James Ferguson (1710 -1776)
J. Mynde (fl. 1740 -1770) (engraver)
3-Inch Terrestrial Pocket Globe in Celestial Case
London: 1756
3.25 inch diameter case, overall
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.
3-Inch Terrestrial Pocket Globe in Celestial Case
James Ferguson, London: 1756
James Ferguson, London: 1756
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A pocket globe, of typical form, the terrestrial globe with engraved hand-colored gores, having holes at the poles but no axis pins (as issued). The globe is contained within a spherical conforming case opening into two concave hemispheres -- one with applied engraved hand-colored celestial chart of the Northern Sky, the other with applied Southern Sky celestial chart. The outside of the case is covered with black pebbled fish skin and the rims of the case are painted red. The two halves are joined with a brass hinge and close with two brass hook-and-eyelet closures.
The globe and celestial chart are colored in tones of pink, green, red, blue, yellow and gray. Oceans are colored green. The route of the explorer Admiral Anson is recorded and labeled. California is shown as a peninsula. The Great Wall of China ("Chinese Wall") is indicated. Monsoons are recorded in the Indian Sea.
Ferguson’s three-inch terrestrial pocket globe was published in ten successive versions between 1765 and 1840 as the copper printing plates were transferred and modified -- first by Ferguson, then Dudley Adams, and finally Nicholas Lane. The earliest known version is by Ferguson; it lacks the credit to the engraver, J. Mynde and is described and pictured in the book Globes at Greenwich, a catalogue of globes in the collection of the British National Maritime Museum. The cartouche of the globe offered here, which includes Mynde, appears on the second and third versions made by Ferguson, and is also pictured in the book (see References below). This globe is the second edition, published in 1756; the third edition (1775) added the route of Captain Cook's voyage.
Read more about James Ferguson on our Guide to Globe Makers.
The heyday of the pocket globe was Georgian period England, from the early 18th century to about 1840, where they were mainly made as novelty items for English aristocrats interested in geography and astronomy. Read more about the history and development of pocket globes.
Rococo Cartouche: A New/ GLOBE of the/ Earth/ by James Ferguson/ J. Mynde sc.
Reference:
Dekker, Elly, et al. Globes at Greenwich: A Catalogue of the Globes and Armillary Spheres in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. London: Oxford University Press and the National Maritime Museum, 1999. pp. 128-132, 332-334. Cartouche pictured in fig. 9.100.