CUSHEE, Richard (fl. 1696-1731), London

Details
CUSHEE, Richard (fl. 1696-1731), London
A New GLOBE of the Earth by R. Cushee 1731
A 2¾inch (7cm.) diameter terrestrial pocket globe, made up of twelve hand coloured engraved gores and two polar calottes, the equatorial graduated in degrees, the ecliptic divided and showing the symbols of the houses of the zodiac, the meridian marked First Meridian from London, the continents coloured, California shown as an island, Australia with partial coastline and legend NEW HOLLAND, in fishskin covered case with brass hooks and eyes lined with two sets of twelve hand coloured engraved celestial gores and two polar calottes, with equatorial graduated in degrees and ecliptic graduated in days and showing the symbols of the houses of the zodiac, depicting the stars and constellations.

See Colour Illustration and Detail
Literature
Henry C. King Geared To The Stars (Toronto, 1978)
Peter van der Krogt Old Globes In The Netherlands (Utrecht, 1984)
Gloria Clifton Directory Of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851 (London, 1995)

Lot Essay

A fine example. According to Clifton, Richard Cushee was baptised in 1696 and educated at Christ's Hospital school in London. He was apprenticed to the hydrographer and globe maker Charles Price (circa 1697-1733), made a freeman of the Merchant Taylors guild in 1721, and worked from The Globe & Sun in Fleet Street, sharing premises with John Coggs and William Wyeth. Cushee also sought to promote his products through publication: King notes that, "In 1731 [Thomas] Wright collaborated with R. Cushee in publishing The Description and Use of the Globes, and the Orrery, a popular book by Joseph Harris, teacher of mathematics, that by 1783 went into 12 editions" (p. 160).
Van der Krogt describes this globe as Cus 1, and illustrates the maker's label, noting that: "To the inside of the cover the gores of a celestial globe are pasted (Cus 3)". This globe was also used by Thomas Wright for an orrery (King, p. 160).

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