Rare Benjamin Platt Surveyor's Compass

Description:

Rare Benjamin Platt Surveyor's Compass, 18th/19th century, with 6-in. silvered dial engraved "B. Platt, New Milford, Connecticut," two inset vials, double scale with needle ring divided 0-90 in four quadrants, blued-steel needle with clamp and brass vernier arm adjusted by rotating the mounting socket, the compass box mounted on gimbal in brass frame with straight arm and twin screw-on sights, lg. 14 3/4 in.

Note: Benjamin Platt (1757-1833) was born in Danbury, Connecticut, and produced his distinctive surveying compasses in New Milford between 1787 and 1790, and again from 1793 to 1800, before moving to Lanesboro and then to Columbus, Ohio, in 1817. See Silvio Bedini, Early American Scientific Instruments (1986),pp. 49-51, for a similar instrument.
Estimate $2,000-3,000

vanes marked J.Lock 2012


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