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Description

Rare north polar section of Coronelli's remarkable globe gores, first published in 1690.

The present gore section is the calotte for Coronelli's large (110cm) globe. The section includes extensive details in Greenland, Spitzbergen, Wiches Land, Yan Mayer Island, Davis Straits, Hudson's Bay and Nova Zembla.

Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (1650-1718) was a Franciscan monk, cosmographer, cartographer and publisher, best known for his atlases and globes. Coronelli first studied printing in Ravenna at the age of 10. In 1663, he was accepted into the Conventual Franciscans, becoming a novice in 1665. In 1674, Coronelli earned his doctor's degree in theology in Rome.

As a student, Coronelli excelled in math and astronomy. Shortly before 1678, Coronelli began working as a geographer and was commissioned to make a set of terrestrial and celestial globes for Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma. Each finely crafted globe was five feet in diameter (c. 175cm) and so impressed the Duke that he made Coronelli his theologian, where his reputation began to grow.

Cardinal César d'Estrées, friend and adviser to Louis XIV and ambassador to Rome, saw the Duke of Parma's globes and invited Coronelli to Paris in 1681, to construct a pair of globes for the King. Coronelli moved to Paris, where he lived until 1683, constructing a remarkable 4 meter pair of globes, which incorporated the wealth of new information coming to Paris from various French explorers of the late 17th century. The Globes can still be seen in the Bibliothèque Nationale en Paris.

As a result of the renown brought to Coronelli, he thereafter became one of the World's most celebrated map and globe makers. This Calotte is from Coronelli's most popular Globe, which was over 3 feet in Diameter.

Vincenzo Maria Coronelli Biography

Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (1650-1718) was one of the most influential Italian mapmakers and was known especially for his globes and atlases. The son of a tailor, Vincenzo was apprenticed to a xylographer (a wood block engraver) at a young age. At fifteen he became a novice in a Franciscan monastery. At sixteen he published his first book, the first of 140 publications he would write in his lifetime. The order recognized his intellectual ability and saw him educated in Venice and Rome. He earned a doctorate in theology, but also studied astronomy. By the late 1670s, he was working on geography and was commissioned to create a set of globes for the Duke of Parma. These globes were five feet in diameter. The Parma globes led to Coronelli being named theologian to the Duke and receiving a bigger commission, this one from Louis XIV of France. Coronelli moved to Paris for two years to construct the King’s huge globes, which are 12.5 feet in diameter and weigh 2 tons.

The globes for the French King led to a craze for Coronelli’s work and he traveled Europe making globes for the ultra-elite. By 1705, he had returned to Venice. There, he founded the first geographical society, the Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti and was named Cosmographer of the Republic of Venice. He died in 1718.