Sphaerae Mundi : Early Globes at the Stewart Museum, Montreal

From the Renaissance to well into the nineteenth century, finely crafted, scientifically valuable, and aesthetically sumptuous terrestrial and celestial globes held a place of honour in the libraries and cabinets of curiosities of the aristocracy, wealthy merchants, and centres of research and learning. Over the past thirty years the Stewart Museum at the Fort in Montreal has assembled one of North America's most important collections of these now-rare and fascinating objects. In Sphæræ Mundi Edward Dahl and Jean-François Gauvin tell the stories of these globes, explaining their iconography and introducing us to the most important European globe makers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Contents Foreword Preface Introduction An Art Historian's Approach to Globes CHAPTER 1 Globes from The Netherlands Introduction A Pair of Globes by the Blaeu Family: Terrestrial, Circa 1645-48, and Celestial, After 1630 Globes by Gerard and Leonard Valk, Circa 1701-50 Gerard Valk's 1701 Pair of Globes, Reissued Circa 1750 A Valk Celestial Globe, Circa 1745, Set in an Early-Nineteenth-Century Planetarium by A. and J. van Laun An Anonymous Star Globe, Eighteenth Century CHAPTER 2 Globes from England Introduction A Pocket Globe by Charles Price, Circa 1701 A Pocket Globe by Nathaniel Hill, 1754 John and William Cary's Terrestrial Globe, 1791, in an Early-Nineteenth-Century Orrery by Robert Brettell Bate An Anonymous Miniature Globe in a Box, with Images of the Earth's Inhabitants, Circa 1825-50 A Terrestrial Globe by Newton, Son & Berry, Circa 1831-33, in an Orrery by Benjamin Martin, Circa 1770 A Pair of Miniature Globes by James Wyld Jr.: Terrestrial, 1839, and Celestial, 1840 CHAPTER 3 Globes from Germany Introduction A Terrestrial Globe by Johann Reinhold, Circa 1577-80 Georg Christoph Eimmart's Terrestrial and Celestial Globe Gores, 1705 Franz Ludwig Güssefeld's "Silent Globe," Circa 1792-1805 CHAPTER 4 Globes from Italy Introduction Giuseppe de Rossi's 1615 Copy of a 1601 Terrestrial Globe by Jodocus Hondius A Pair of Matthäus Greuter's Globes: Terrestrial, 1632, and Celestial, 1636 Vincenzo Maria Coronelli's Terrestrial Globe, 1688 A Pair of Globes by Giovanni Maria Cassini: Terrestrial, 1790, and Celestial, 1792 An Anonymous Armillary Sphere, Eighteenth Century CHAPTER 5 Globes from Sweden Introduction Two Terrestrial Globes by Anders Åkerman, Reissued by Fredrik Akrel, 1779 and 1804 CHAPTER 6 Globes from France Introduction A Celestial Globe From Blois, 1533, Attributed to the Workshop of Julien and Guillaume Coudray and Jean Du Jardin Guillaume Delisle's Pair of Globes, 1700, Reissued Circa 1708 A Celestial Globe by Abbé Jean-Antoine Nollet, Circa 1728 Globes by Didier Robert de Vaugondy A Pair of Globes: Terrestrial, 1773, and Celestial, 1764 A Terrestrial Globe, 1754, Reissued Circa 1773 Ursin Barbay's Glass Terrestrial Globe, 1799 A Pair of Globes by Charles-François Delamarche: Terrestrial, 1801, and Celestial, Circa 1800 Three Armillary Spheres and One Planetarium, Seventeenth to Nineteenth Centuries Appendix Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y From the Renaissance to well into the nineteenth century, finely crafted, scientifically valuable, and aesthetically sumptuous terrestrial and celestial globes held a place of honour in the libraries and cabinets of curiosities of the aristocracy, wealthy merchants, and centres of research and learning. Over the past thirty years the Stewart Museum at the Fort in Montreal has assembled one of North America's most important collections of these now-rare and fascinating objects. In Sphaerae Mundi Edward Dahl and Jean-Francois Gauvin tell the stories of these globes, explaining their iconography and introducing us to the most important European globe makers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.Beginning with the collection's earliest globe, dated 1533, the authors introduce us to the life and works of some of the greatest Dutch, French, English, German, Italian, and Swedish globe makers. The 120 colour illustrations allow the reader to savour these rare and unusual works and include numerous detailed reproductions of both terrestrial and celestial map images. Sphaerae Mundi charts developments and changes over three centuries of globe making, considering the globes as indicators of scientific advance and geographical exploration as well as artifacts and providing a unique opportunity to become familiar with these complex and beautiful objects. Advances in modern science and technology have made present-day terrestrial and celestial globes scientifically obsolete and aesthetically banal. From the Renaissance to the mid-nineteenth century, however, they were indispensable tools for the study of geography and astronomy. Beginning with an overview of early globes, the authors examine how the modern era in globe making, which began in Flemish and Dutch shops in the early seventeenth century, show how globe making spread throughout Europe, and explain how what were both decorative and scientific objects became symbols of power, universal knowledge, intellectual status, and personal vanity. Beginning with the collection's earliest globe, dated 1533, the authors introduce us to the life and works of some of the greatest Dutch, French, English, German, Italian, and Swedish globe makers. The 120 colour illustrations allow the reader to savour these rare and unusual works and include numerous detailed reproductions of both terrestrial and celestial map images. Sphæræ Mundi charts developments and changes over three centuries of globe making, considering the globes as indicators of scientific advance and geographical exploration as well as artifacts and providing a unique opportunity to become familiar with these complex and beautiful objects. "Beginning in the Renaissance to well into the nineteenth century, finely crafted, scientifically valuable, and aesthetically sumptuous terrestrial and celestial globes held a place of honour in the libraries and cabinets of curiosities of the aristocracy, wealthy merchants, and centres of research and learning. Over the past thirty years the Stewart Museum in Montreal has assembled one of North America's most important collections of these now-rare and fascinating objects. In Spaerae Mundi Edward Dahl and Jean-Francois Gauvin tell the stories of these globes, explaining their iconography and introducing us to the most important European globe makers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries."--Jacket