Cary's pocket globe agreeable to the latest discoveries

Terrestrial globe with metal axis pins at the poles and engraved and hand-coloured gores. The oceans are coloured light green, land masses in light green, pink and cream tones, outlined in green and/or red. Tracks of explorers are shown with blank lines. The globe is set within a spherical hinged, papier mache, sharkskin-covered case, fitted with hooks and eyes. The interior of the case is engraved with similarly hand-coloured gores, one section containing a map entitled: The world as know in Caesar's time : agreeable to D'Anville, the other with numerous place names arranged in a geometric grid in four quadrants with geographical coordinates, entited: A table of latitudes & longitudes of places not given on this globe.

Cary's pocket globe shows the world as known in about 1791, and notably, Australia is shown only partly discovered: the unknown southern coast is marked as a dotted line and Tasmania is still attached to the mainland. The globe is approximately the size of an orange, and its case is made of sharkskin; the lid contains a table of latitudes and longitudes of places not found on the globe. The base features a map of the world as known in Caesar's time.

While this miniature globe was not specifically produced for children, it may well have been considered more affordable and accessible than the larger floor or table globes available at the time. John Cary (ca. 1754 - 1835) was the leading London mapmaker and publisher, noted for his functional maps which favoured accuracy and detail over mere decoration.

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use.

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