Celestial table globe

Celestial table globe. It forms a pair with the anonymous terrestrial globe, GLB0038. Astronomical details on the sphere show stars and constellation figures which are very schematically drawn. The stars are indicted by one simple symbol, and 47 Ptolemaic constellations and two of the non-Ptolemaic constellations are dawn. Eight of the southern constellations of Plancius are drawn but not all of them are labelled.

The mappings for this pair of globes are copied from the second edition of John Speed's world map of 1626, as the title and the date on the globe are identical to those on the map. The date does not refer to the date of production. The maker did not record all the features of Speed's map and there are longitudinal mistakes. The present globes must date to the early 18th century due to the new methods of measuring the longitude.

This globe is similar to GLB0038, but the two pins are located at the south ecliptic pole, and the supporting figure can be identified with Hercules due to the lion skin over his shoulder. For full details about the cartography and construction of this globe please refer to the related publication.

Object Details

ID: GLB0039
Collection: Astronomical and navigational instruments; Charts and maps
Type: Table globe
Display location: Display - QH
Creator: Unknown
Date made: Cartographic source: after 1651; Cartographic source: after 1651; Globe produced: circa 1725 Globe produced: circa 1725
People: Petrus Plancius, Petrus
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: Diameter of sphere: 100 mm;Overall: 335 mm x 120 mm x 1 kg