NEWTON’S NEW AND IMPROVED TERRESTRIAL GLOBE

John and William Newton (fl. 1818 – 1830)
Newton’s New and Improved Terrestrial Globe; Newton’s New and Improved Celestial Globe
London, Celestial and Terrestrial dated 1820
Diameter 12 in.; Height 40 in.

A fine pair of small library globes each made up of two sets of twelve engraved globe gores, hand-colored in outline with title cartouches, later varnish. Minor stress cracks on both globes. Brass hour circles and meridian circles, each with an engraved graticule to one face. The globes mounted on their original elegant English mahogany tripod stands, original compasses without pointers, papered horizon bars supported by four quadrants, with central turned wooden pillar and curved feet.

A fine pair of elegant library globes on distinctive tall Georgian stands by J. & W. Newton. The Newton family of cartographers were among the leading English globe makers of the early 19th century. Together with the Cary family, the two globe businesses controlled 90% of the British globe market at that time. The Newtons saw that by taking a small 12-inch globe and raising it up on tall stands, the globe pair became an attractive piece of decorative furniture rather than just a tabletop presentation. A pair of globes soon became an essential element in the decoration of a library or study, giving the room an element of scientific and geographical curiosity. John and William took over the business from their father John Newton in 1818. These globes are some of the earliest globes they issued. On this globe, the US western boundary follows the Red River Northwest, as agreed in the Adam Onis treaty of 1819. The Pacific Northwest reflects the ambiguity of political control with the US and Great Britain jointly administering the region, a situation that continued up until the Oregon Treaty of 1846.