Rare Pair Of Early 19th Century Adams English Library Table Globes. Circa: 1810, New Globe of the Earth correctly laid down according to ye best Observations & Latest Discoveries [and] New Celestial Globe containing all ye Southern constellations lately observed at the Cape of Good Hope. London: Fleet Street, 1810. Pair of 12” globes mounted on original mahogany stands with compasses and brass hardware, including equator wires mounted from the horizon ring. The celestial globe is in perfect condition; the terrestrial is rubbed with some expert repairs. A fine pair. Among the great English globemakers of the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Adams family stands out. Two members of the family, Dudley Adams and his brother George, were mathematical instrument makers to King George III. Adams globes were of the highest quality and are much rarer today than those by contemporaries such as Cary and Bardin. Dudley Adams (1762-1830) produced this rare pair of library globes in 1810. He was the last active member of the famous family of instrument and globe makers founded by his father, George Adams the elder. Based on his father’s 12-inch globes of c.1763, Dudley preserved the old geography for America, reflecting the Treaty of Paris at the end of the Seven Years’ War. The geography of the Pacific has been updated according to information supplied by his brother, George Adams the younger. The voyages of Cook and others are laid down, and wind currents are shown with arrows. Adams’s celestial globe is based on the star catalog of John Flamsteed, the Royal astronomer at the Greenwich Observatory who, through the use of instruments with telescopic sights, considerably improved the precision of measurement. Adams also employed the most recent star catalog of the Southern stars by Abbe Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, which had recently replaced one compiled by Edmond Halley. George Adams the elder, the patriarch of the family, is almost as famous for his writings on globe making as he is for his globes. His Treatise describing and explaining the construction and use of new celestial and terrestrial globes (1766-1810) passed through thirty editions. The final 1810 edition of this enduring work includes a preface and additions by Dudley Adams and was published the same year as these globes. Reference: Stevenson, Terrestrial & Celestial Globes, Volume II, pp. 184-87. Price: $48,000 (pair)

Mid Century Modern
Mid Century Accessories