US $41.00 ARMILLARY SPHERES 1766 BRION DE LA TOUR/DESNOS ANTIQUE CELESTIAL MAP Description Sphere de Copernic.// Sphere de Ptolemee. Description: Striking and highly detailed fine unusual 1766 Louis Brion de la Tour's copper engraved celestial chart featuring an Armillary Spheres. The sphere is surrounded by the representation of the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, the Solar Systems according the theories of Copernicus & Ptolemy. Surrounding the whole is an elaborate decorative border. This map was issued as plate no. 2 in the most deluxe edition of Desnos’ 1766 “Atlas General Methodique et Elementaire, Pour l’Etude de la Geographie et de l’Histoire Moderne”. Date: 1766 ( undated ) Dimension: Paper size approx.: cm 38,5 x 28,9 Condition: Very strong and dark impression on good paper. Paper with chains. Map old original colored. Wide lateral margins. Small foxing and browning. Small marginal tears. Map folded. Conditions are as you can see in the images. Louis Charles Desnos (1725 - April 18, 1805) was an important 18th century instrument maker, cartographer and globe maker based in Paris, France. Desnos was born in Pont-Sainte-Maxence, Oise, France, the son of a cloth merchant. From April of 1745 he apprenticed at a metal foundry. Desnos married the widow of Nicolas Hardy, sone of the map, globe, and instrument seller Jacques Hardy. Desnos held the coveted position of Royal Globemaker to the King of Denmark, Christian VII, for which he received a stipend of 500 Livres annually. In return Desnos sent the King roughly 200 Livres worth of maps, books and atlases each year. As a publisher, Desnos produced a substantial corpus of work and is often associated with Zannoni and Louis Brion de la Tour (1756-1823). Despite or perhaps because of the sheer quantity of maps Desnos published he acquired a poor reputation among serious cartographic experts, who considered him undiscerning and unscrupulous regarding what he would and would not publish. Desnos consequently had a long history of legal battles with other Parisian cartographers and publishers of the period. It is said that he published everything set before him without regard to accuracy, veracity, or copyright law. Desnos maintained offices on Rue St. Jacques, Paris.