Giuseppe de Rossi’s Globus Coelest. [Seventeenth Century Italian Celestial Globe].

GIUSEPPE DE ROSSI,.

$28,000.00

Item Number: 127575

Rome: Giuseppe de Rossi, [1615].

Rare early seventeenth century Italian celestial globe produced by Roman cartographer Giuseppe de Rossi, the founder the most important and active printing press of 17th century Rome, the Rossi firm. Laid horizontally and mounted on a turned mahogany stand, the celestial globe measures 8 inches in diameter and is comprised of 12 hand-colored engraved gores depicting the major constellations and all twelve zodiac signs, illustrated in detail after Jodocus Hondius famed celestial globe of 1601. The inscribed cartouche reads, “Globus Coelest, in quo stellae fixæ omnes quæ a N. Viro Tychone Brahe suma cura observatæ sunt, accuratissime dessignantur: quibus adjuncte sunt circa Pol. Aust. stel: quæ a pertiss: nauclero Petro Theodori annotate sunt simul accomodate ad ann. 1614; æditus vero ann. 1615.” In near fine condition with the engravings exceptionally crisp. The entire piece measures 13 inches tall. Exceptionally rare.

Giuseppe de Rossi was the founder of the most important and active printing press of the 17th century in Rome, the Rossi firm, established by him in 1633. The firm was passed firstly to Giovanni Giacomo and to his brother Giandomenico and later to Lorenzo Filippo. Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi was the most involved of all the various family members who ran the press. working between 1638 and 1691 he took the company to the height of its success, printing the etchings of several of the most prominent 17th century artists including Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, Pietro Testa and Giovan Francesco Grimaldi.