Globes

Antique globes represent one of the most three-dimensional and tactile collecting areas within historical cartography, combining geographic knowledge, scientific instrument-making and decorative craftsmanship in a single object. Terrestrial globes from the 19th and early 20th centuries were produced by specialist makers including Cary, Betts, Johnston and Philips in Britain, and their counterparts in Germany, France and the United States, typically issued in pairs with matching celestial globes depicting the constellations.

Pocket globes — small spheres housed in fish-skin or paper-mâché cases whose interior was lined with a celestial map — were fashionable scientific accessories from the 17th through the 19th centuries, combining practical geographic reference with considerable elegance. Later educational globes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries record the political geography of the colonial era, with clearly delineated empires and territories that document a world now transformed.

Original antique globes are assessed for condition of the printed paper gores, the integrity of the sphere, the quality of the mount and stand, and the presence of the original case where applicable.