Lot Essay
Although unsigned, this rare armillary sphere is in the unmistakable style of Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (1671-1750), whose stands and horizon circles varied little across his whole output of globes. There is no other known Doppelmayr armillary sphere in existence, nor is there one recorded to have existed.
Johann Gabriel Doppelmeyr was one of the most prolific of globe-makers of early 18th-Century Nuremberg. He studied in Altdorf and Halle, and travelled for some time in Germany, England and the Netherlands. Professor of Mathematics at the Aegidien Gymnasium in Nuremberg from 1704, globe-making was only a small part of his general efforts to encourage interest in science, in particular the progressive work of the likes of Newton, Huygens and Descartes, and transmission of this knowledge throughout Europe. He was the translator of several works on astronomy and cartography from French and German, as well as producing works of his own, including the Atlas novus coelestia of 1742. In addition, his work involved carrying out various astronomical and meteorological observations, and experiments with electrical phenomena. Indeed, it seems likely that his death in 1750 was was the result of an electric shock received whilst investigating the then newly invented electrical condensors.
Krogt suggests that it may have been an association with Johann Baptist Homann (1664-1724) which awakened an interest in globes, originating with his contribution of an article entitled Einleitung zur Geographie for the latter's atlas of 1714. Doppelmayr's first globes appeared on the market in 1728. There had already been several attempts to provide for the demand for globes in Germany following the decline of the Dutch globe-making industry, but Doppelmayr was the first to achieve real success and he soon dominated the German market for cheap globes. Doppelmayr worked with the engraver Johann Georg Puschner I (1680-1749), who may well have been the maker of the spheres, mountings and stands as well. Johann Georg Puschner II continued to publish the globes after 1749. When the copper plates came into the hands of Nuremberg publisher and pencil-maker Wolfgang Paul Jenig (d.1805), he reissued and updated Doppelmayr's globes with considerable commercial success, the final reissue being published by Johann Bernard Bauer (1752-1839) in 1808; their general commercial availability for such a long period of time is a testament to how prized they were.
Johann Gabriel Doppelmeyr was one of the most prolific of globe-makers of early 18th-Century Nuremberg. He studied in Altdorf and Halle, and travelled for some time in Germany, England and the Netherlands. Professor of Mathematics at the Aegidien Gymnasium in Nuremberg from 1704, globe-making was only a small part of his general efforts to encourage interest in science, in particular the progressive work of the likes of Newton, Huygens and Descartes, and transmission of this knowledge throughout Europe. He was the translator of several works on astronomy and cartography from French and German, as well as producing works of his own, including the Atlas novus coelestia of 1742. In addition, his work involved carrying out various astronomical and meteorological observations, and experiments with electrical phenomena. Indeed, it seems likely that his death in 1750 was was the result of an electric shock received whilst investigating the then newly invented electrical condensors.
Krogt suggests that it may have been an association with Johann Baptist Homann (1664-1724) which awakened an interest in globes, originating with his contribution of an article entitled Einleitung zur Geographie for the latter's atlas of 1714. Doppelmayr's first globes appeared on the market in 1728. There had already been several attempts to provide for the demand for globes in Germany following the decline of the Dutch globe-making industry, but Doppelmayr was the first to achieve real success and he soon dominated the German market for cheap globes. Doppelmayr worked with the engraver Johann Georg Puschner I (1680-1749), who may well have been the maker of the spheres, mountings and stands as well. Johann Georg Puschner II continued to publish the globes after 1749. When the copper plates came into the hands of Nuremberg publisher and pencil-maker Wolfgang Paul Jenig (d.1805), he reissued and updated Doppelmayr's globes with considerable commercial success, the final reissue being published by Johann Bernard Bauer (1752-1839) in 1808; their general commercial availability for such a long period of time is a testament to how prized they were.