telegraph locking key
Datecirca 1885
Inventory NumberDW0092
ClassificationTelegraph Key
Subject
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Dimensions12.4 × 34.5 × 15.3 cm (4 7/8 × 13 9/16 × 6 in.)
Material
DescriptionA locking telegraph key for use in transmission of telegraphic signals. The instrument is mounted on a rectangular, four-footed wooden base. Four wooden blocks, secured to the base by slot-headed screws, support the telegraph hardware. The hardware, which is made of brass, consists of a vertical center pivot that supports a long horizontal bar. the bar rests on the center pivot and has a knurled-edge adjustment screw and rounded hard rubber knob handle.
One end of the bar is squared off and fixed to a vertical post at one end of the base by a pair of brass, slot-headed screws. The post has a knurled-edge adjustment knob on the side.
The other end of the bar is t-shaped is positioned to make contact with either one or both contact keys, when they are depressed. The contact keys are separately mounted at the end of the base, and are held in tension by a pair of spring levers. The key has two lever locks, one for the down position and the other for the middle.
The key has three binding posts.
One end of the bar is squared off and fixed to a vertical post at one end of the base by a pair of brass, slot-headed screws. The post has a knurled-edge adjustment knob on the side.
The other end of the bar is t-shaped is positioned to make contact with either one or both contact keys, when they are depressed. The contact keys are separately mounted at the end of the base, and are held in tension by a pair of spring levers. The key has two lever locks, one for the down position and the other for the middle.
The key has three binding posts.
Signedsigned on plaque: CONSTRUIT / au Labre. de Physique / FACULTÉ LIBRE DE LILLE
ProvenanceDavid Wheatland purchased from Roux-Devillas Paris, May 14, 1966 (lot 5/45).
Laboratoire de Physique, Faculté Libre de Lille
Date: circa 1890
Object number: DW0078
J. H. Bunnell & Company
Date: late 19th-early 20th Century
Object number: 1998-1-1695
American
Date: circa 1901
Accessories: watchcase receiver
Object number: 1990-1-0001
Hammond Typewriter Company
Date: circa 1923
Accessories: four Hammond type shuttles for different type faces, each with a wooden storage box; four laminated paper rectangles with symbol placement guide; instruction book, instruction sheets, advertisements, and correspondence (in object file)
Object number: 1996-1-0373
E. Hartnack & A. Prazmowski
Date: circa 1880
Accessories: objectives in green leather box (5): 2, 4, 6, 7, and unmarked; objectives in brown box (2): 2, 3; oculars (5); 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; polarizing eyepiece and substage apparatus; substage condenser; substage cup diaphragms (4); slider with sleeve to hold substage accessories; large bull's eye condenser with stand; aperture-stop rotating wheel; blue filters (3); flat case; case keys (2).
Object number: 1145a
W. Watson & Sons Ltd.
Date: circa 1885
Accessories: oculars (2 pairs): B and D; objectives in marked canisters (4): 1/4, 1/2, 1, 3 inches; condenser with iris diaphragm; rotating wheel diaphragm; iris diaphragm; set of 4 disk diaphragms in brass box; triple nosepiece; live box; prisms for Wenham binocular system (2); stage for simple microscope with rotating wheel diaphragm; vulcanite stage; spare knobs (2); parts box; case
Object number: 1249
Legey
Date: circa 1838
Accessories: shades with double tabs (4); shades with single tab (4); screwdriver and square key.
Object number: 5268
Olivetti S.p.A.
Date: circa 1959
Accessories: Black and red ribbon in place on two spools inside typewriter.
Object number: 2011-1-0067
Ernst Leitz (company)
Date: circa 1919
Accessories: oculars (2): 3, 8x; accessory box; Leitz objectives (5); wrenches (2); ground glass; N.A. 1.45 condensor cap; Abbe condensor; rotary stage; case
Object number: 1345
Western Electric Manufacturing Company
Date: 1869-1881
Object number: 1997-1-0300