Object Description
8 inch celestial globe, Navisphère designed by Henri Julien Aved de Magnac, Paris, circa 1900.
A celestial sphere on which are shown the stars of 1st and 2nd magnitude in Latin and French.
Paper mâché sphere, twelve full gores and two polar calottes.
“NAVISPHERE – DE – Mr DE MAGNAC – Bté S.G.D.G. – F. W. EICHENS CONSTR – E. BERTAUX, ÉDITEUR – PARIS.”
Frederic William Eichens, instrument maker in Paris, obtained a French patent for it in 1878, an American patent in 1881, and other patents in England and Germany. (F. W. EICHENS CELESTIAL GLOBE UNITED STATES Patent No 247811, October 4th 1881).
Stand marked: G. W. LENNOX. CARDIFF. (G. W. Lennox, ‘Chart and Nautical Bookseller, Commercial Stationer, Printer and Lithographer’ Atlas Chambers, James Street, the Docks, Cardiff).
Original case, with carrying handle. H: 37 W: 26 D: 25.5 cm.
F. W. Eichens, “Celestial Globe,” U.S. patent #247,811.
H. De Magnac, “Le navisphere – instrument nautique,” Revue Maritime et Coloniale 61 (1879): 598-616.
H. De Magnac, Le Navisphere: instrument nautique, instruction pour son usage (Paris, 1881); and The Navisphere (England, 1881).
Globes at Greenwich: A Catalogue of the Globes and Armillary Spheres in the National Maritime Museum. Elly Dekker, 1999. Page 404.
For similar Navisphères see the collections of:
The Smithsonian Institution, Washington D. C. ID Number: 1989.0189.03
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département Cartes et Plans, GE A-1654
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Object ID: GLB0188