A New Terrestrial Globe

A very beautiful 7.5 cm (3 inches) terrestrial pocket globe consisting of twelve engraved gores. It is titled and signed via a decorative small rococo-style cartouche in the North Pacific Ocean. It comes complete with its original red-rimmed, blackfish skin-covered wood case with a hinge, two brass and hook-and-eye clasps, and matching indentations for such. The globe is varnished, as is usual, and mounted on a metal axis. The globe is in excellent condition and has been well cared for during its lifetime. The colouring is original and still ‘fresh’ looking. It will make a fine and handsome addition to any collection. The only minor blemishes to the globe and case are minor rubbing and wear, and due to slight shrinkage, the case will not quite close – all this is entirely consistent with a pocket globe of this age. It comes with the standard polar hour circles, meridian circles, and graduated equatorial and ecliptic circles. The wooden, fish skin-covered case’s interior consists of graduated equatorial and elliptical circles and colures. The northern (Taurus, Gemini, Pisces, Aries…) and southern (Capricorn, Libra, Sagittarius, Scorpio…) constellations are beautifully engraved along with some amusing mythical beasts – all covered in attractive original green wash colour. It is fun and interesting to note that many place names and some oceans have phonetic-like spelling (ie The Atlantik Ocean, Chili, etc.), plus there are other old-fashioned names used that are no longer in use today (Great Southern Sea). In the southern section of the globe, you see explorer’s tracks, especially those of Capt. James Cook and John Biscoe, shown via dotted lines, plus any relevant notes and dates. Other gores show the expedition of Clark & Gore in 1779 and Anson’s travels. Cook, of course, made three famous voyages between 1768-1779 that encompassed much of the Pacific Ocean, Australia, New Zealand, and (almost) Antarctica. John Briscoe was an English mariner who commanded the first expedition known to have sighted the areas named ‘Endersby Land’ & “Graham Land’ along the Antarctic coast. Biscoe Island is named after him. The south pole is a sparse area, with only the tip Tierra del Fuego, a few scattered islands, southern New Zealand, and the southern extremities of Australia for company. The Southern Sea is named, as is the Ice Sea and the Antarctic Circle. Farther north, Australia / New Holland is engraved a little crudely, however, by the time this globe was produced, Tasmania was no longer a part of the mainland and is called Dieman’s Land. The entire eastern coast of the continent is labeled simply ‘New South Wales’, and the only other notations are “Botany Bay’, Dimans Land in the far north, ‘Lewins’ off the southern coast (after the early Dutch navigators in the Leeuwin (The Lioness) after it rounded the cape in March 1622) and St. Francis Island. New Guinea is somewhat misshapen and New Zealand is depicted without any additional information. A number of western Pacific Islands are engraved (Ladronne Islands, New Britain, Amsterdam Island) and many southeastern Asian countries are shown (Borneo, Celebes, Timor, Java, The Philippines, Japan). Wind arrows show the prevailing winds of the region.