mariner's dry-card compass
Date1765
Inventory Number0094
ClassificationMagnetic Compass
Subject
Maker
Edward Nairne
1726 - 1806
Maker
Eade & Wilton
fl. 1740 - 1765
User
John Winthrop
1714 - 1779
User
Samuel Williams
1743 - 1817
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Place of Use
Dimensions16.8 × 31 × 29.4 cm (6 5/8 × 12 3/16 × 11 9/16 in.)
Material
Bibliography
DescriptionDry card compass, fleur-de-lys at North and decorated East. The compass needle is a bar fixed to the underside of the card. The needle has a slider to balance the card.
Compass bowl painted grey inside, blue outside. Lubber's line in bowl is a wire. Compass bowl is weighted on bottom with a lead disc; center hole 3/8" thick, 5" diameter; fastened with two brass screws, nuts inside bowl. Brass gimbal mounts. Square oak box. Hooks and half-moon depressions for handles on two opposite sides. Outside surface mottled in 3 shades of brown paint.
Compass bowl painted grey inside, blue outside. Lubber's line in bowl is a wire. Compass bowl is weighted on bottom with a lead disc; center hole 3/8" thick, 5" diameter; fastened with two brass screws, nuts inside bowl. Brass gimbal mounts. Square oak box. Hooks and half-moon depressions for handles on two opposite sides. Outside surface mottled in 3 shades of brown paint.
Signedon compass gimball mount: E. NAIRNE LONDON
on wind rose: Made by Eade & Wilton at King Edward's Stairs Wappin
InscribedStamped twice in white: 8-20
on binnacle, painted in white: MA9
Curatorial RemarksFrom Instrument Card:
"Inscription on compass rose revealed April 18, 1967 with water which removed water soluble ink. (not listed in Taylor)."
FunctionThe mariner's compass was used to help seamen navigate their way across the seas. The Pole Star served as the seaman's lodestar, or star that leads the way. So the magnetic stone which was used to magnetize the compass was a lodestone.
From the How Stuff Works Website, available here:
"The Mariner's Compass consists of a round card, called a compass card, with several parallel steel magnets attached to the underside, and a steel pivot at the center. The compass is mounted on a series of rings in such a way that the dial (compass card) remains horizontal, no matter how the ship may pitch and toss. The rings, called gimbals, and compass are placed in a box called a binnacle. On the binnacle, a vertical line called the lubber line marks the direction in which the ship's bow is pointed. The person who steers the ship keeps on course by aligning the lubber line with the compass card point that marks the heading the ship is to follow."
From the How Stuff Works Website, available here:
"The Mariner's Compass consists of a round card, called a compass card, with several parallel steel magnets attached to the underside, and a steel pivot at the center. The compass is mounted on a series of rings in such a way that the dial (compass card) remains horizontal, no matter how the ship may pitch and toss. The rings, called gimbals, and compass are placed in a box called a binnacle. On the binnacle, a vertical line called the lubber line marks the direction in which the ship's bow is pointed. The person who steers the ship keeps on course by aligning the lubber line with the compass card point that marks the heading the ship is to follow."
ProvenancePurchased in London with Benjamin Franklin's help in 1765; used for teaching natural philosophy by John Winthrop; later retrieved from the set-up room of the Physics Laboratories, Harvard University and transferred to CHSI.
Historical AttributesFrom Instrument Card:
"Acquired by Harvard with Benjamin Franklin's help. Joseph Mico's invoice for goods shipped onboard the Devonshire Hugh Hunter master, Aug. 17, 1765. "a Mariners Compass best sort in Wainscott box ... 2.12.6"
Samuel Thaxter & Son
Date: 1825-1843
Object number: DW0519
J. Molteni & Cie
Date: circa 1860
Accessories: rests on a wooden stand
Object number: DW0310
Frederic Walker Lincoln Jr.
Date: circa 1875
Accessories: embedded in wooden box
Object number: DW0506
Richard Patten
Date: 1813-1840
Accessories: wooden box
Object number: DW0138
