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Globe, American, Joslin, Loring, Celestial, 12-Inch Table Globe, 4-Leg Stand, Antique, Boston, 1854 (Reserved)

Josiah Loring
Annin & Smith (engravers)
12-inch Celestial Globe
Boston: 1854
Mahogany four-legged stand
18 inches high; 16.5 inches diameter, horizon band
Reserved

• This globe is currently on reserve among numerous extremely fine and rare American globes to be sold as a single collection. In the meanwhile, it has been placed here in our American Globe Guide as a service for researchers and collectors.
• Visit our Globes and Planetaria section to see globes offered for individual purchase.

The celestial globe has the signs of the zodiac and other constellations well delineated and elegantly depicted by characters and animals of classical mythology, as well as later-named constellations depicted as scientific instruments, exotic animals, and other figures. The stars are shown to nine orders of magnitude. Many individual stars are labeled with numbers, letters, and in the case of brighter ones like Regulus, with their names. The constellations are outlined or filled in shades of tan, green, and red. The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are highlighted in red.

Product description continues below.

Description

Gilman Joslin (1804-c. 1886), one of America’s most prolific globe makers, began making globes for Josiah Loring (1775-c. 1840) in 1837, and took over the business two years later. Loring had begun selling globes in 1832. He advertised that his globes were superior to British globes of the period. Yet early Loring globes were either imported from C. Smith & Sons, one of the leading British globe makers of the late Georgian period, or re-engraved versions of Smith & Sons globes. Gilman Joslin began as a wood turner and maker of looking glass mirrors. After taking over Loring´s business, he began producing globes under the Loring name and under his own name. Joslin set up a globe manufacturing facility in Boston and by 1850 had five workers. Gilman Joslin was joined by his son William B. Joslin in 1874 and the firm continued in operation as Gilman Joslin & Son until 1907.

Joslin & Son’s globe handbook (issued later than the offered Joslin globe) states that their globes were useful for instructing students in geography and “[f]or library or office use [were] no less valuable, showing…at a glance, the true relative situations of Political and Geographical Divisions, Cities, etc., the world over.” The handbook also enumerated various “advantages” of Joslin globes:

“They may be depended upon as accurate, the plates having lately been revised to correspond with all recent political changes. All the maps are printed directly from copper plates, and are not lithographed. The meridians are accurately graduated. The varnish is warranted not to crack or peel off, a common failing. The stands are thoroughly and firmly fitted together, and the general workmanship throughout is of the first order.”

Joslin’s Hand-Book, pp. 3-4

Oval cartouche: LORING’S/ CELESTIAL GLOBE/ Containing all the known Stars Nebulae & c/ Compiled from the Works of/ WOLLASTON, FLAMSTED [sic.], DE LA CAILLE,/ HAVELIUS, MAYER,/ BRADLEY, HERSCHEL, MASKELYNE/ The Transactions of the/ ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY of LONDON/ &c. &c./ (From Smith’s New English Globe.)/ Boston. Josiah Loring, 136 Washington St., 1854.

Beneath cartouche: Annin & Smith sc. NB. Greek Letters or Figures pre fixed to Stars refer to the British Catalogue, a Stroke under the Figures thus __ to De la Caille, H. Havelius, M. Mayer, CH. Herschel, B. Bradley & c.

Condition: Generally very good, recently professionally restored and revarnished, with the usual remaining expected light toning, wear and restorations to minor scattered cracks and abrasions. Overall retains a golden antique tone with bright colors. Stand generally very good with the usual wear.

Additional information

Maker Location

Maker

Globe Type

Celestial

Material

Hardwood, Wood, Mahogany

Century

19th Century

Stand

Four-legged, Turned wood