John Bevis

[2] In 1757 Bevis was asked by the tobacconist Thomas Hughes to discover why no flowers would grow in his garden at Bagnigge House, which stood in the vicinity of 61–63 King's Cross Road, London.

[5][6][7][8] Besides discovering the Crab Nebula, Bevis is known for his proposal to compile a modern British star atlas, Uranographia Britannica.

The first mention was in an advertisement in the Northampton Mercury of 11 April 1748 notifying that subscribers could obtain copies of the atlas when finished.

In 1750, as the atlas was still in the process of being compiled, Bevis's publisher, John Neale was declared bankrupt, the copper plates sequestered by the London Courts of Chancery and the project terminated.

Of the three, nearly-finished, Uranographia Britannica, one was bought at the Sotheby & Wilkinson sale, London, 21 January 1856, by the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.

The third and last atlas sold at auction in 1785 was identified in November 2011 [by Kilburn] in the Duke of Devonshire's Collection at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire.

In good condition it is second only to the APS atlas, having fewer descriptive notes to accompany the star charts.

Examination of currently known Atlas Celestes that do not have the intended full set of 51 star charts suggests that the compiler was running out of them.