Maps were given great importance in the eighteenth century as expressions of rational and enlightened knowledge. A map contained all the latest advances in both mathematical cosmography and geography, integrating the study of the Earth and the cosmos.

The maps on this pair of globes are made with hand-coloured, varnished engraving paper applied over a hollow pasteboard sphere. Both globes are surrounded by a meridian ring and the ecliptic, the latter transversal to the former and dividing it at the solstices. They are raised on mahogany wood tripod stands.

On the upper part of the globes, centred on the axis of rotation, is a metal ring with the hour dial. The equator is fractioned in sexagesimal degrees. The ecliptic ring depicts the orientation of the different zodiac signs and the horizon line. The metal meridian rings are made up of four quadrants, each one divided in sexagesimal degrees, which separate the equator from the poles.
A round stamp on the terrestrial globe contains the following legend:

Cary's
New
Terrestrial Globe
Exhibiting
the tracks and discoveries made by
Captain Cook
also those of Captain Vancouver on the
North West Coast of America
and M. de la Perouse, on the coast of Tartary
together
with every other Improvement collected from
Various Navigators and Travellers
to the present time.
LONDON;
Made and sold by J & W Cary, Strand, March 1st, 1812