Mid-18th Century Globes

A truly delightful miniature terrestrial pocket globe in a celestial case, 3 inches / 6.8 cm. The globe consists of 12 wonderful varnished, engraved hand-coloured gores that stretch from pole to pole. In the original case of black fish-skin with a brass hinge and two brass hook-and-eyelet closures, case with a unique silver plaque which reads: "B. Bellchamber S. King - Gul's Fox Summum Geographicum Praemium Pares Meruere". * [This very roughly translates to:] "B. Bellchamber S. King - Gul's Fox Earns Top Geographical Peers Award". *Is it too much to suppose and speculate that this wonderful silver plaque attached to the outer case is in recognition of a [geographic?] scholastic achievement? The prize awarded to the lucky recipients (B. Bellchamber & S. King?) is this globe? This terrestrial globe has two repairs; to the area concerning the British Isles, and also to parts of Europe and Scandinavia (with some loss). There is some slight loss to a portion of North America, and there is a crack to the northern portion of South America. It is partly worn in other places and has some slight spotting. It is lacking the axis metal pin, and the two holes that normally allow for this pin have been closed. The case is split and segmented, partly rubbed and worn with cracks, (as is usual.) The case will close. There is some minor chipping and cracking to the outer rim of the inside of the case. About Pocket Globes. It is generally thought that Joseph Moxon brought pocket globes to England in the late seventeenth century. These globes usually consist of a terrestrial sphere of about 7.5 cm in diameter that fits into an outer case (usually made of fish-skin). The interior of this case often bears bright, colourful celestial cartography, so you effectively have the celestial heavens surrounding the terrestrial earth. Pocket globes, although highly desirable, are for all intents and purposes somewhat impractical, as their size makes accurate calculations impossible. Few, if any, pocket globes came with accompanying booklets, so it is hard for anyone to know who used them and for what purposes. Pocket globes could simply have served purely as status symbols for wealthy gentlemen, who had an interest in geography or astronomy. The fields of geography and the sciences were quickly advancing during this period. Alternatively, pocket globes could be seen as a tool used in children’s education, especially when you think that they are construction from cheap materials such as papier-mâché. Points of Interest. This particular globe shows California as a peninsula, whereas previously it had been depicted as an island – a misconception dating back to the sixteenth century; it has the northwest coast of America simply as "unknown parts."; - due to a profound lack of knowledge of the region; the track of Admiral George Anson’s circumnavigation of the world (1740-44) is drawn – Anson led a squadron of eight ships on a mission to disrupt or capture the Pacific Ocean possessions of the Spanish Empire, for emphases, the trade winds are indicated by red arrows. There are three large lakes engraved in Africa that may longer exist. The Celestial Gores. The celestial gores, housed within the case, are fun and eye-catching both in their display and in their content. Constellations and both hemispheres and are represented. Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, Orion, Andromeda, Taurus, Leo, Ursa Major etc in the north, and Scorpio, Libra, Canis Major etc in the south. A celestial globe is a mapping of the stars, and has been used since classical times. Celestial globes were first used by Greek astronomers, and later by the Islamic world, where the earliest known globes date from the eleventh century. The stars were thought to sit on the surface of a giant sphere around the earth, and the constant movement of the stars each night and throughout the year appeared to be caused by this giant sphere slowly turning overhead. In line with its counterpart, the terrestrial globe, celestial globes are mapped by a north and a south pole, an equator, and lines of latitude and longitude. The Terrestrial Globe. The North Pole encompasses the Arctic Circle, Baffin Bay (Canada), Iceland, Greenland, northern Siberia and Nuova Zembla. Europe shows the Dominion of Muscovy (a principality of the late Middle Ages centered on Moscow), Turkey, the British Isles, Italy etc. Africa highlights the Barbary coast, Biledulgerid (a former country in North Africa), the Zaara Desart (Sahara Desert), Negroland (an archaic term in European mapping referring to large portions of West Africa), Guinea, Ethiopia, Congo, the islands of the Azores and the Canaries. Australia (New Holland) shows the outdated cartography of an incomplete coastline; The West Australian and Northern Territory coastlines are in full, however, there is no connected mainland coastline from South Australia up to Northern Queensland. Papua New Guinea is still thought to be a part of the Australian mainland. A portion of Tasmania’s coastline is engraved. The only places/regions mentioned are: Dimens Land and Carpentaria in the north; Lewins, St. Francis, Mary’s Island, South Cape, and Dimens Land in the south. Interestingly, a place named Hartog’s Island is mentioned off the West Australian coast. This island has a unique place within Australia’s history as it is the first recorded European landing on Australian soil in 1616 by the island’s namesake, Dutch captain Dirk Hartog...

Rare 18th century celestial globe (Globus Coelestis) on a stand in mahogany and blackened wood by Anders Akerman, 1759. In 1758, the "Cosmographic Society" was formed in Uppsala, ...

A pair of 12 inch table globes by Josiah Loring, dated 1844 and 1841. Each globe is set into a fruitwood stand with four baluster turned legs and stretchers, the terrestrial globe wi...

Colossal Terrestrian globe hand painted, French, first half of the 18th century. Mounted in a 19th century pedestal wood.   

Nathaniel Hill Pocket globe London, 1754 The globe is contained in its original case, which itself is covered in shark skin. There are slight gaps in the original paint on the sphere. The case no longer closes. The sphere measures 2.6 in (6.8 cm) in diameter whereas the case measures 2.9 in (7.4 cm) in diameter. lb 0.24 (kg 0.11) The globe is made up of twelve printed paper gores aligned and glued to the sphere. In the North Pacific Ocean there is a scroll with the inscription: A New terrestrial Globe by Nath. Hill, 1754. The celestial globe is depicted on the inside of the box. On the terrestrial globe much of central and southern Africa is empty. North America bears only the name of some British colonies. It shows California as a peninsula and the northwest coast of America as "unknown parts" (Alaska is not described and is only partially delineated; it would become part of the United States in 1867). The route of Admiral Anson is traced (1740) and the trade winds are indicated by arrows. Australia, still named New Holland (the new name would be introduced in 1829), is part of the west coast. (See Van der Krogt, P., Old Globes in the Netherlands, Utrecht 1984, p. 146 and Van der Krogt, P. - Dekker, E., Globes from the Western World, London 1993, p. 115.) Nathaniel Hill (London, news from 1746 to 1768) had impeccable professional credentials: he had done his apprenticeship with Richard Cushee, who at the time was carrying out surveying work for John Senex's Surrey map...