Description

4-page patent specification for an inflatable globe by Isaac and Mary Ann Hodgson, with a large folding plate. Hodgson was a Chicago architect and inventor. We have been unable to find any surviving examples of his globes. The specification gives a detailed description of the construction of the globe, and this is illustrated by a folding photo-lithographic plate, carrying 10 figures.

Printed by Darling and Son, London, printed to Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1895.

Inflatable globes were popular in the second half of the nineteenth century, and many inventors developed their own designs. The Hodgsons’ design could be either a printed geographical globe, or a black globe with a surface that could be cleaned, to be drawn on with chalk for didactic use.

Condition: Very good; rebound in plain card covers; text clean and bright; plate unmarked, but neatly repaired just above the first fold.