Add to albumThis 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
- Translations:
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