Celestial table globe

Celestial table globe. It forms a pair with the terrestrial globe, Blaeu GLB0100. Astronomical details on the sphere show a magnitude table, above Dorado, in a cartouche. The Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds are labelled. There is a precession table in a cartouche followed by a table and an explanation. A total of 51 stars and ten groups are named. The 48 Ptolemaic constellations and four of the non-Ptolemaic constellations are drawn, and the 12 southern constellations of Plancius are also drawn.

All constellations are in the style of Saenredam, whose name was mentioned on the first edition of this globe but removed from the present one. Here Bootes is without his dogs. There are manuscript traces in cartouches to fill in missing text. The data on the southern constellations on this 1603 edition of Blaeu's 340 mm globe are based on a second survey that was carried out by Frederik de Houtman in 1598-1602. For full details about the cartography and construction of this globe please refer to the related publication.

Object Details

ID: GLB0101
Collection: Astronomical and navigational instruments; Charts and maps
Type: Table globe
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Blaeu, Willem Jansz; Petrus Plancius, Petrus
Date made: Gores produced: 1603; Gores produced: 1603; Plates altered: after 1621 Plates altered: after 1621
People: Houtman, Frederik de; Brahe, Tycho
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: Overall: 520 x 470 mm; Diameter of sphere: 340 mm