A terrestrial Pocket Globe

Newton

Ref: 2735

Price : 12,000 €

A terrestrial Pocket Globe

Newton

first two decades of the 19th century
smoothed and blackened fish leather (skate)
7.6 cm (3 inches)

Provenance:
Property from the collection of John Gross, Eugene, Oregon/USA

Description: "The Terrestrial Pocket Globe (Newton, London), not dated, but manufactured at some time during the first two decades of the 19th century: The continent Antarctica is not yet charted but some explorations of the early 19th century are mentioned with their dates. The spherical case is made of two hollow wooden hemisheres which, on the outside, are covered with smoothed and blackened fish leather (skate). The inside of the case is covered with paper. The upper hemisphere shows a schematic chart of the northern firmament whereas the lower hemisphere is simply black. There, the inner rim is equipped with a scale of the geodetic latitude, printed on paper. Both hemispheres are joint with a brazen hinge. The globe is made of a sort of stucco on a basic construction of metal, probably iron, covered with printed sections of paper and a finish of shellac. The globe is mounted to a brazen ring which serves as suspension for the rotation. The globe and in particular its case are intensely weared by frequent use. The case can't be closed easily since the shrinkage of thin the wooden hemispheres resulted in their unisotropic deformation.