mariner's compass card
Date1839
Inventory Number2018-1-0001
ClassificationCompass Card
Subject
Maker
Robert Merrill
1804 - 1876
Maker
Frederic Walker Lincoln Jr.
1817 - 1898
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Place of Use
Dimensions16.5 × 16.5 × 0.4 cm (6 1/2 × 6 1/2 × 3/16 in.)
Material
DescriptionThis is a printed green paper compass card from a mariner's compass.
The card is rimmed with a brass ring engraved with divisions 0°-90°-0°-90° every 30'. The wind rose has 32 points and a fleur-de-lys at north. By the south point, a date is inked: "1839." The original card maker was Robert Merrill of New York. The label of Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr., is pasted over it, but is loose so one can read beneath it.
The underside of the compass card shows rectangular brass nuts through which go the screws holding the brass ring to the card. The reverse of the card is blue cardstock. There are blobs of green wax. The magnetic needle is a flat bar attached by screws. Some one has penciled calibration notations on the paper: "N 0 - [illegible note] / E. 90 / S 180 / W 270."
A copper wire is curled under the compass needle to make a wall hanger.
The card is rimmed with a brass ring engraved with divisions 0°-90°-0°-90° every 30'. The wind rose has 32 points and a fleur-de-lys at north. By the south point, a date is inked: "1839." The original card maker was Robert Merrill of New York. The label of Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr., is pasted over it, but is loose so one can read beneath it.
The underside of the compass card shows rectangular brass nuts through which go the screws holding the brass ring to the card. The reverse of the card is blue cardstock. There are blobs of green wax. The magnetic needle is a flat bar attached by screws. Some one has penciled calibration notations on the paper: "N 0 - [illegible note] / E. 90 / S 180 / W 270."
A copper wire is curled under the compass needle to make a wall hanger.
Signedwind rose signed: ROBERT MERRILL NEW YORK.
sticker pasted on wind rose: FREDERIC W. LINCOLN, JR. / No. 126 Commercial St. / BOSTON.
ProvenanceDavid P. Wheatland, Topsfield, MA, before 1993; Nancy Wheatland Biglow, Medina, Washington; 1993-2018; gift to CHSI, 2018.
Historical AttributesThis mariner's compass is associated with two prominent makers, Robert Merrill of New York and Frederick Walker Lincoln, Jr. of Boston. Lincoln was the great-grandson of Paul Revere. He served as Boston’s mayor in 1858-1860 and 1863-1867, a term that coincided with the Civil War.
Samuel Thaxter & Son
Date: 1825-1843
Object number: DW0519
E. S. Ritchie & Sons
Date: 1919
Accessories: case
Object number: 5330b
J. Molteni & Cie
Date: circa 1860
Accessories: rests on a wooden stand
Object number: DW0310
Richard Patten
Date: 1813-1840
Accessories: wooden box
Object number: DW0138
Troughton & Simms
Date: circa 1840
Accessories: mahogany box with brass handle; sun shade for telescope
Object number: 5234
Walter Balcke
Date: 1952-1964
Accessories: mahogany box; cardboard instruction card
Object number: 1997-1-1601