Globe Terrestre / Globe Céleste

A striking pair of engraved armillary spheres projecting models of the Solar System, surrounded by a decorative architectural frame, embellished with cherubs and cartographic symbols.

Attractive wash colors and illustrations of the signs of the zodiac and other features. From a deluxe edition of Desnos' work.

A decorative eighteenth century illustration of two standing globes, terrestrial and celestial, with an ornate baroque border printed on a separate plate, published by Desnos for Brion's 'Atlas General, Civil et Ecclesiastique, Methodique et Elementaire pour l'etude de la Geographie et de l'Histoire'. The multiple plate arrangement allowed Desnos to print different editions of his atlases from the same map plates. Some editions featured paste-down text panels on either side of the map, while others were issued with just a border. The map is ornamented in original hand colour.

In the 18th century cartographers liked to include engravings of spheres and globes in their general atlases, as astronomy and the knowledge of the planets had become fashionable and a major part of the new-found discoveries in the "Age of Enlightenment." This fine engraving shows at left a terrestrial globe centered on the eastern hemisphere, featuring the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. At right is a celestial globe featuring the constellations of Ursa Major, Perseus, Gemini, Scorpio, Taurus, Virgo and others. The globes are on ornate rococo-style bases, and the engraving is surrounded by a lovely picture-frame style border.

Louis Brion de la Tour (c.1743-1803) was a French geographer and mapmaker. Despite his prolific output and Royal connections, details of his life remain relatively obscure. Much of his work was published by Denon, and his son, also Louis, likely worked alongside his father.

Louis Charles Desnos (c.1750-1790) was a French publisher, bookseller, and globemaker.