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Globe, English, Malby, Terrestrial World, 6-Inch Table Globe, Pedestal Stand, Antique, London, 1866 (Sold)

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Malby & Son
6-inch Terrestrial Table Globe
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (publisher)
London: 1866
Turned mahogany base, brass half meridian
10.5 inches high; 5.5 inches diameter, base

The terrestrial globe is canted in a brass uncalibrated half-meridian and raised on a turned mahogany stand with turned central baluster standard and dish base. Oceans are tan. Geographic entities are cream some with bold green or red outlining. The map of the United States west of the Mississippi shows major rivers and the Great Salt Lake. A few western regions are named — principally Oregon, California, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. Filmore City is indicated, then the territorial capital of Utah. Antarctica is labeled “Supposed Antarctic Continent” and is bounded by a faint, general outline, with a few areas labeled and highlighted in red, presumably to indicate more definitive geographic information, for example, around Cape Horn. An oval analemma is in the Pacific Ocean “Shewing the Sun’s declination and place in the Ecliptic every day at Noon.”

Product description continues below.

Description

Malby globes, including this one, were typically labeled as “published under the superintendence of the Society for Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.” The SDUK, as it is often known, was a British organization founded in 1826 with the goal of creating educational publications for the working and middle classes, which included scientific and cartographic subjects. The Society actively published works from around 1827 to 1848 under the direction of Charles Knight, superintendent of publications. From 1828, Knight edited The British Almanack and Companion and printed various other SDUK works. The success of these productions was largely due to Knight’s efforts to promote them and to make the writing accessible.

An earlier version of a larger table globe published by Malby in 1845, also set in a half-meridian on a stand with central turned baluster, is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum in Britain and pictured in Dekker’s Globes at Greenwich. Although that globe is 12 inches in diameter, it has similar cartography and the same analemma as the offered 6-inch example. Malby also issued 9-inch table globes on turned central standard dish base mahogany stands. Read more about Malby in our Guide to Globe Makers.

Cartouche: MALBY’S/ TERRESTRIAL GLOBE/ compiled from the latest/ & MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES/ Including all the recent/ Geographical Discoveries/ Published under the superintendence/ OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE/ DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE/ By MALBY & SON./ 37
Parker Street, Little Queen Street,/ LONDON. 1866

Condition: Generally very good with the usual light scattered toning, wear, spotting. Few minor cracks at poles and scattered abrasions all now professionally restored, including minor losses to lettering in cartouche now supplied in manuscript. Stand generally good, richly patinated.

References:

“Charles Knight (publisher).”NationMaster.com. 2003-05. http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Charles-Knight-(publisher) (10 February 2009).

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. 404-407.

“Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge.”NationMaster.com. 2003-05. http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Society-for-the-Diffusion-of-Useful-Knowledge (10 February 2009).

Additional information

Maker Location

,

Maker

Globe Type

Terrestrial

Material

Wood, Mahogany