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The Blaeu celestial globe
Willem Blaeu1602
Australian National Maritime Museum
Sydney, Australia
This 23.5 cm globe represents the first full publication of the Southern Hemisphere's constellations, including the Southern Cross. The globe features coloured illustrations and is mounted on its original wooden stand with a brass meridian. Willem Blaeu is renowned for the quality of his charts and cartography which represent some of the most accurate work of the 17th century. This globe was based on observations made by Frederik de Houtman, a Dutch East India Company skipper who sailed on the earliest Dutch voyage to Asia.
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Details
- Title: The Blaeu celestial globe
- Creator: Willem Janszoon Blaeu
- Date: 1602
- Location: Nederland
- Type: Globe
- Significance: This extremely rare celestial globe is one of six known examples in the world. It offers the first complete depiction of the constellations in the Southern Hemisphere and documents the effect of European imperial expansion on mapmaking in the 17th century. Its fine craftsmanship highlights the skill of its maker Blaeu.
- See institution's online collections: http://www.anmm.gov.au/collections
- Medium: Plaster, wooden stand, brass meridian
- Dimensions: 334 x 230 mm, 1.95 kg
- Credit line: ANMM Collection
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