Terrestrial floor globe

Terrestrial floor globe. It forms a pair with the celestial globe, Blaeu GLB0105. Geographical details on the sphere include loxodromes for 32 compass points. The Strait of le Maire is drawn, and California is shown as an island by the use of overlay gores. The Dutch discoveries of parts of the coast of Australia and New Zealand are recorded. The Great Wall of China is depicted with an almost illegible comment. The hypothetical southern continent is labelled.

There are decorative animals, cannibals, ships and monsters, and a note on finding the longitude, inside a cartouche decorated with two figures, one with a cross staff and the other with a quadrant. There is a note on the history of exploration in North America inside a cartouche with eskimos in a kayak on the top and Indians at the sides. At the bottom is a bear's head with foxes and beavers. There are further notes on discoveries and circumnavigation and a total of ten oceans are named. For full details about the cartography and construction of this globe please refer to the related publication.

Object Details

ID: GLB0104
Collection: Astronomical and navigational instruments; Charts and maps
Type: Floor globe
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Blaeu, Willem Jansz
Date made: circa 1650
Exhibition: Ships, Clocks & Stars: The Quest for Longitude
People: Vries, Gerrit de; Davies, John Hudson, Henry Magellan, Ferdinand Nuyts, Peter Witt, Gerrit Frederiksz de
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: Overall: 1080 x 905 mm; Diameter of sphere: 680 mm; Diameter of Meridian Ring: 736 mm