Gores

Globe gores are the individually printed paper segments — typically twelve in number — that were cut and applied to a sphere to create a finished globe. As flat printed objects they represent a fascinating intersection between cartography and instrument-making, preserving the geographic knowledge of their period in a form that is both historically significant and visually distinctive.

Unassembled or loose gores from the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries are comparatively rare survivals, most having been consumed in globe production. Examples that remain uncut or partially assembled provide direct insight into the manufacturing process and the cartographic conventions of their era. Makers including John Senex, George Adams, John Cary and Josiah Loring produced gores whose geographic content reflects the expanding world knowledge of the age of exploration and imperial survey.

Original antique globe gores are collected as cartographic curiosities, as companion pieces to existing globe collections, and as works of art in their own right. Condition assessment focuses on paper quality, impression clarity and completeness of the gore set.