Monumental Pair of Cary's Library Globes

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Monumental Pair of Cary's Library Globes

About the Item

J. & W. Cary
London: March 1799 (Celestial) & 1825 (Terrestrial)
Mahogany stands

A fine, rare and handsome pair of large English Regency terrestrial and celestial floor globes by J. & W. Cary, generally regarded as the greatest British globe makers of the late Georgian period. The terrestrial globe is dated 1825, showing early western exploration of the United States. The celestial globe is dated 1799 and is richly decorated with zodiac and other constellation figures. Both are raised on identical mahogany stands in the Georgian taste with compass stretchers.

Each globe is surmounted by brass hour disc at the North Pole, in a full graduated brass meridian, the horizon -- edged with cross banded veneer -- with hand-colored engraved paper ring showing degrees of amplitude and azimuth, compass directions, days and months of the year, names of the signs of the zodiac, and an equation of time. The globes are each supported by four incised mahogany quadrants joined to the horizon between pairs of ogee brackets, raised on a mahogany tripod stand with ring and baluster turned central standard, the splayed in-swept legs having ebonized diamond-form inlays, joined by compass stretcher with glazed round wooden compass case enclosing a paper compass card and magnetized metal needle, ending in spade feet on brass casters.

The terrestrial globe is mapped with detailed cartography, geographical entities in tones of cream, olive, and faded pink, with thick olive and thin pink outlining, and oceans in olive tones. Region west of Mississippi shown, from north to south, as "Missouri Ter.," "Great Desert," and Mexico. Southwest shown as "Unexplored Countries," and north of that as "Shoshones or Snake Ind." California shown as "New Albion," a name given to a cove on the Pacific coast by Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to sail around the world (1577-1580). Information from important exploratory voyages of the late 18th century was incorporated into the cartography of this globe. Noted on the cartouche are Captain James Cook's round-the-world voyages (1768-1780). Also noted are the discoveries of Cook's protégé Captain George Vancouver, sent by the British to map the northwest Pacific coast of North America, who named over 200 places and proved that the mythical "Northwest Passage" did not exist. The globe draws upon the mapping of the mainland Asian coast, then known as Tartary, by another admirer of Cook, the French admiral Jean-François de Galaup, Count de la Perouse (1741-88). Sent by the French government to collect scientific data, he led an expedition to the North American, South American and Asian coasts of the Pacific, and the islands of the South Pacific, on a voyage beginning in 1785. In 1788, he sent his journals and letters to Europe on a British ship, and shortly thereafter disappeared in a shipwreck.

Significantly, Cary terrestrial globes showed the rapidly evolving understanding of the geography of the American West. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had been appointed by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the newly acquired territory. Their journeys, undertaken between 1804 and 1806, covered thousands of miles of wilderness, including the Missouri River, which they navigated between St. Louis and North Dakota, and their travels through what is now the Northwestern U.S. to the Oregon coast. Cary advertised that their globes included cartographic details derived from Lewis & Clark's report that was issued in 1812. This is the first time that the information from these remarkable discoveries was published on a globe. Beyond this key fact, this terrestrial globe was the first to juxtapose the Lewis and Clark discoveries with those of Zebulon Pike in the American Southwest, Stephen Long in Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas, Thomas Nutall in Arkansas and Andrew Ellicott on the border between Spanish Florida and the United States.

Thus these globes give to the American and European communities the first results of the magnificent discoveries that opened up North America to United States citizens and emmigrants from all over the world. The fire of manifest destiny burned much brighter as a result of this cornerstone globe.

The celestial globe is mapped with constellations elegantly depicted by mythical figures and scientific instruments in the Baroque taste, the zodiac belt within graph-form grid, the stars shown in a chart in successive orders of magnitude, together with planetary nebulae and clusters. The constellations are in tones of pink, grey, browns, and olive against a cream-colored background. An example of the celestial globe, same date and size, is in the collection of the Osterreichisches Staatsarchiv in Vienna, Austria (Allmayer-Beck). Another example in the Universiteitsmuseum of Utrecht is the same size and has the same design of stand but is dated 1815 (Dekker and van der Krogt, plate 37).

The celebrated Cary family of cartographers and globe makers produced some of the greatest late Georgian globes, and are often considered the best 19th century British globe maker. The firm was started in the late 18th century by John Cary, who often worked in partnership with his brother William Cary, a scientific instrument maker (selling as J. & W. Cary). The Cary brothers moved their business to 86 St. James's Street in about 1820, leaving the premises at 181 Strand to John Cary's sons George (c. 1788-1859) and John Jr. (1791-1852). While most J. & W. Cary globes were produced from 1791 to 1816, in the 1820s some Cary globes were still issued under that name. Meanwhile, the family also produced a variety of globes under the name G. & J. Cary from the 1820s to about 1850. In 1850, George Frederick Cruchley, a map seller, took
over a portion of the Cary business and produced maps and globes from 1850 to about 1876.

Dimensions:
Height: 47 in (119.38 cm)Diameter: 27.25 in (69.22 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Materials and Techniques:
Mahogany
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
c. 1799-1825
Condition:
Overall good, some light oxidation.
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: 100503888918

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