Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Volume 1: Their History and Construction Including a Consideration of their Value as Aids in the Study of Geography and AstronomyStevenson, Edward Luther
History
Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Volume 1: Their History and Construction Including a Consideration of their Value as Aids in the Study of Geography and Astronomy
Stevenson, Edward Luther
Geography -- History; Globes
Revival of interest in globe making in Italy.—François De
Mongenet of France and the reprint of his globe maps in
Italy.—Gore map of Antonius Florianus.—Globe records
left by Alessandro Piccolomini.—Ruscelli’s directions for
globe construction.—Reference to the work of Sanuto and
Gonzaga.—Armillary sphere of Volpaja.—Excellent
workmanship in the celestial-terrestrial globe of
Christian Heyden.—Metal globes of Johannes
Praetorius.—Vasari’s reference to the work of Ignazio
Danti.—The iron globe of Francisco Basso.—Armillary
sphere of Giovanni Barrocci.—The work of Hieronymo de
Boncompagni.—Emanuele Filiberto.—Anonymous globe of
1575.—Laurentian armillary spheres.—Small globes of the
Biblioteca Nationale of Florence.—Mario Cartaro.
Among those interested in map and globe making, in the third quarter of
the sixteenth century, none seems to have surpassed the Italians. In the
art of map engraving they attained to a high degree of merit, and much
of the finest work of the middle of the century is the product of the
peninsula. With few exceptions it is the Italians who hold the field in
this line of scientific activity. There can undoubtedly be traced here
the influence of Mercator, but there appear to have been not a few who
worked on what might be called independent lines. The interest of
illustrious personages in the construction and the possession of globes
prompted activity in this field. While the number extant, of those
manufactured in this period, is not large, there are not a few
references in letters and in scientific works assuring us of the
construction of many which cannot now be traced.
We may call attention first to François De Mongenet, who appears to have
been a native of Franche-Comté and well known in his day as a globe
maker. He was, however, quite forgotten until a few years since, when a
copy each of his terrestrial and celestial globe gores was purchased by
the antiquarian Rosenthal of Munich,[290] and sold to Mr. Kalbfleisch of
New York, from whose collection they passed into the possession of the
New York Public Library. Since this discovery of De Mongenet’s
interesting work, a number of copies of the same or of subsequent
editions have come to light, both of the terrestrial and of the
celestial globe, some of which copies are mounted, some remain
unmounted, some are of his first edition of the year 1552, others are of
the second edition, undated, somewhat altered, and printed in Italy. All
of his globes are of small size, having each a diameter of about 85 mm.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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