Biography

The Cary dynasty of globemakers was founded in the late eighteenth century by John Cary (1755-1835). The son of a Wiltshire maltster, Cary was apprenticed to William Palmer and became freeman in 1778. The first globes by Cary were advertised in the 'Traveller's Companion' in January 1791. The advertisement mentions that his globes were made from "entire new plates". It was common for publishers to buy or inherit copper plates for gores and alter them, rather than go to the expense of creating new ones. The address of the company at this time was 181 the Strand, and it was known as J & W Cary, to recognise the contribution of John's brother William (1759-1825). Both brothers produced a number of instruments and maps aside from their globes and in all projects other than their globes, the brothers operated as separate business entities. William himself was primarily an optician and nautical instrument maker, after serving as apprentice to Jesse Ramsden, and had his own premises further down the Strand at Nos. 272 and 182.

Geography

In his advert Cary was keen to stress that his pocket globe contained "the new Discoveries, & the Tracks of the different Circumnavigators". All three of Captain James Cook's voyages are marked. The first, from 1768-71 when he commanded the HMS Endeavour, reached Australia and circumnavigated New Zealand. He discovered the Endeavour Strait (marked on the globe) in 1770 between the Australian mainland and Prince of Wales Island and named it after his ship. Botany Bay also appears, named for the specimens found there by Sir Joseph Banks, the naturalist who sailed with Cook. The second voyage, from 1772-75 when he commanded the HMS Resolution, reached the Arctic Circle. His third and final voyage from 1776-79, with HMS Resolution and Discovery, made Cook the first European to have formal contact with the Hawaiian islands in 1778; it was also where he died after a confrontation with natives, commemorated with the inscription 'Owhyee (Hawaii) where Cook was killed'. The globe also shows the return journey of Cook's expedition under the command of John Gore and Captain James King.

The extent of British exploration in the Pacific area is shown by the plethora of British place names. These include Duke of York Islands in Papua New Guinea, named after Prince Edward, younger brother of George III, by Philip Carteret, who circumnavigated the world in 1766-69; and Palmerston Island, an atoll named after Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston (then Lord of the Admiralty).

The globe also marks other contemporary explorations. Cary was the first to use information derived from Alexander Mackenzie's 1789 explorations in north-western Canada, showing "Mackenzie's R[iver]" before Mackenzie's own maps were published in 1801. Tasmania is still marked "Diemensland" and appears as a peninsula. The existence of the Bering Strait had now been confirmed, and it appears between America and Asia. Finally, the globe shows the 1773 Arctic expedition of Constantine Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave (with a young Horatio Nelson on board), where Phipps was the first European to describe the polar bear as a distinct species.