A George III 12 inch diameter Selenographia circa 1797, by John Russell R.A., We are grateful to Anthony Turner for his help in cataloguing this piece and also for his assistance in the preparation of this footnote.

composed of the moon globe drawn by him, fitted with his patent apparatus for displaying the lunar libration, the pasteboard globe with gores printed from stipple engraved copper plates by Russell, showing the visible face of the Moon and with two inscriptions on the empty `dark side' : `By His Majesty`s Letters Patent This Globe being part of the Apparatus names the Selenographia designed to exhibit the lunar libration &c is published by the Author, Newman Street, London June 14th 1797' and `A Globe representing the visible surface of the Moon constructed from Triangles measured with a Micrometer and accurately drawn & engraved from a long series of telescopic Observations by J. Russell R.A.', the globe mounted within a brass hemisphere on a baluster column raised by a shallowly domed circular foot, in the original glazed brass case

Purchased by George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont ( 1751-1837) , Petworth House, West Sussex, passing by descent until sold by Max Wyndham, 2nd Lord Egremont and 7th Lord Leconfield in 1968. 

Trevor Philip & Sons, London

European Private Collection

British Patent No 2144, Apparatus to establish the phenomena of the Moon ` Selenographia', London 1796

John Russell, A Description of the Selenographia: an Apparatus for Exhibiting the Phenomena of the Moon. Together with an Account of some of the Purposes which it may be applied to; London 1797 

W.F. Ryan ` John Russell R.A.and early Lunar Mapping', The Smithsonian Journal of History, I 1966, pp.27-48. 

Helen Turner (ed), Of Heaven & Earth, London 2002, pp.16-23

Elly Decker, Globes at Greenwich, A Catalogue of the Globes and Armillary Spheres in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, 1999, p.486.

Receipt dated 22nd October 1798, issued by John Russell to 3rd Earl of Egremont, Petworth House Records, ref. 8060:

Right Honourable the Earl of Egremont/ to John Russell

Second subscription for lunar globes 2. 12. 6

Selenographic Instrument                  26. 5. 0

Glass case board & velvet                   5. 5. 0

Case be for the Instrument                 0. 14. 0

Do for the glass case                           0.  12. 0

  1798                                                      35.  8. 6

October 22   Received the Contents      John Russell 

 

This piece is in overall excellent condition. There are some old marks and wear to the surface of the globe, consistent with age and use, but which do not detract. The globe stands very slightly out of alignment on its base. There is an unexplained screw hole in the Meridian which may indicate that a minor part may be missing. The glass in the case appears old and is probably original.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The Globe

The globe is mounted within a brass hemisphere on a column, in turn raised on a domed circular foot. The hemisphere both supports the globe and imparts motion to it so that the equatorial poles of the globe can be rotated around the poles of the ecliptic. Other parts of the mount-apparatus represent the `boundary of light' for all the Moon`s positions in relation to the Sun, and so show which spots appear on the edge of the lunar disc; other parts allow the age of the Moon and the difference in position between the periodical and synodical rotation, while provision of a small terrestrial globe makes visible the lunar parallax or daily and monthly libration, that is the slight oscillation of the Moon on its axis which causes that part of the lunar surface near to the edges of the disc to swing alternately in and out of sight.

John Russell R.A. ( 1745-1806).

Born in Guildford, and despite his sometimes violently expressed Methodist convictions, he was a highly successful society portraitist with a passion for the study and depiction of the Moon (fig.2 ). He grew up in a family with an interest in the arts which led to his apprenticeship to the portraitist Francis Coates, a founder member of the Royal Academy. He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1782, full Academician in 1788, and from 1790 his royal commissions earned him the title of `Painter to the King ( George III) and the Prince of Wales. His interest in astronomy was not only scientific but `stricken by the beauty of the Moon', was also artistic.  From the mid 1760s onwards Russell ` lost few opportunities when the Atmosphere has exhibited the object' to observe, map and draw the Moon. These efforts culminated in 1795 in a pastel portrait of it, 4ft. 4in. by 5ft., which he followed immediately with his invention of the Selenographia apparatus to give an accurate three-dimensional model. With commercial exploitation in mind Russell patented his apparatus on 5th November 1796, publishing the globe the following year together with an explanatory booklet entitled `A Description of the Selenographia: an Apparatus for exhibiting the Phenomena of the Moon, together with An Account of some of the Purposes which it may be applied to'. A few examples only are known to have survived, eleven in total, ( two in the Science Museum, London, ( fig. 4), one of which was formerly in the Royal Collection at Windsor,  one in the National Maritime Museum, London, ( fig. 3), one in the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford ,  one at the Royal Astronomical Society, another is in the Observatory in Madrid and others in private collections ). A globe without the selenographic mount is also held in the Science Museum, as are several sets of the printed gores in Oxford. Some of these are on a simple wooden stand, only depicting the surface of the moon without the devices for demonstrating lunar libration, where as others, such as the present example are made of either heavy brass or mahogany and with the libration devices.

