Description
The terrestrial globe has 12 hand-colored engraved gores. Land masses are colored pink, green and yellow with thick outlines in slightly darker shades. Oceans are colored green. California is shown as a peninsula and west of the Mississippi only shows areas generally labeled Louisiana, New Albion and New Mexico. The Great Wall of China (“Chinese Wall”) is indicated. The North Pole and The South Pole as so labeled. No land is shown in Antarctica, reflecting known geography at the time. Australia is called New Holland. Oceans are labeled: the Pacific as “North Pacific Ocean” and “South Pacific Ocean;” the Atlantic as the “North Atlantic Ocean,” “South Atlantic Ocean;” and “Ethiopic Ocean,” and the Indian Ocean as the “Indian Sea” and “Eastern Ocean.” The ecliptic is graduated in days and shows the symbols of the houses of the zodiac. The concave celestial hemispheres inside the case illustrate the constellations of the northern and southern skies as figures of classical mythology and as scientific instruments in black outline against a solid green background.
North America features various geographical illustrations and place names. Harris does not, however, include clearly delineated political borders. Written along the Eastern Coast is the name United States, as well as names for N. Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Gulf of Florida, and Florida. On the Pacific Coast, two notable place names include California, depicted as a peninsula, and New Albion, the name for the continental area north of Mexico claimed by Sir Francis Drake for England in 1579. While Drake’s expedition left behind no colony, his claim would have significant long-term historical consequences as its existence would serve as pretext for later national expansionist projects by the United States and Britain alike. To the far south, both New Mexico and Mexico are named as general regions, with attention given to the Yucatan peninsula.
To the North, the R. S. Lawrence is illustrated and named, serving as a geographical border between Canada and the United States. Place names in modern-day Canada include Terra de Labrador or New Britain; Newfoundland island, colored in red; Upper Lake, New N. Wales, and New S. Wales in the upper-middle of the country; and Nootka S on the Pacific Coast near today’s Vancouver Island. The Great Lakes and Hudson’s Bay are illustrated but not named. Baffin’s Bay — the bay separating northernmost Canada from Greenland — features prominently and is named.
The Harris family — Thomas Harris (d. 1837) and his son William Harris (1797-1846) — were London opticians who also sold and later produced terrestrial and celestial globes. Initially, Thomas Harris was principally an optician and mathematical instrument maker. He was joined, and then succeeded, by William in the early 19th century. According to scholar Elly Dekker, Harris & Son was in business from 1802 to 1907. The firm is known to have sold a 2.75 inch pocket terrestrial globe in a celestial case, dated 1809, under the name Harris, 47 Holborn. It was likely made for Harris by N. Lane of London based on a comparison of other N. Lane pocket globes. The firm produced a New Terrestrial Globe, as a 3-inch pocket globe in a celestial case, one extant example dated 1813, and many others issued without a date. An extant table globe is known, produced by the firm under the name W. Harris, 22 Cornhill, London. In 1820, as Thomas Harris and Son, the firm produced “A New Celestial Globe,” 12 inches in diameter. According to the cartouche of that globe the firm marketed itself as “Opticians and Globe Makers; To his Majesty and their Royal Highnesses The Dukes of Kent and Sussex.” At that time the firm’s address was 52 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London.
Round cartouche on globe: New/ Terrestrial/ Globe/ By T Harris & Son/ London.
Round cartouche on celestial chart: New/ Celestial/ Globe/ By/ T. Harris & Son/ London
Condition: Terrestrial globe and celestial map in case very good, recently professionally restored, the varnish refreshed, with the usual remaining expected light toning, wear and restorations to minor scattered cracks and abrasions. Small section of South America, region of Paraguay with restored abrasion in manuscript. Overall retains a golden antique tone with bright colors. Case slightly warped, closes, but with an irregular gap.
References:
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. 54-55, 128-129, 131, 393-394.
Dekker, Elly. “Miniature and Pocket Globes: The Gentleman’s Toy.” in Lamb, Tom and Collins, Jeremy. The World in Your Hands: An Exhibition of Globes and Planetaria. London: Christie’s, 1994. pp. 66, 76.
