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 lot includes three such engravings, with spheres on ornate rococo-style bases, and the engravings surrounded by a lovely picture-frame style border. The first 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 second engraving features spheres showing the Copernican and Ptolemaic views of the solar system. The third engraving includes two armillary spheres with the north pole oriented to the left and with the north pole at the top.

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Condition: B+

Contemporary color on bright, watermarked sheets with minor soiling and light dampstains along the sides of the sheet, entering into the images in the bottom corners.