This spectacular, large pair of library globes was produced by the Newton firm, who were John Cary's main competitors in the 19th century. As well as showing the latest rendition of the large land masses the tracks of Cook and Clerke show the names and dates of discovery of some of the more obscure islands in the South Pacific. Most curiously of all, on one Cook's tracks there is a series of annotations marking the positions of the sightings of various species of sea bird; it could be speculated that this was important to mariners when calculating the proximity of land in unknown waters. Finally one must mention the very fine mahogany three legged stands which were custom made for these globes, indicating their importance to their owner.