140 - Cardboard armillary sphere on a bronze base, signed on the meridian circle: “Assembled and sold by Desnos on Rue St. Jacques St. Severin in Paris—1757,” and bearing the inscription “Assembled by.”

Cardboard armillary sphere on a bronze base, signed on the meridian circle: “Assembled and sold by Desnos on Rue St. Jacques St. Severin in Paris—1757,” and bearing the inscription “Assembled by.” Ptolemaic model with the Earth at the center, the tropics and the equator, and the Moon and Sun represented by two cardboard discs. The ecliptic circle features a zodiacal calendar. The sign of Cancer is also labeled “Crayfish,” as was common in the 18th century., Tropic of Capricorn, equinoctial line, Tropic of Cancer, Arctic Circle, and Antarctic Circle; meridian, degrees of elevation from the pole Circa 1753–1780 H: 31 cm Diameter: 20.5 cm Damage and missing sections Note: Louis Charles Desnos (1725–1805) was one of the greatest cartographers of his time. Born in Pont-Sainte-Maxence, the son of a cloth merchant, he succeeded Jacques Hardy (a renowned cartographer of his time) around 1754 following his marriage to the widow of Nicolas Hardy (Jacques’s son). He quickly gained recognition and in 1757 became a master typefounder in Paris, then a geographical engineer for the King of Denmark, and a geographical engineer for the City of Paris in 1769. The author of numerous works between 1756 and 1788, he is also renowned for his globes, spheres, and other cartographic instruments. His known addresses include Rue Saint Julien le Pauvre between 1753 and 1757, and then Rue Saint Jacques (at numbers 254, 252, and 190) under the sign “La Sphère” or “Le Globe.”