Beschreibung:

A rare pair of 17th-Century Italian 10½-inch table globes, by Matthaeus Greuter, first reprinting by Giovanni Battista de Rossi, the terrestrial dated 1638 with four cartouches, the largest, copied from Blaeu, in the supposed southern continent, flanked by two navigators, one with a cross staff and the other with a quadrant, and surmounted by a globe, with text in Latin concerning the finding of longitude, the reprinting cartouche in the southern Atlantic Si Stampa da Gio: Batta de Rossi Milanese in Piazza Nauona Roma , the maker's cartouche in the southern Pacific area with text in Latin , ending Matthaeus Greuter Auctor excudit Romæ 1638 and the fourth in North America with text in Latin outlining geographical discoveries, the globe made up of two sets of twelve hand-coloured engraved gores and two polar calottes, the equatorial and prime meridian through the Canary Islands graduated in degrees, alternately shaded and labelled every 10°, the ecliptic similarly graduated but unlabelled, the oceans with a half wind rose at 0°-0°, the Atlantic with two ships and a sea monster and nine small crosses in a diamond shape on the edge of the Carribbean, a note concerning Vasco de Gama's discoveries off the Cape of Good Hope, three ships and two sea monsters in the Pacific Ocean and a note concerning Magellan, and another concerning Magellan and others off Cape Horn, the supposed southern continent labelled PARS ORBIS INCOGNITA sive TERRA AVSTRALIS quæ et MAGELLANICA and coloured green around the coastal area, a further portion of northern coastline shown stretching south-east from Indonesia, the continents with some nation states delicately outlined in green and red and showing mountains and forests in pictorial relief and rivers, cities depicted by a building with a tower, China showing the Great Wall, New Zembla with partial coastline, California shown as an island, Canada with northern coastline obscured by cartouche, Lakes Superior and Michigan with no western shoreline, the latter labelled L. de Puans ( general discolouration and wrinkling ); the celestial with the main cartouche over Gemini referring to the discoveries of Tycho Brahe, with the stars arranged for 1636, signed Romae Matthaeus Greuter exc. 1636 , the globe made up of two sets of twelve hand-coloured engraved half gores and two polar calottes, laid to the ecliptic poles, a cartouche entitled D. Tycho Brahe Summ' Mathemathi with a portrait of Brahe below Cetus, with another cartouche beneath outlining the precession of the stars based on a rate of 1° 25' in 100 years, the reprinting cartouche above Argo Navis Si Stampa da Gio Batta de Rossi Milanese in Piazza Nauona Roma , the equatorial subdivided to 1° and labelled every 10°, the ecliptic graduated in twelve times 1-30° with 1° subdivisions and sigils for the houses of the Zodiac, the constellations depicted by mythical beasts and figures, the stellar magnitude table over the maker's cartouche showing the stars to six orders of magnitude with nebulae ( general areas of discolouration and some rubbing to varnish ); both spheres with an engraved brass meridian circle, the celestial graduated in two quadrants only 0-90°-0, the terrestrial in four quadrants, with a further scale for polar distance, each in an oak table stand with octagonal horizon and hand-coloured engraved ring showing twelve times 1-30° for the houses of the Zodiac with names, sigils and pictures, days of the month with Saint's Days, and wind directions in Latin and Italian ( both wrinkled and discoloured, terrestrial much faded ), the upper edges of the horizon coloured green-blue, raised on four curved quadrant supports to a short quatrefoil-section scroll-cut pillar on a stepped circular plinth and octagonal base -- 43.5cm. (17 1/8in.) high See Illustrations (2)