"12 Inch Terrestrial Globe", Cram, George F. & Company

George Franklin Cram was a civil war veteran who marched with Sherman prior to his career as a map publisher. In 1867, George F. Cram and his uncle, Rufus Blanchard, founded the company Blanchard & Cram in Evanston, IL. The company manufactured and sold maps and atlases. Cram became the sole owner two years later and renamed it the George F. Cram Company. They sold a wide variety of atlases including the popular Unrivaled Atlas of the World which was printed continuously from the 1880s to 1952. In 1921, George Cram sold his business to one of his largest customers, E.A. Peterson of the National Map Company. The company is to this day producing quality maps and globes.

An interesting and detailed desk globe that is held with a metal, full meridian ring mounted on an adjustable, curved 10" metal bottom arm attached to a tiered metal base. With twelve multi colored lithograph paper gores. The geography shows the Versailles Treaty boundaries indicating it was made prior to WWII. This example shows Chosen (Korea), French Indo China, Siam and the British Empire uniformly colored in pink. Filled with sea routes and their mileage. The simple, oval title cartouche is located in the Indian Ocean west of Australia with nautical distances and the International Date Line shown in red. Complete with hour ring at the north pole.

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Condition: B

Generally very good condition with light soiling, some staining along gore edges, and a few small abrasions. Rings and base also good.