Pocket terrestrial globe

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This pocket terrestrial globe was made in 1793 by John Miller, a scientific instrument maker based in Edinburgh. It is an example of the first successful attempt to produce globes in Scotland.

Made from pasteboard, and covered with hand-painted gores printed from engraved copper plates, the small globe shows the Earth.

John Miller had earlier been in association with surveyor John Ainslie (1745-1828) in a project to produce globes, but this had failed by 1777. These schemes were aimed at the luxury end of the market, rather than as a teaching aid.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-102-702-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1964.5
• Date: 1793
  
• Material: Leather case
  Globe, terrestrial / case
  
• Dimensions: 3.00" D
  
• What: Globe, terrestrial / case
  
• Subject: 5. CARTOGRAPHY, Globes (Departmental Classification)
  
• Who: John Miller, Edinburgh (Globe maker)
  
• Where: Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh
  
• Event:
• Description: Terrestrial globe, damaged and lacking three small sections of the plaster, and in a spherical leather case with a gored celestial map pasted on the inside, by John Miller, Edinburgh, 1793
  
• References:
  • Clarke, T.N., Morrison-Low, A.D. & Simpson, A.D.C. Brass & glass scientific instrument making workshops in Scotland as illustrated by instruments from the Arthur Frank Collection at the Royal Museum of Scotland. Edinburgh: NMS, 1989. pp 30,55 
  • Simpson, A.D.C. 'Globe production in Scotland in the period 1770-1830'. Der Globusfreund: Journal for the study of globes and related instruments. Vienna, 1987 
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