Lot 91: A fine German 8-inch celestial globe

A fine German 8-inch celestial globe
After Johann Georg Klinger (1764-1806), early 19th century
unsigned and without cartouche, made up of twelve lithographed gores laid to the ecliptic poles and two polar calottes, the graduated equatorial numbered by 10°, the tropics shown and labelled, the polar circles shown but not labelled, the graduated ecliptic numbered by 10° and with the symbols of the Zodiac, greater circle for the solstice marked, the constellations depicting mythical beasts and scientific instruments labelled in Latin and German, the stars given with a key for six orders of magnitude and a symbol for nebulae, the brighter stars marked with Greek and Roman letters and some named, the axis through the celestial poles, with punched brass meridian circle (hour dial missing), the octagonal horizon with lithographed paper ring showing decorative pictorial representations of the houses of the Zodiac, days of the month and graduations in degrees, with wind directions in German and a decoration to each corner (some repaired cracks), supported on a restored stand comprised of a quadrangular base with single pillar and four arcs supporting the octagonal horizon ring.
17in. (43cm.) high

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Dekker and van der Krogt (1993) describe Klinger as the 'last great globe producer of Nuremberg'; the firm was continued after his death in 1806 by his widow, and this globe may date to that period (the German names for the constellations are thought to have been added subsequently to Klinger's original plates). The two constellations of Herschel's telescopes, made famous by the discovery of Uranus, first appeared on Klinger's 1790 globe. For a Klinger terrestrial globe with a similar stand, cf. E. Dekker Globes at Greenwich (Oxford, 1999), GLB0016.