George Philip & Son Shipping Globe

This globe was produced by George Philip & Son of Fleet Street, London.

After starting out as a bookseller and stationer in Liverpool, George Philip went on to producing educational works and maps. Incredibly successful, the family bought premises at 32 Fleet Street London and expanded their thriving business. The firm supplied atlases, geographical and history books, school textbooks, and an array of educational books and equipment. The company also produced textbooks for overseas countries, starting with an atlas for Australian schools in 1865 and for New Zealand in 1869.

A Titanic Connection
George Philip & Son had for many years conducted business with the large shipping lines including White Star Line and Cunard. In 1912, as with other White Star passenger liners, when RMS Titanic was being fitted out for its inaugural Atlantic crossing, her navigational charts and sailing directions were supplied by Philip, Son Ltd.

In 1917, the firm began producing a large amount of globes in all sizes including the unusual and unique Betts’s Portable Terrestrial Collapsible Globe. In 1927, George Philip and Son Ltd produced a unique map of Europe marked with the paths of totality for all total solar eclipses visible in this area during the 20th century.

This globe has been well loved and used, that is for certain. A wonderful piece of navigational history also detailing the principal steamship routes of the day.