Pocket globes were probably produced both as a novelty fashion items and as educational tools for children. Most date from the late seventeenth century to the mid nineteenth century and were particularly popular amongst the English aristocracy. Their small size (usually around 7.5 cm or 3 inches in diameter) made them impractical for serious study, but their portability and ease of handling made them perfect for both the well-educated gentleman and the upper class schoolroom.

‘A Globe (according to the Mathematical Definition) is a perfect and exact round Body, contained under one Surface. Of this Form (as hath been proved) consists the Heavens and the Earth: And therefore the Ancients with much Pains, Study and Industry, endeavouring to imitate as well the imaginary as the real appearances of them both, have Invented two Globes: the one to represent the Heavens, with all the Constellations, fixed stars, Circles and Lines proper thereunto, which Globe is called the Celestial Globe and the other with all the Sea Coast, Havens, Rivers, Lakes, Cities, Towns, Hills, Capes, Seas, Sands, &c. as also the Rumbs, Meridians, Parallels, and other Lines that serve to facilitate the Demonstration of all manner of Questions to be performed upon the same: And this Globe is called the Terrestrial Globe.’

Pocket globes consist of a terrestrial sphere inside an outer case that often bears celestial cartography. It is unlikely that pocket globes served precise practical ends as their size makes accurate calculations impossible and they tend to lack the rings and dials required for the most common manipulations. It has been suggested that children could suspend a pocket globe near a candle, representing the sun, to demonstrate the passing of day into night. This would indicate that children were the prominent audience for pocket globes.