GINN & HEATH, Boston, Massachusetts, 1879

FITZ GLOBE Manufactured BY GINN & HEATH BOSTON 1879

Details

GINN & HEATH, Boston, Massachusetts, 1879
FITZ GLOBE Manufactured BY GINN & HEATH BOSTON 1879
A rare 12-inch (30.5cm.) diameter terrestrial globe, possibly made in Scotland by W. & A.K. Johnston, made up of twelve chromolithographed paper gores, the equatorial graduated in degrees and hours, the equinoctial colure graduated in degrees, the ecliptic graduated in days of the houses of the Zodiac with symbols, the oceans with an analemma and showing isothermal lines for January and June with temperatures in Fahrenheit and ocean currents, the continents with nation states shaded in green and yellow and showing towns, cities, rivers, mountains and the Great Wall of China (some discolouration, some scratches to North America with repaired crack off Mexico) the printed hour dial at the North Pole with subsidiary brass dial and iron pointer, with special "Fitz" mounting, the sphere at a 66.5° angle on an ebonised cast iron rotating disc base with gilt and red paint floral decoration, rotating on a second circular cast iron base with four stepped feet, a rod with pointer projecting upwards to indicate the position of the sun on the globe (pointer slightly bent), a removable semi-circular cast-iron attachment supporting two brass meridian three-quarter circles, one stamped with graduations in degrees, fitting over the base to indicate the twilight zones on the sphere -- 9¼in. (23.5cm.) high

See Colour Illustration

Literature

DEKKER, Elly, and van der KROGT, Peter, Globes from the Western World (London, 1993) p.129
FITZ, Ellen Eliza, Handbook of the Terrestrial Globe; or, Guide of Fitz's New Method of Mounting and Operating Globes (Boston, 1876)

Lot Essay

Dekker and van der Krogt illustrate and discuss a similar 12-inch diameter Fitz globe on page 129 of Globes from the Western World, stating that Ellen Eliza Fitz (b.1836) patented her design for a new method of mounting globes in 1875. Ms Fitz was a governess working in St John County, New Brunswick; hers was the first design for globe-mounting to have been invented by a woman. In 1876 she published a Handbook of the Terrestrial Globe; or, Guide or Fitz's New Method of Mounting and Operating Globes which includes an interesting appendix on the construction of a sphere:

"A globe is made of pasted paper, eight or ten layers of this being applied successively to a mould prepared for this purpose. As this coating becomes dry, it shrinks and fits tightly over the mould; from which it is then removed, first being divided into two hemispheres. A turned stick of right length, with a short wire in each end for poles, is now introduced, one end in each hemisphere; and the two shells, being brought together, are secured by gluing their edges. The ball is now hung within a steel semicircle just fitting its exterior, and coated with a composition of glue and whiting. Being made to revolve, the excess of the composition is removed by the circle; and the ball is thus turned smooth and true, after which it is carefully dried."

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