Circumnavigating the Wilson Globe
James Wilson is an almost mythical figure in Vermont History, reputedly a lone genius who created the first globe in America. For several years, the Vermont Historical Society researched more about Wilson and his globes – and the picture that emerged was much more complicated and interesting than the legend.
This Episode’s Featured Object:
James Wilson’s Globe
Amanda: The globe we’re looking at was made in 1810, and the label printed on the side says “A NEW / TERRESTRIAL GLOBE, / on which the / TRACTS and NEW DISCOVERIES / are laid down / from the Accurate Observations / made by / Cap.t. Cook, Furneux, Phipps & C. / By J. WILSON, VERMONT.”
Top Down View: A NEW / TERRESTRIAL GLOBE, / on which the / TRACTS and NEW DISCOVERIES / are laid down / from the Accurate Observations / made by / Cap.t. Cook, Furneux, Phipps & C. / By J. WILSON, VERMONT
Teresa Greene and Amanda Gustin inspecting a Wilson Globe at the Museum of Fine Arts
Central Vermont Medical Center Radiology Department Scans a Globe
Episode Transcript
Teresa Greene: The story with James Wilson goes that he didn’t even know how to read. And he taught himself how to make a globe from scratch without ever looking at a map to engrave without ever having seen art. He looked at a globe through a keyhole, and he knew how to make a globe.
Amanda: This is Before Your Time, presented by the Vermont Historical Society and Vermont Humanities. Every episode, we go inside the stacks at the Vermont Historical Society to look at an object from their permanent collection that tells us something unique about our state. Then we take a closer look at the people, the events, or the ideas that surround each artifact.
The objects that we’re looking at for these episodes are maps. Each one represents a different moment in Vermont, with questions that spiral out and persist to our present day.
Today’s map, actually, isn’t a map at all. It’s a globe. For this series, we’ve interviewed a lot of experts about the maps we’re talking about. For this globe, which is a hugely important object in the history of Vermont, the experts are at the Vermont Historical Society.
Teresa: Do we want to talk more about technique or about, like, connoisseurship?
Amanda: Collections Manager Teresa Greene and myself – Amanda Gustin, Director of Collections and Access – spent almost two years studying James Wilson and his globes.
Episode Credits
Before Your Time is presented by Vermont Humanities and the Vermont Historical Society. This episode was produced by Amanda Kay Gustin, Ryan Newswanger, and Noel Clark. Thanks to our guests: Teresa Teixeira Greene and Susan Schulten. Special thanks for the support of this limited series goes to the Lake Champlain Basin Program and their Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership Corridor of Commerce granting program.
Music is by Michael Chapman and the Woodpiles, Simon Folwar, Joe Kaplow, Alan Green, Northwestern, Daniel Zambo, and Sega Williams.