A fresh peek at my own collection

     It's been nearly 5 years since I started blogging about the hobby of collecting globes.  As I look back I think about how.  I've changed as a collector, and how my collection has changed.  In this post I want to share some pictures of my globes in situ so to speak.  How I display things, how I control the environment etc.    I'm providing fresh up to date pictures of the day to day life of my personal collection.

     Most people that set foot in my home never even realize that I'm collecting anything.  I try to keep my collection separate from view and the rest of my active family.  I'm a realist, I've got 2 young kids, and with them comes friends and play dates, and casual drop ins that if my collection were dispersed through the house would pose too great a risk for breakage.   I reserve a space roughly 24 by 14 that is devoted to my various collections. Close one door and everything disappears.
       Within this space I control 3 atmospheric variables, heat, humidity, and light.   I generally keep things cool, dry and dark.  In a previous post I talked at length about protective window film. Within this room every window is covered with a film that blocks UVA and UVB rays.  even on the sunniest of days I find myself turning on a light to read  in this space.  The great thing about the film is that it is easily repaired, and resile reversed should I ever sell this home in the future.   Humidity is kept in a range from neutral to low, I never allow things to get humid.  Paper based objects and humidity never mix well.  As for temperature ,  well all I can say is bring a sweater!  Its 65-68 from September through May and in summer when I air condition it creeps all the way up to 71 or so.  I try for a very narrow temperature band.   I once visited the map room at the Library of Congress, it was a blistering 90+ degree July day in D.C.   however  the map room must've been about 62,  the librarian was in a turtleneck!
     The bulk of my collection resides in a space dominated by a great 1920's Eugene Dietzgen drafting table.  I love the wood and metal design, I think it compliments my globes nicely. My Andrews celestial globe rests confidently on a lovely Kalo typewriter table, another industrial relic from a bygone time in America.  Pay no mind to the three windows behind the globe display,  those have been blacked out with insulating panels that render them completely light omitting.  Again  this is an easily reversible modification.  The shades just hide the panels and you forget they are even there.  I have 25-30 globes at any given time, not a huge number, smaller than many think I own.  This is because lately I've been trying to slowly upgrade my collection, selling items acquired 5-10 years ago and replacing them with better examples as they become available.  My collection is currently split evenly between the 19th and 20th century, but as time goes on I can see this split favoring the older globes more and more.

      In another area of the space I have an antique display cabinet that houses a few of my smallest treasures, and next to it is a well preserved Joslin orb that serves as a focal point to the room.   I do out of habit keep this globe dust covered most of the time.  The quietest room in the house, I spend many an hour back here reading or working in relative solitude.

  One thing I currently do not have in my collection is a fairly large globe, in fact the largest orb I own is 16 inches.  I've come close more than once to adding a nice 18 inch orb but I'm space limited and I just have not found the one perfect addition in that size category yet.
     I've noticed this past year has been a rather slow one for new acquisitions.  I've had great luck adding to my collection of globe related books, catalogs and the like but I have purchased exactly one new globe.  Some years are like that I've noticed good things seem to come in waves.  The hunting happens daily but I wonder if I've become too picky.  I've actually sold more globes than I've purchased this past year, that's unusual.
     As always on this blog I welcome questions, comments, and discussion.  If you have something that you want to part with that is in nice original condition then please contact me. Im always in the hunt.