Vincenzo Coronelli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A celestial globe by Coronelli in the National Library, Vienna.

Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (August 16, 1650 - December 9, 1718) was an Italian cosmographer, cartographer and encyclopedist known in particular for his globes.

[edit] Biography

Born in Venice, Coronelli was a Minorite Friar and doctor of Theology at the Collegium San Bonaventura in Rome.

In 1678 Coronelli created two globes for the Duke of Parma. These globes had a diameter of 175cm and were finely crafted. This drew the attention of the French ambassador, César d'Estrées, who subsequently invited Coronelli to Paris. Coronelli moved to the French capital in 1681, where he lived for two years. Coronelli was commissioned by the cardinal d'Estréss to produce two globes, one of the earth, the other of the heavens, for king Louis XIV. These globes measuring 384cm in diameter are presently relocated to their new place, Bibliothèque nationale François Mitterrand in Paris. Due to his renown he worked in various European countries in the following years, permanently returning to Venice in 1705. In Venice he founded the very first geographical society, the Accademia Cosmografica degli Argonauti. He also held the position of Cosmographer of the Republic of Venice.

The first six volumes of the Biblioteca Universale Sacro-Profana were published by Coronelli. This was the first encyclopedia to be ordered alphabetically.

Coronelli died at the age of 68 in Vienna, having created hundreds of maps in his lifetime. Some of the original globes by Coronelli are today located in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, in the National Library of Austria and in the library of the Benedictine monastery, Stift Melk, in Melk, Austria. A well-preserved pair of heaven and earth globuses from 1688 and 1693 are located in the city library of Trier. Another 1688 example is displayed at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. This globe, owned by the university since 1968, underwent a restoration in the late 1990s.

The International Coronelli Society for the Study of Globes, founded 1952 in Vienna, is named in his honour.