Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Volume 2 / Their History and Construction Including a Consideration of their Value as Aids in the Study of Geography and Astronomy

by Edward Luther Stevenson

Greuter’s globes all appear to have been made in the same size, and they have the same general construction, with the exceptions noted below.

A pair of these globes, that is, of the terrestrial, of the year 1632 and the celestial of 1636, may be found in the following public and private libraries and museums in addition to those above mentioned: Scuole Comunale of Ancona; in the Biblioteca Comunale of Bologna; in the Biblioteca Comunale of Camarino; in the Seminario Vescovile of Carpi; in the Biblioteca Comunale and also in the Museo Agabiti of Fabriano; in the Biblioteca Comunale of Ferrara; in the Biblioteca di Santa Maria Nuova of Florence; in the Biblioteca Comunale of Gubbio; in the Biblioteca Governativo of Lucca; in the Biblioteca Capitolari of Reggio; in the Museo Astronomico, also in the Biblioteca Chigi and the Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele of Rome; in the Biblioteca Comunale of Sanseverino; in the Biblioteca Gonzaga of Mantua; in the Biblioteca Universitario of Messina; in the Biblioteca Nazionale of Milan; in the Museo Civico of Modena; in the Museo di Fisica and also in the Seminario Vescovile of Padua; in the Biblioteca Palatina of Parma and a pair in the possession of Joseph Baer & Company of Frankfurt, 1914. A copy of the terrestrial globe of the year 1632, in addition to the one described above as belonging to The Hispanic Society of America, may be found in the Biblioteca Comunale of Bassano; in the Ateneo of Brescia; in the Museo di Fisica of Catania; in the Archivo di Stato of Venice. In private libraries copies of these globes may be found in the possession of the General Antonio Gandolfi of Bologna; of Sr. P. Marezio Bazolle, once belonging to the Counts of Piloni of Belluno; of Professor Luigi Bailo of Treviso; of Sr. D. Luigi Belli of Genga. A copy of the celestial globe of the year 1636 may be found in the Biblioteca Comunale of Serra S. Quirico, and also a copy in the library of Mr. W. B. Thompson of Yonkers, N. Y.

It does not appear that Greuter himself issued other editions of his globes. His death occurred in the year 1638, and in this same year what may be called a second edition of his globes of the years 1632 and 1636, having the same dimensions, was offered to the public. It has been noted above that one Giuseppe de Rossi of Milan reprinted in Rome, in the year 1615, the Hondius terrestrial and celestial globes of 1601, making but slight alterations in the same but giving the impression that he was the original author. It was perhaps a near relative of this Milanese engraver and printer, Giovanni Battista de Rossi, who in the year 1638 reprinted in Rome the Greuter globes with but few changes, none of which can be considered of special import save the introduction of his own name as printer instead of that of Greuter. It may, however, be noted that both globes are dated 1636, that below the Tropic of Capricorn on the terrestrial globe is the legend “Si stampa da Gio Bat̄ta de Rossi Milanese in Piazza Navona. Roma,” and that the title legend of the celestial reads “In hac coelesti sphaera stellae fixae majori quam hactenus numero et accuratiori industria delineantur novis Asterismis in Philomaticom̄ gratiam de integro additis: quae omnia secundum Astronomorum Principis Tychonis Brahe et aliorum observationem verae suae longitudini ac latitudini ad annum Christi 1636 restituta sunt. Romae Matteus Greuter exc. 1636.” “In this celestial globe are shown the fixed stars in greater number than previously, and with greater care and industry, the new constellations being added for the sake of the student. All these, according to the observations of the Prince of Astronomers, Tycho Brahe, and likewise the observations of others, have been assigned to their proper latitude and longitude for the year of Christ 1636. Made at Rome by Mattheus Greuter 1636.”

A pair of these globes of the second edition may be found in the private library of Cav. Giampieri-Carletti of Piticchio in the Marche; in a private library of Ancona (owner unknown); in the Seminario Vescovile of Toscanella. A copy of the terrestrial globe may be found in the Seminario Vescovile of Macerata; and of the celestial in the library of Count Francesco Conestabile of Perugia.

The Hispanic Society of America has in its collection a unique globe which is clearly the work of Mattheus Greuter (Fig. [103]), although issued by Giovanni Battista de Rossi, as is attested by the legend, “Si Stampa da Gio Batta de Rossi Milanese in Piazza Navona Roma.” This legend, appearing in a neat cartouch, occupies the same position in the southern hemisphere, near the prime meridian, as that in which one finds the dedication of his first issue, but that part of the cartouch in the earlier issue showing the coat of arms of the Boncompagni family is here left blank. The title of the first issue is repeated save in the concluding words. Here we read “In iste quam exhibimus ... Mattheus Greuter auctor. Excudit Romae 1638.” Other legends, such as those in the northern part of North America beginning, “Post apertum a Lusitanis ...,” that southeast of Africa beginning, “Quam longitudinis initium ...,” and the briefer ones referring to the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, to the expedition of Schouten, and to that of Magellan, are identical in the two editions. It, however, is to be noted that many of the briefer legends appearing in the first edition are wanting in this of the year 1638, and that in the latter the place names are greatly reduced in number. It is further particularly worthy of note that the North American continent in this later issue is very much altered in its outline. California appears as an island, “Insula California,” and is separated from the great northwestern section of North America, which is likewise represented, though somewhat doubtfully, as an island, by the “Stretto di Anian,” while the “Estreito de Jeso” separates the New World from Asia. The globe ball has a diameter of 26 cm. Its mounting is of wood. It has a broad horizon circle, on which are the representations of the signs of the zodiac, the calendar, the Roman and the Italian names of the winds or directions appearing in concentric circles, the whole being supported on a base consisting of four exquisitely carved and rather heavy support columns which are joined below by carved cross bracings. Its meridian circle is a comparatively recent and very clumsy substitute of wood for the original which doubtless was of brass. It is very seldom that one finds a globe of a date so early as is this which is so well preserved. The engraved map has the freshness of a new and unused print, excepting a very slight yellow tinge which is the contribution of age. On this globe map may be found one of the earliest attempts to give boundary lines to territorial divisions in the New World such as “Virginia,” “La Florida,” “Nuovo Mexico,” “N. Amsterdam,” “N. Suetia.”

Fig. 103. Terrestrial Globe of Mattheus Greuter, 1638.