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Lot Essay
James Ferguson was born the son of a farm labourer, in Rothiemay, Banfshire, in Scotland. He was a lover of nature, and a shepherd in his youth, but also spent much of his time making mechanical models and mapping the stars. He quickly developed a talent for drawing and a keenness to learn, despite the fact that due to his humble background he was for a long time unable to attend school. For many years he earned his livelihood through portrait-painting and later became a qualified doctor. However, in 1748 he began lecturing on astronomy and mechanics, and pursuing these studies with rigour. As a fellow of the Royal Society of London and with the aid of a Royal scholarship and a private tutor, he was able to spend the rest of his life in London, making his living as a lecturer, instrument-maker, and author of such works as Astronomy explained upon Newton's Priciples (1756) and Lectures on Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, and Optics (1760).
Ferguson is also renowned for his fine globes; he purchased at auction in October 1755, from John Senex's widow following the globe-maker's death in 1740, his "valuable Stock of Globe and Map Copper-Plates" and immediately started reissuing them under his own name. All, that is, apart from those for the 3-inch pocket globe (which, incidentally, ultimately came into the possession of George Adams, who immediately started reissuing them in their rather outdated original form). To complete his roster of globes, therefore, Ferguson set about drawing his own 3-inch diameter pocket globe, engraved by James Mynde (d.1760) and these are known to have gone through several issues, with minor updating. Ferguson was not a natural businessman, however, and his globe-making suffered a severe setback in 1757 when he was forced to declare himself bankrupt. His plates were purchased by travelling lecturer and instrument-maker Benjamin Martin (1704-1782). Martin himself went bankrupt in 1782, and although the fate of many of the Senex-Ferguson plates is unknown, those for the 3, 17 and 27-inch globes ultimately came into the possession of Dudley Adams, and would later be reissued by Nicolas Lane whose trade label in turn would be covered by those of such makers and vondors as Cox, Dollond, Minshulls and others. For a complete history of Ferguson's pocket globe, and its subsequent incarnations, see Dekker, chapter 9:12.
Ferguson is also renowned for his fine globes; he purchased at auction in October 1755, from John Senex's widow following the globe-maker's death in 1740, his "valuable Stock of Globe and Map Copper-Plates" and immediately started reissuing them under his own name. All, that is, apart from those for the 3-inch pocket globe (which, incidentally, ultimately came into the possession of George Adams, who immediately started reissuing them in their rather outdated original form). To complete his roster of globes, therefore, Ferguson set about drawing his own 3-inch diameter pocket globe, engraved by James Mynde (d.1760) and these are known to have gone through several issues, with minor updating. Ferguson was not a natural businessman, however, and his globe-making suffered a severe setback in 1757 when he was forced to declare himself bankrupt. His plates were purchased by travelling lecturer and instrument-maker Benjamin Martin (1704-1782). Martin himself went bankrupt in 1782, and although the fate of many of the Senex-Ferguson plates is unknown, those for the 3, 17 and 27-inch globes ultimately came into the possession of Dudley Adams, and would later be reissued by Nicolas Lane whose trade label in turn would be covered by those of such makers and vondors as Cox, Dollond, Minshulls and others. For a complete history of Ferguson's pocket globe, and its subsequent incarnations, see Dekker, chapter 9:12.