Surveyor's Vernier Compass
date: label: date made
content: ca 1876
name: label: maker
content: Draper, Edmund
notes: label: Description
content: This surveyor's vernier compass marked "Edmund Draper 468 Philada" dates from around 1876. The variation arc on the north arm extends 28 degrees to either side; the vernier is moved by rack and pinion, and reads to 5 minutes. There are two spirit levels on the south arm.
label: Description
content: Edmund Draper (1805–1882) apprenticed with Benjamin Stancliffe in Philadelphia and then worked in partnership with him for a few years. By 1832 he was in business on his own, making and repairing "Theodolites, Engineer’s Levels, Surveyor’s Compasses, &c." He also built a dividing engine. The only other dividing engine in the United States at that time was one built by William J. Young, also of Philadelphia. Since Draper never published a catalog or price list, it is difficult to know how many different instruments he made, or how much each one cost. He apparently began using serial numbers around 1860, and produced some 28 instruments a year.
label: Description
content: Ref: Robert C. Miller, "Benjamin Stancliffe and His Successors: A Century of Mathematical Instrument Makers in Philadelphia," <i>Rittenhouse</i> 11 (1996): 1–13.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Surveying and Geodesy
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Museum of Science and Industry
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.327880
label: catalog number
content: 327880
label: accession number
content: 271855
objectType: label: Object Name
content: surveyor's compass
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall length: 15 1/4 in; 38.735 cm
label: Measurements
content: needle: 5 1/2 in; 13.97 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 1/2 in x 15 1/4 in x 6 1/2 in; 21.59 cm x 38.735 cm x 16.51 cm