Globe Gores

The Geography and Map Division holds a variety of printed globe gores in a variety of sizes and configurations ranging from some of the earliest examples in the 16th century to more modern examples in the 20th century. Globe gores are strips of paper containing printed maps in the sizes and shapes needed for globe construction. The maps can be either terrestrial (showing the earth) or celestial (showing the heavens) and the gores are typically football shaped. The gores can be thought of as pre-assembled building blocks for a globe of a particular size which a globe-maker can quickly utilize to construct a globe without having to spend the time constructing the maps. The printed gores would be cut out of the printed sheet(s) and pasted onto a sphere of appropriate size to construct a globe. As far back as the third century B.C. written records about globe construction by the ancient Greeks show knowledge of a round earth. Greek grammarian and stoic philosopher Cratus of Mallus (ancien ... Read full article.