French Terrestrial Globe

The whole world, as of 1865, in seven inches.

This terrestrial globe comes from France and is dated 1865. It is a plaster sphere covered in paper gores, printed tapering sections that wrap a flat map around a ball. Desk globes like this were made for schools, libraries and educated households, to teach geography and to display a certain worldliness. The oceans have turned a muted sea green, the Americas a warm tan, with spots and scuffs scattered across both. A slim brass stem rises from the top, and a turned wooden stand in honey tones carries it below. Fifteen inches high, with a seven-inch diameter.

Borders have since been revised. The Pacific remains about the same.