Terrestrial table globe

Terrestrial table globe. Geographical details on the sphere show South America with an eastern bulge. In the north polar area there are four islands, one of which is labelled 'PIGMEI'. Asia and America are separated. There is a note in America. New Guinea is shown as a separate island. The hypothetical southern continent is labelled, there are traces of a name above the label and other notes in the region. There are ships and monsters in the oceans for decoration; six oceans are named.

The mappings of the terrestrial globes included in the clockwork celestial globes by Roll and Reinhold follow the so-called Demongenet tradition. The present globe, however, is clearly not part of this tradition. Its cartography is based on Gerard Mercator's world map of 1569, which itself was the source for many other world maps produced between 1569 and 1588, the date of this globe. Although most of the texts on the globe are close to those on the 1570 map of Abraham Ortelius, the latter cannot have been the only source, if only because a number of names, for instance 'MAR RVBRVM', are lacking on that map. The coastline of the Americas appears different to that of today, and there are other cartographic differences. For full details about the cartography and construction of this globe please refer to the related publication.

Object Details

ID: GLB0022
Collection: Astronomical and navigational instruments; Charts and maps
Type: Table globe
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Reinhold, Johann
Date made: 1588
People: Columbus, Christopher
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: Overall: 305 x 125 mm; Diameter of sphere: 100 mm