The Hondius Terrestrial and Celestial Globes

The dominant model in the golden age of Dutch cartography (around 1590-1640) was the pair of globes of the same size, designed as a model of the cosmos. Maritime trade between the Dutch Republic and distant lands played a major economic role at that time: the globe was both a navigational instrument and a symbol of the expansion of trade with the "new worlds".
There were three rival globe makers in Amsterdam: the Van Langren, Blaeu and Hondius families. The globes on display here were published in 1600 by Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612) to rival those of Willem Blaeu, especially the celestial globe adorned with baroque-style engravings by the painter Jan Pieterszoon Saenredam, largely copied by Hondius. These globes by Hondius appear in two famous paintings by Vermeer, The Geographer and The Astronomer.

Arabic Celestial Globe

Astronomy made great progress in the Middle Ages thanks to Arabic science, inherited from ancient Greece. This globe, made in Mecca in 1573, is a late medieval example. On the copper alloy sphere, cast in one piece using the "lost wax" technique, the positions of about 900 stars are indicated (rather approximately) with inlaid silver dots. This type of small globe was generally used to help in reading astronomical treatises.

Baradelle's Terrestrial Globe

In the 18th century, the production of globes developed to meet growing demand. Globes appeared in middle class drawing rooms, in the libraries of the literati and in teaching establishments. Manufacturers proposed a broad range of globes for this diverse clientele: from large, luxury floor models for the powerful, to smaller, less expensive, lightweight table globes designed for the study of elementary geography.
Made in 1743 by the Parisian scientific instrument maker Jacques Baradelle, this small terrestrial globe is a perfect example of such products, representative of the spirit of the Enlightenment.

Thury's Globe

This raised relief terrestrial globe, which received a prize at the Paris World's Fair in 1855, was designed and patented by a French school teacher called Thury. It differs from other contemporary globes insofar as it represents the world's major mountain ranges, depicted in raised relief by means of an innovative process called "embossing". As a result, the mountains stand out visually and, for the first time on a printed globe, to the touch.

From the collection of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
©origin of source Gallica / Bibliothèque nationale de France