Name/Title
Rand McNalley updated World Globe from the Alameda Free Library, 1899Entry/Object ID
1981.102.1Description
Acc. No. 81.102.1
Subject Category: Library (Alameda Free Library)
Date or period: 1899
Object: World Globe
Description: Mammoth world globe. It rests in a nickel plated gauge for longitude and latitude. This in turn, is supported by a tripod cherry wood base with incised carving in Victorian Eastlake style. There are turned finials as decorative support for a wooden circular platform. On this platform is a lithographed information on the Zodiac, months of the year. The globe was made by Rand McNalley and Company, San Francisco and printed in Great Britain. It is not the original map covering.
Size: 66 inches high; circumference: 96 inches.
History of Object: This world globe was used in the west wing of City Hall from 1897-1903, when the Alameda Free Library occupied the site. It is also known to appear in the architect's rendering of Alameda Free Library at its present site at Santa Clara and Oak.
Acquired from: Alameda City Library
Date:Interpretative Labels
Label
3/7/2020 MvL: current label:
19th Century Globe from Alameda Free Library
Bottom Near Right: Carnegie Library This image is from a post card of the interior of the Carnegie Library, which was the home of the Alameda Free Library from 1903 to 1998.
This globe has been recovered and the maps updated at least once, most recently some time between the two World Wars. It was displayed in the library until it was deemed obsolete and given to this museum. At the time, the Alameda Museum was located in the basement of the library. The Carnegie was our home from 1951 until 1981.
Top Near Right: West Wing of City Hall Before the City of Alameda obtained a grant from Andrew Carnegie and built a dedicated building to house it, the Alameda Free Library had several homes. This photo shows its home in the West Wing of City Hall a few years before it moved to the Carnegie. The globe is prominently displayed. This was the location of our library from 1897 to 1903. Also note that the painting on the far wall is on display in the East Gallery of this museum. It also hung above the stair landing of the Carnegie library before it was donated the Alameda Museum.
Far Right: 1409-1413 Park St., Second Floor This image was made from a Magic Lantern slide from the Museum's Ralph Croll Collection and shows the library in its location on Park Street from 1887 until 1897. The presence of electric lights dates this photo to circa 1895. The globe was prominently displayed at this location as well.
(A Magic Lantern slide is a positive image sandwiched between two glass plates and projected for viewing)
