The curious story of an ancient craft.
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/globemakers-9781526650870/
Peter Bellerby is the founder of Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, the world's only truly bespoke makers of globes. His team of skilled craftspeople make exquisite terrestrial, celestial and planetary globes for customers around the world. The story began after his attempt to find a special globe for his father's 80th birthday. Failing to find anything suitable, he decided to make one himself which took him on an extraordinary journey of rediscovering this forgotten craft.
Globes have been in use since the 1500s and show that two-thirds of our planet is covered by ocean. 80% of land is in the northern hemisphere, whilst 80% of the southern hemisphere is water. 90% of the human population live in the North.
Imagine a life before Satnavs and Google maps? Globes were used for navigation by ships and the oldest one still existing is worth £500,000. Winston Churchill had one of the largest ever made, 50 inches or 127cm. They are made in surfboard shaped sections called ‘Gores’, see image. They also make globes looking up and out at the night sky showing the star constellations, these are called ‘Celestial Globes’.
