Dry Card Azimuth Compass
date: label: date made
content: ca 1860
name: label: maker
content: Robert Merrill
notes: label: Description
content: This compass, which may have been used during the Civil War, has a bright green card, vertical sights that can be aligned with astronomical (or true) north, and a mechanism that lifts the compass card off the pin. The inscription reads "U.S. NAVY / 21 ROBERT MERRILL / NEW YORK. XXI XXII." Robert Merrill (fl. 1838-1864) was the leading nautical instrument maker in the U.S. during the middle decades of the nineteenth century. The firm became Robert Merrill & Sons in 1865, and continued under similar names until 1923.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Civil War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Navigation
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content: Measuring & Mapping
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1996.0350.01
label: accession number
content: 1996.0350
label: catalog number
content: 1996.0350.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Nautical Compass (Dry Card)
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 24 cm x 28.7 cm x 28.8 cm; 9 7/16 in x 11 5/16 in x 11 5/16 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 1/2 in x 11 5/16 in x 11 5/16 in; 24.13 cm x 28.73375 cm x 28.73375 cm