I’ve got Adobe Illustrator CS 6, and I soon I will have MAPublisher. So now’s the time to crank up some solid ideas about how to style the globe I’d like to build.
And what better way to gather some enthusiasm, than to visit the globe collection at the Library of Congress!! Ah yes, its practically just down the street. My office is in Bethesda, and my contract is in Largo, both of which are about 12 miles from the Library of Congress. Its just a matter of getting a few hours away from work and finding a parking spot downtown. For even more adventure, I could even take the Metro. Its been a couple years since I’ve taken the Metro, but its actually not a bad idea.
In 1984 the Library purchased a pair of large, rare terrestrial and celestial globes constructed in 1688 and 1693, respectively, by the famed Venetian cosmographer and globe maker, Vincenzo Coronelli. Each measures 43 inches in diameter and stands nearly six feet high on heavy mahogany stands. The Library of Congress also owns a copy of Coronelli’s 1696 eighteen-inch terrestrial globe (which was presented to William III) and a copy of his extremely rare Libro dei Globi, an atlas which includes all the globe gores published by Coronelli. I am especially eager to view the Coronelli globes.
In addition to these rarities, the Library’s collections include a matched pair of nine-inch terrestrial and celestial globes by the renowned Dutch map maker, Jodocus Hondius, constructed in Milan in 1615 by Joseph di Rossi; a pair of twelve-inch celestial and terrestrial globes produced in 1816 by the London map maker, Matthew Cary; and an eight-inch globe by Johann Doppelmayr dated 1750.
I think there are many more globes to view and study. I am not sure how many are actually on display, but I hope to come away with some very nice examples.
If I really get lucky, I may be able to search out an actual cartographer or some type reference which will tell me how to project text onto gores. This has been a very curious problem, since the text must be bent according to latitude, and yet not distorted in size or shape as it approaches the poles. So far, I haven’t been able to think of a good way to do this.