Accession No

5620

Brief Description

dissected paper / card celestial sphere (globe) by Edward Mogg, English, 1813. Has original slip cover, advertisement card and instructions.

Origin

King Street; Seven Dials; England (printer); 51 Charing Cross (publisher)

Maker

Smith.W & Co. (printer) Mogg.Edward (publisher) Mrs Johnstone (see 5619, claims invention)

Class

astronomy

Earliest Date

1813

Latest Date

1813

Inscription Date

1812

Material

paper (card, paper); glass; wood; cloth

Dimensions

globe height 155mm; diameter 111mm; dome height 210mm; diameter 225mm: card slip case containing book, height 195mm; width135mm; thickness 12mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Trevor Philip & Sons, 75a Jermyn Street, St James, London, England on 12/07/1999. Purchased with grant aid from PRISM fund administered by the Science Museum. Purchased as a pair with 5619.

Inscription

‘MOGG’S
CELESTIAL
SPHERE
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD MOGG
No. 51, CHARING. CROSS, LONDON’ (printed on cover of slip case)
‘Published Novr. 1st. 1812 by EdwD. MOGG,
No. 51 Charing Crofs.
MOGG’S CELESTIAL SPHERE’ (printed on windrose)

Description Notes

dissected paper celestial sphere (globe) by Mogg, 1813. Has original slip cover, advertisement card and instructions.

Card celestial globe, made up of 12 interlocking pieces. Four uprights feature a double sided vertical celestial planisphere (divided as horizontal planisphere - see below), and a single sided representation of the earth, sun and moon, illustrating day and night. 16 point compass rose acts as a base, and carries inscription. Discs represent: the antarctic circle; the tropic of capricorn, which carries a diagram of the earth orbiting the sun; the equinoctial, which carries a double sided horizontal celestial planisphere, divided on outer edge 0˚-90˚-0˚-90˚, numbered to 15˚, subdivided to 5˚ alternately shaded, also for months and days, divided to 1; the tropic of cancer, which carries a diagram of the solar system; the arctic circle, which carries a key of star magnitudes; the ecliptic is represented by an offset ring, and is divided 0˚-30˚ for each zodiac house, numbered to 10˚ and subdivided to 1˚ (clockwise and anti-clockwise), also for months, days, and zodiac houses with symbolic and pictorial representations.

Card slip case in orange, printed on front. Blue ribbon to tie it shut is broken off. Hand written price 7/6 in pencil

Includes printed advertisement card and instructions booklet of 35 pagesbound in marbled card.

Purchased with a modern glass and wood dome for display (5620a).

References

Katie Taylor; 'Learning with dissectable paper globe kits'; Explore Whipple Collections online article; Whipple Museum of the History of Science; University of Cambridge; 2009: https://www.whipplemuseum.cam.ac.uk/explore-whipple-collections/globes/dissectable-paper-globes

Events

Description
Edward Mogg who worked in London between 1805 and 1848 was primarily a publisher of maps and travel guides. His celestial sphere was first published in 1813 and was priced to target a polite middle-class market. During the early nineteenth century, celestial and terrestrial globes played a central role in children’s education. Mogg’s educational toy was purchased as a series of flat-packed plates and was accompanied by a thirty-eight page booklet that instructed on its assembly. Mogg understood the process of constructing the sphere as cultivating a pleasurable experience, which fostered better learning. Once assembled, such objects functioned as a talking-piece. Didactic familiarization with technical terms and polite conversation in the parlor would have revolved around the object, and could have included topics such as the plurality of worlds.
14/01/2014
Created by: Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 14/01/2014

FM:45996