BY HUGH WILLIAMSON, NEW YORK, CIRCA 1867

Hugh Williamson of New York, in his application for a patent for this globe, wrote that he had invented this design "for the elucidation of all the problems now demonstrated by the use of separate globes." The inner sphere is a typical terrestrial globe depicting the countries and waters of the world, as they were known in the 19th century, while the glass outer sphere depicts the constellations. The celestial equator that binds the two glass hemispheres to one another is graduated in degrees and hours to show in what manner the stars align above the earth. The globe is supported by a cast iron tripod stand with foliate decoration and double scroll feet. Such globes rarely survive with their original outer glass and paint intact. An apparently identical example, lacking its outer globe, was sold at Christie's in Los Angeles in 2000.