George O`Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, (1751-1837).

George O`Brien Wyndham succeeded his father as 3rd Earl in 1763, when he was a twelve year old schoolboy (fig.5). He inherited the magnificent Petworth House in West Sussex which now entered a new golden age. A kind and generous man, he was a benevolent landlord and landowner. He was also an innovative one and became increasingly famous for his experiments in crop-rotation and was hailed  as `one of the fathers of modern English agriculture'. He also invested in forward thinking schemes such as the Chichester canal and the Brighton chain-pier which is commemorated in paintings by Turner. He financed roads, waterways, hospitals, schools, alms houses, a gas works and Petworth Town Hall. He was also a considerable patron of the arts and great collector.

He is probably most famous for his patronage of J.M.W.Turner by whom there are no fewer than 20 paintings at Petworth. However he was known to have been patronising the arts and fostering `rising genius, long before he bought his first Turner. In 1783 Egremont`s name appears in an entry for 1783 in Sir Joshua Reynolds`s ledgers: in 1785 he bought prints by Hogarth, in 1795 he commissioned a portrait of his mistress, Elizabeth Ilive ( known by a courtesy title as `Mrs Wyndham') and her children from George Romney, ( fig. 6).  Subject pictures by James Barry, Sir Francis Bourgeois, Henry Fuseli and John Opie were also represented in his early collecting carreer. However it was from 1790s that he flourished as a patron and collector of British art. Artists such as Turner, Beechey, Chantrey, Phillips and Leslie were of the inner circle of Lord Egremont`s artistic friends, and during their long stays were always made to feel at home.  Sadly his papers were burned after his death and so much of his collecting activities have had to be pieced together from other sources.

In common with many aristocrats of the late 18th century, the 3rd Earl was also interested in science. As a great patron of art, Lord Egremont would have been acquainted with John Russell and with his additional interest in science it is easy to understand why he would purchase such a piece as the present globe for the Egremont collection.  The Earl`s library contained many scientific works and he is known to have bought electrical and optical apparatus from leading London scientific instrument makers. Many of such purchases were made from suppliers such as George Adams, ( Mathematical Instrument Maker to His Majesty, Fleet Street) who specialised in scientific instruments including globes and telescopes. However in the present case the receipt appears to have been from Russell directly to Lord Egremont suggesting that the selenographia was a direct purchase, (fig. 1). Unusually for the times, the Earl`s mistress, `Mrs Wyndham'  was also a  lady of great scientific repute. She resided at Petworth and also entertained artists and also indulged a taste for chemical experiments. Through an agent much scientific equipment was bought for her and in 1796 she was awarded a silver medal for the invention of a cross-bar lever to improve the lifting of heavy weights. Given her scientific interest, it is possible that the present lot could have been purchased with her in mind. She subsequently married the Earl in 1801 but sadly the marriage did not last and she left Petworth within a year or two the marriage, never to return. She died in 1822.

Count Brühl, ( 1736-1809).

The stimulus for the original purchase of the present selenographia may also have come from Lord Egremont`s step- father Count Brühl, (1736-1809), known as John Maurice, Count of Bruhl.  Born at Wiederau, the son of F.W. Graf. Von Brühl of Martinskirchen, he studied at Leipzig. Moving to  Paris, in 1755, Brühl, then in his nineteenth year, took an active part in Saxon diplomacy, and was summoned to Warsaw in 1759. He was named, through his uncle's influence, chamberlain and commandant in Thuringia, and in 1764 appointed Ambassador Extraordinary to the Court of St. James. In 1767, he married Alicia Maria, Dowager Countess of Egremont. 

He loved astronomy and promoted its interests. Through his influence Franz Xaver von Zach, who entered his family as tutor shortly after his arrival in London in November 1783, became an astronomer. With a Hadley's sextant and a chronometer by Josiah Emery, they together determined, in 1785, the latitudes and longitudes of Brussels, Frankfurt, Dresden, and Paris. Brühl built (probably in 1787) a small observatory at his villa at Harefield, and set up there, about 1794, a two-foot astronomical circle by Jesse Ramsden, one of the first instruments of the kind made in England. He was intimate with William Herschel, and transmitted news of discoveries abroad through Johann Elert Bode's Jahrbuch. He supported the advancement of chronometry, in the work of Thomas Mudge and Emery. Except for one journey homeward in 1785, he never afterwards left England, but died at his house in Old Burlington Street on 9 June 1809, aged 72.

It is interesting to note that there is in the present Petworth collection a portrait by Russell of the Count which indicates that they were well acquainted and would support a suggestion that he may have been instrumental in directing the purchase of the present lot.