Box Sextant
date: label: date made
content: mid 19th century
name: label: dealer
content: E. & G. W. Blunt
notes: label: Description
content: A box (or pocket) sextant works like a traditional sextant, but here the mechanism is enclosed in a brass box of about 3 inches diameter. William Jones, a leading instrument maker in London, introduced the form in 1797.
label: Description
content: This example has a silvered scale graduated every 30 minutes from -9° to +161° and read by vernier to single minutes of arc. It was probably made in England, and the "E. & G. W. Blunt, N.Y." inscription identifies the American firm that sold it. It belonged to the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Missouri.
label: Description
content: Ref: William Jones, "Description of a New Pocket Box Sextant," in George Adams, Geometrical and Graphical Essays, 2nd ed. by William Jones, (London, 1797), pp. 283-285.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
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content: Navigation
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content: Measuring & Mapping
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1994.0147.02
label: catalog number
content: 1994.0147.02
label: accession number
content: 1994.0147
objectType: label: Object Name
content: box sextant
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8.5 cm x 4.3 cm; 3 11/32 in x 1 11/16 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 13/16 in x 3 3/8 in; 4.60375 cm x 8.5725 cm