A Cartographic History of Globes

Globe History

The oldest known western terrestrial globe (a globe featuring the planets surface) was made in 1492 by a German from Nuremberg called Martin Behaim. 

The most interesting thing to note about the first ever world globe was that it features gaps, where we had not yet mapped. The most significant area that springs to mind is the area west of the UK across the Atlantic ocean. 

In the very same year, explorer Christopher Columbus set sail west from Spain sailing towards what he thought would be the east Indies but what turned out to be north America. This land corresponded remarkably to a large gap on Benhaim's world globe. Due to the monumental discovery of north America, the invention of a world globe seemed rather insignificant. This is completely understandable as the discovery of North America in 1492 can only be compare to the moon landings in 1969 for global impact.

Globes are among the most ancient scientific instruments known. Their history extends more than a thousand years, and today they are more popular than ever due to the communication age that we live in. One very significant contribution to the globe came from an Alexandrian astronomer and geographer called Claudius Ptolemaeus (or Ptolemy) in the second century AD. In his most noted works "the Almagest and the Geography", he recorded the earliest known description for calculating the fixed position of an object on a sphere using spherical coordinates. Such coordinate systems are the foundation on which all later globes have been designed.

The word "globe" is derived from the Latin "globus", which means sphere. Throughout the centuries globes have often been sold in pairs, one celestial or night sky and the other terrestrial or worlds surface. This became less popular toward the end of the 19th century. Celestial or night sky globes are still available today at www.JustGlobes.co.uk.

Terrestrial Globes

A terrestrial globe is easiest to conceive as a model of the Earth, it has been viewed for centuries as a symbol of open mindedness by the scientific community as only a world globe shows each and every country in their correct proportions and all the distances between countries to the same scale. This creates no political or relative power bias that some maps display.

Celestial Globes

A celestial or night sky globe is a little more difficult to explain. The ancient Greeks perceived the Earth, moon and solar system as if it was surrounded by a hollow shell or "outer sky" of stars and various constellations, they had of course not discovered any relevant distances of stars. A celestial globe is a model of this outer sky. however because this model is seen from the Earth and therefore an inside point, the representation on the globe reversed, because we view it from an outside point.

A symbol of knowledge but also of power , the celestial globe became an attribute of Roman Emperors, emblematic of their dominion over an empire that spanned a significant proportion of the globe.

After Ptolemy and the Roman empire celestial globes became lost to the world, only the techniques behind them were remembered and passed on by Byzantine scribes. This was also threatened by Christianity which likened astronomy and astrology to paganism. It was eventually Arab scholars who revived astronomy, passed on through Islamic conquests. 

The Printed Globe

Techniques like wood cutting to fashion objects and art out of wood and various metal engraving became increasing used toward the end of the 15th century in Europe. Thus early European globes were made from wood or metal.

Wooden world globes had linen or vellum laid over them on which the appropriate cartography was printed. When metal globes were used the cartography was engraved onto the surface. 

The above traditional methods of globe manufacture were soon replaced by the printed globe.

It was in 1527 that the first paper gores were printed. This relates to the technique that is used today to create the highest quality globes. The cartography for the globe is printed onto convex paper segment and then laid on to the sphere as if replacing the peel of orange. This is the only method that creates no spatial or directional distortion and it is why globes are a superior reference tool when looking at the world as a whole.

Reference texts:

Globi Neerlandici by P.v.d Krogt

Glboes from the Western World by E.Dekker and P.v.d Krogt.