Description
North and South Dakota are shown prior to statehood (1891) with the area east of the Missouri River labeled “Dacota” and the rest included with present-day Nebraska and the Yellowstone area labelled as “Nebraska.” Oklahoma is called “Indian Territory,” and Alaska is “Russian America” indicating a date prior to 1867. The recently installed Atlantic Cable between Britain and the U.S. is shown as “Submarine Telegraph Cable.” A dotted lines indicates routes taken by the U.S. Navy expedition to explore the Pacific Ocean led by Lt. Charles Wilkes from 1838 to 1842 and a dotted line labeled “New York to Aspinwall” shows the Pacific Mail route from New York to San Francisco via Panama established by William Aspinwall. Various captions each with a synopsis of an event of then recent history are printed in the oceans.
Franklin globes were produced throughout the second half of the 19th century in Troy, New York — with Franklin Field of Troy, New York as globe maker — by a succession companies under their own names: Merriam & Moore (1851-1852), Merriam Moore & Co. (1852-1858), Moore & Nims (1858-1868), H.B. Nims & Co. (1869-1885), Nims & Knight (1886-1889/92), and again H.B. Nims & Co. (1890/92-1896). The globes were variously available in the six, ten, twelve, sixteen, and thirty-inch diameters, with a variety of bases, generally in cast iron or wood and often reflecting the prevailing Victorian decorative arts style of the period. Models were made for both school and home parlor or library use. Collectively Franklin was one of the leading American globe makers of the 19th century in terms of quality, number and diversity of globes, and longevity of production.
Circular Cartouche: THE FRANKLIN/ TERRESTRIAL/ GLOBE/ 10 INCHES IN DIAMETER CONTAINING ALL THE/ Geographical Divisions/ & POLITICAL BOUNDARIES/ to present date/ carefully compiled from the best Authorities/ MOORE & NIMS/ TROY N.Y.
References:
Dekker, Elly and van der Krogt, Peter. Globes from the Western World. London: Zwemmer, 1993. pp. 135-36, 140.
Glover, Bill. “History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy Cable Timeline: 1845-1900.” Atlantic Cable. 5 November 2005. http://atlantic-cable.com/Cables/CableTimeLine/index1850.htm.
Levy, D.A. “William Henry Aspinwall.” 14 February 2004. The Maritime Heritage Project.http://www.maritimeheritage.org/vips/aspinwall.htm (2 September 2008).
Rochester, Junius. “Charles Wilkes.” HistoryLink.org. 17 February 2003. http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5226 (2 September 2008).
Warner, Deborah Jean. “The Geography of Heaven and Earth.” Rittenhouse Journal of the American Scientific Instrument Enterprise. Vol. 2, Nos. 2 & 3, 1987. pp. 63-64, 88-89.
Yonge, Ena L. A Catalogue of Early Globes, Library Series No. 6. American Geographical Society, 1968. p. 53.
