B. Rittenhouse Wye Level
date: label: date made
content: about 1785
name: label: maker
content: Rittenhouse, Benjamin
notes: label: Description
content: This wye level, one of the earliest made in America, is marked "Made by Benjn Rittenhouse." It was made around 1785, and owned by George Gilpin, the chief surveyor for the Potowmack Canal Navigation Company. Although this Canal Company had been organized in 1772, the project was shelved during the Revolution. It was resumed in 1785, and construction began the following year. Thomas Ellicott purchased the level at the sale of Gilpin's estate in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1813, and it remained in his family until its donation to the Smithsonian in 1997. The level vial of this instrument is mounted above the telescope. In the form that would become standard in the 19th century, the level hangs below the telescope.
label: Description
content: Ref: Silvio A. Bedini, "The Telescopic Level in Early America," <i>Rittenhouse</i> 11 (1997): 109-123.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania
topic: label: Subject
content: Revolutionary War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
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content: America on the Move
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content: Surveying and Geodesy
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content: Measuring & Mapping
label: Exhibition
content: America On The Move
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Rittenhouse
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Ellis Ellicott, III
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1997.0353.01.01
label: accession number
content: 1997.0353
label: catalog number
content: 1997.0353.01.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: level (wye)
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: telescope: 26 in; 66.04 cm