For Sale: One Pocket Globe, Complete with History Lesson

Travel Blog  •  Pam Mandel  •  04.13.09 | 11:27 AM ET

Like most travelers, I’m a sucker for old maps and other travel ephemera. That’s why I spent way too much time clicking through the catalog after reading about the collection of Hawaii artifacts that went up for auction last week. The items included “an early issue of Ke Kumu Hawaii, the first newspaper printed in Honolulu; a copy of Lili’uokalani’s translation of the Kumulipo genealogy chant; and a 19th-century Hawaii flag hand-painted on silk.”

I especially swooned over this pocket globe with an inscription showing where Captain Cook met his inglorious end: “Owhyee / Here c. Cook / was Kill’d.” That little treasure went for $8,450. If I had that kind of money to spend on maps ... well, suffice it to say I didn’t bid, but I can’t stop looking at the picture and wondering what, exactly, a pocket globe is for.

Tags: Captain Cook, Geography for Fun and Profit, Souvenirs, North America, United States, Hawaii, The Big Island, Shrinking Planet

Pam Mandel is a freelance writer and photographer from Seattle, Washington. Her work has appeared in a variety of print, radio, and web publications and she's contributed to two guidebooks, one on British Columbia and one on Hawaii. She plays the ukulele, has an internal beacon that is surprisingly capable of locating the best baked goods in town, almost any town, and speaks German with a Styrian accent. Learn more on her personal blog at Nerd's Eye View.


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