Until I read Father and Son by Edmund Gosse I had not heard of ‘The Great Globe’.
The idea for the ‘Great Globe’ was conceived by MP, Charing Cross map-maker and Geographer to the Queen, James Wyld (1812–1887).
Wyld originally intended the Globe to be displayed at the Great Exhibition of 1851, but problems around the lighting and size of the exhibit and Wyld’s desire to use it as an opportunity to promote his mapmaking business, ended in his having to develop his idea as a separate scheme. The concept had been in his mind for some time but the announcement of The Great Exhibition convinced him to bring his idea to fruition.
