Label
Globe, 1810-1819
James Wilson
Bradford, VT
Wood, paper, brass
Anonymous gift, 1921.16
James Wilson of Bradford was raised on a farm and trained briefly as a blacksmith. He moved to Bradford as a young man in 1796 and became interested in cartography. After visiting Dartmouth College's map collection, he grew particularly enamored of globes, and set out to make his own. It took several years of experimentation and learning new skills - he was almost exclusively self-taught - but Wilson began officially manufacturing his globes in 1813. Producing a high-quality globe required mastering a variety of skills - printing, engraving, woodworking, and blacksmithing - all with a high degree of precision.
Wilson manufactured a variety of globes, including a line of papier-mache globes that he could produce and sell inexpensively. His globes were the first to be manufactured in America, and found a ready audience in schools in particular. This globe was not among his first run, but was produced later, in 1816. The Wilson Manufacturing Company continued to produce globes in Vermont and New York for nearly fifty years.