Coronelli, Vincenzo Maria

[Counter-proof copy of a set of bound gore sheets for a concave celestial globe, diameter 3.5 feet]. Venice, 1698



Folio (15¾ x 10 in.; 400 x 254 mm, uncut, with deckle preserved on many edges). 12 celestial globe gores comprising 48 engraved sheets (24 folding full sheets), 2 full-sheet engraved plates of polar calottes, 2 engraved plates of equatorial rings, horizon circles, and other accessories (one folding full-sheet). Contemporary cardboard; stained.

cf. facsimile of Libro dei globi, ed. Helen Wallis, Amsterdam, 1971; Stevenson, Terrestrial and Celestial Globes

A wonderful set of Coronelli's celestial globe gores, printed in counter-proof from the Libro dei globi. Coronelli's Libro dei globi "is a memorial to the activities of the greatest globe-maker of all time. It recalls an age when globes were ornaments of palaces" (Wallis, p. xviii). Fewer than a dozen copies of Libro dei globi are known, each representing a bespoke selection from plates available when each was made up. Various volumes contain plates depicting gores or gore sections for terrestrial and celestial globes ranging in size from two inches to more than three feet.

"In Italy's long line of illustrious geographers, cartographers, and globe makers none has rank in advance of P. Vincenzo Maria Coronelli" (Stevenson, p. 97).