Malby, Thomas, & Son

The terrestrial composed of 12 hand-coloured engraved gores and polar calottes, signed in the cartouche ‘MALBY’S Terrestrial Globe, Compiled from the latest & MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES, including all the recent Geographical Discoveries’ with further note below ‘The lines of Magnetic variation are adopted from Professor Peter Barlow's Chart in the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1838’, the equatorial and ecliptic graduated in degrees, the equatorial also graduated in hours and the ecliptic with months and symbols of the houses of the zodiac, the Greenwich meridian shown but not graduated, the tropics and polar circles marked, ‘AN ANALEMMA Shewing the Sun’s declination and place in the Ecliptic for every day at noon’ in the South Pacific, and a ‘TABLE of the ESTIMATED POPULATION of the WORLD COMPILED FROM the LATEST AUTHORITIES by G.S. Brent’.

The celestial composed of 12 hand-coloured engraved paper gores and polar calottes, signed in the cartouche ‘MALBY’S CELESTIAL GLOBE, Exhibiting the whole of the STARS Contained in the Catalogues of Piazzi, Bradley, Hevelius, Mayer, la Caille and Johnson the Double Stars from Sir W. Herschel & Struve reduced to the year 1860 by Jno Addison’, the equatorial and ecliptic, and the solstitial and equinoctial colures graduated in degrees, the equatorial further graduated in hours, the tropics and polar circles marked, the constellations depicted by mythical beasts and figures, scientific instruments, etc., and identified by their Latin names, the stars shown to nine orders of magnitude.



Both globes with brass hour rings graduated I-XII twice and mounted in brass meridian rings graduated in degrees and with grooves on back for locking screws, both globes with abrasions and cracks causing surface losses and some loss of plaster, mounted on the manufacturer’s original mahogany stands, the horizon rings with hand-coloured engraved paper rings graduated in degrees and hours, showing the points of the compass, the names and symbols of the houses of the zodiac, and the months, some marking, cracks, surface wear, and small losses, the horizon rings supported on four fluted quadrants, with quarter-circle brackets, the quadrants on central baluster columns carved with acanthus leaves, the columns with brass supports for the meridian rings, one support with small losses and lacking thumb-screw, the column supported by three downswept legs, those of the celestial joined by three stretchers radiating from a wooden compass box with engraved paper wind-rose, compass lacking glass cover and needle, terrestrial lacking stretchers and compass, one leg broken, legs terminated with brass casters, celestial lacking casters

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In 1839 Thomas Malby senior established one of the best-known British globe-making companies of the Victorian era, which became Thomas Malby & Son once his son Thomas junior joined. Many of the company’s globes, such as these, were published in collaboration with the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and Malby would later form an association with the map-maker and -seller Edward Stanford. Among the innovations that Malby introduced were the depiction of the lines of magnetic variation on globes (as noted beneath the cartouche of the terrestrial here) and the production of a pair of 36-inch-diameter globes in 1849 – the largest manufactured in Britain.