars in Ship, ruined that already incomplete constellation, "and the Oak ceases to flourish after half a century of possession," although Bode sought to restore it, and Burritt incorporated it into his maps, assigning to it twenty-five stars. Halley's 2d‑magnitude α Roborisº was changed to β Argūs, now in Carina.

Reeve's list of Chinese star-titles has only one entry under Robur —

Nan Chuen, the Southern Ship, θ, etc., but doubtful, incorrectly laid down.

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Page updated: 25 Dec 07

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