ROBERT de VAUGONDY (Didier)

Celestial globe having for title : "Celestial globe drawn up by order of the King, and calculated for the year 1770, by the S.r Robert de Vaugondy son. With approval of the Royal Academy of Sciences. August 1751". Celestial globe of parquet of about 45 centimeters in diameter, consisting of 12 spindles and two caps at the poles, engraved on paper, and mounted on a paper mache sphere, the axis crossing the poles. Equinoctial line (equator) and ecliptic line graduated every degree, marked every 10 degrees. Brass meridian circle engraved every degree, marked every 10 degrees, and bearing a circle of hours with a needle, graduated twice from I to XII and subdivided into quarters of an hour. The globe is mounted on a small turned wooden foot and nailed to an antique wooden tripod base with scroll motifs. Horizon in octagonal wood from the 20th century. Total height about 116 cm. The globe has three cartouches. The largest one reads as follows: GLOBE CELESTE/dressé par Ordre/DU ROI,/et calculé pour l'année 1770,/par le S.r ROBERT DE VAUGONDY fils./Avec approbation de l'Académie/Royale des Sciences./Août 1751. G. De La Haye Scripsit. Gobin Sculpsit; to the left of this cartouche is a crowned woman wearing a heavy fleurdelisé mantle and holding a scepter in her right hand; at her feet a cannon, to her left, a ship's sail, a caduceus, a lyre and a painter's palette; to the right of the cartouche, a woman surrounded by instruments of astronomy. In a second rocaille cartouche: A PARIS/chés L'AUTEUR sur/le Quay de l'horloge/du Palais. Between the Ship and the Hydra, third rocaille cartouche containing the list of symbols according to the magnitude of the constellations: First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Nebula. The constellations are represented by animals, mythological characters and scientific instruments, named in French, such as the Ecu de Sobieski, the Fly, Perseus, the Indian, the Giraffe, the Unicorn, the Milky Way or the Sextant. One star is annotated It appears and disappears, another It does not appear any more. The oldest constellations, called classical, are represented by solid lines, the most recent by dotted lines. Several of the constellations represented have become obsolete, such as the Small Triangle, named by Hevelius in 1690, or have known only a brief existence, such as the Oak of Charles, named by Halley in 1679 in honor of Charles II of England. The mention of "the year 1770" in the title is explained by Didier Robert de Vaugondy himself in his work published in 1751, entitled Usages des globes céleste et terrestre, faits par ordre du Roy: "Mon globe céleste a été composé sur les catalogs les plus exacts, réduits pour le calcul à l'année 1770, afin qu'il puisse être d'un usage plus durable [....] The proper movement of the stars, is fixed at one degree in 70 years, that is why I took the epoch of 1770, because of the little interval from 1751 to this year, which cannot cause a sensible difference, being for the present only about a quarter of a degree. The first edition of this globe dates from 1751. In 1764, a new edition was published "increased with the constellations of M.r Delacaille", as well as those of Hevelius. We find these constellations of Hevelius on our globe, like the small Lion, the Linx, or the Lizard. This new edition also depicts the constellation of the Reene, which we also find on our globe. With these new constellations added in 1764, we can assume that our globe was published after this date. Traces of restoration, very damaged south pole cap with important losses, rubbing and numerous small losses and scratches scattered on the globe, sometimes more important; large circle in blue ballpoint pen at the level of the tail of Leo, and blue color added near the Triangle. Dahl & Gauvin, The Discovery of the World. A History of Globes, 2001, pp. 123 - 129.