Surveyor's Compass
date: label: date made
content: 1853-1859
name: label: maker
content: W. & L. E. Gurley
notes: label: Description
content: This compass was made between 1853 and 1859. The "Jas. W. Queen, Philada. Warranted" inscription indicates that James W. Queen sold the compass and guaranteed its quality. The style, however, suggests that it was made by W. & L. E. Gurley, the Troy, N. Y., firm that was rapidly becoming the largest producer of complex mathematical instruments in the United States. The Queen <i>Catalogue</i> of 1859 offered several compasses, levels, and transits, with illustrations and descriptions copied from the Gurley <i>Manual</i> of 1855. A compass of this sort, with 6-inch needle, two straight levels, outkeeper, and mounting for use on a Jacob staff, cost $30. A paper label inside the box reads “James W. Queen 264 Chestnut St., near 10th, Philadelphia.”
label: Description
content: Ref: James W. Queen & Co., <i>Illustrated Catalogue of Mathematical, Optical, and Philosophical Instruments and School Apparatus</i> (Philadelphia, 1859), p. 14.
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
label: See more items in
content: Measuring & Mapping
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: James W. Queen & Co.. Illustrated Catalogue of Mathematical, Optical, and Philosophical Instruments and School Apparatus
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gettysburg College
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1982.0104.04
label: accession number
content: 1982.0104
label: catalog number
content: 1982.0104.04
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Surveyor's Compass
label: Object Name
content: surveyor's compass
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall length: 15 7/8 in; 40.3225 cm
label: Measurements
content: needle: 5 7/8 in; 14.9225 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall in box: 4 1/2 in x 16 3/8 in x 8 1/4 in; 11.43 cm x 41.5925 cm x 20.955 cm